"Don’t be ridiculous," Matteo said with a scoff. "I wouldn’t waste my money on that. But I’m telling you this so that we can start investigating this in private. If Emline dares to cause any trouble after I reveal the truth of her pregnancy, I’ll let the world know the truth of her parentage."
Ronan hissed at Matteo’s bloodthirstiness. There was not a single lingering hint of affection for his childhood playmate at all. He almost felt bad for Emline.
Almost.
"Let’s hope it doesn’t co to that," Alia added hastily. "If we air out the Hawthorne family’s dirty laundry, my grandfather might not live due to the shock."
"How is Horace doing?" Ronan asked. "He kicked Emline out of the family, but I am sure he still cares for her. He did raise her."
"I suppose," Alia said with a shrug. "Frankly, I can’t even handle things on my own end and I have neglected how things have been going with him. I should check in with my grandfather."
"Annalise has definitely told him what happened to Emline after everything that has gone on," Matteo said. "I wouldn’t be surprised if she used this to get Emline back into the family register."
Alia’s lips crinkled. It was entirely possible. After all, Emline was at her weakest. It was natural for a grandfather to have so sympathy and care for the granddaughter he helped raise.
"Pity it’s not Annalise who cucked Benjamin. If that was the case, Emline wouldn’t be a Hawthorne, to begin with. But who is Emline’s mother?" Ronan asked, still appalled. He chugged the wine as though it was a cheap can of beer, sighing loudly before pouring himself another glass. "Since you guys are so sure that Annalise cannot be Emline’s mom."
"There’s no denying the genetics of the blood inheritance," Matteo pointed out. "Surely you have rembered sothing from all our lessons since you did pay the most attention to the sexual reproduction part of biology."
Ronan squawked at Matteo’s words. Curse him for bringing up his dark history when he was a hormonal teen! He cleared his throat and refocused.
"If Benjamin brought back a random baby, that would an there’s another woman in the equation, right? Emline can’t have dropped onto this earth fully ford, even though she is a demon-spawn."
"That’s for you to find out," Matteo said, leaning back against the couch, snorting quietly at Ronan’s description. He rested his arms against the backrest and Alia naturally leaned into his embrace. It felt so natural.
"Always leaving the dirty work for ," Ronan grumbled under his breath. "This will be a bitch to find out since it’s from more than two decades ago. Maybe I should just hire a private investigator."
"But don’t you think it’s weird?" Alia asked, looking at Matteo. "I still can’t figure out how Annalise would be willing to treat so random baby as her own. She loves Emline so much, it’s like she gave birth to Emline herself. That’s not sothing I thought she was capable of."
All of Annalise’s vitriol towards Alia originated because she was upset that her daughter’s inheritance would be threatened by her very presence.
"Maybe she simply developed feelings with ti," Ronan shrugged. "Found family and all that. Besides, it’s not as though she and Benjamin Hawthorne have another kid for her to display any wicked stepmother behavior. Which is weird. I would have thought soone like her would want her own kid."
"Maybe she’s just unlucky," Alia said, her hand instinctively cradling her belly.
"Perhaps. But I think it’s awfully lucky that Benjamin Hawthorne found a kid that looks like it can belong to both of them, while also looking like a Hawthorne heiress. The chances are one in a million. If it wasn’t for the blood type reveal, we would never have known!"
"It’s almost uncanny," Matteo finished, his lips pursed as his eyes remained fixated on Alia. "But either way, we need to know the truth. And that’s why we need to look this through properly."
"And Emline’s kid?" Ronan asked. "Shit. If the baby is actually Aiden’s, then―"
Alia slowly tuned out of Ronan’s words when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She ignored it at first, but it grew more and more insistent. Eventually, she pulled her phone out to have a look.
Aiden: Can we talk?
Aiden: Alia, please.
Aiden: Look, I can explain. I swear, I didn’t an to hurt you.
Alia was pulled out of her thoughts when she felt a hand gently tracing up and down her upper arm.
"What’s wrong?" Matteo asked, causing Alia’s gaze to snap back to him.
She licked her dry lips and then looked back down at her phone. Holding it up, she showed Matteo the ssages Aiden had sent her, along with the three missed calls from him that she ignored.
"Aiden?" Ronan asked, coming over to have a look as well. When he read the ssages on the screen, he hissed through his teeth. "Persistent little bugger, isn’t he? What does he want?"
"To talk," Matteo said. "Can’t you read?"
Ronan rolled his eyes when he saw the smirk that curved Matteo’s lips. "Very funny," he said. "But really. Why does he think that Alia would entertain him?"
"And I won’t," Alia said firmly.
If it were anything else, perhaps Alia could’ve closed one eye. After all, Aiden had saved her life just shortly before from Caleb’s claws. She owed him that much. But this... Aiden had seen firsthand the sort of turmoil Alia went through just because of the rumors of how Emline’s child was Matteo’s. Alia confided in Aiden and treated him like a close friend, or a brother she never had.
He backstabbed her and kept a straight face, lying through his teeth while watching her cry her heart out.
She was about to lock her screen when a new ssage ca in.
Aiden: I know you’ve read the ssage, Alia.
Alia raised an eyebrow. She was sure she had turned off her ’last seen’ status but Aiden made her doubt for a brief second.
Aiden: I know you two are already back at the penthouse. I’m downstairs. Please, can we talk?
Aiden: You can bring my brother along too.
Aiden: Heck, even Ronan too if he wants. I see his car parked here.
"He is desperate," Ronan said with a low whistle. "How long do you think he will wait for you if you don’t show up?"
"Don’t know, don’t care," Alia said. She locked her phone and tossed it on the couch, ignoring it as more beeps ca in, undoubtedly from Aiden again. "I’ve had a long day. I am going to sleep."
Then, Alia retreated into the bathroom, locking the door. It didn’t take long for the sound of running water to echo through the apartnt.
"Co on," Matteo said as he stood up. "Let’s go."
"Go where?" Ronan asked.
He unwillingly placed the glass of wine down on the table. The bottle was already empty and Ronan didn’t even have a flush on his cheeks yet. Instead, he stared longingly at the empty bottle.
Matteo, on the other hand, nodded at Sean, who nodded back. The latter stood straighter at the door, keeping watch on everything that happened in the house. Matteo and Ronan wouldn’t be gone for long, and Alia would be safe in the penthouse. But Matteo couldn’t be too safe― not after what had happened here before.
He stepped into the private lift and Ronan followed along. The doors closed as the elevator began to descend.
"He’s going to wait there forever otherwise," was all Matteo said.
Reviews
All reviews (0)