Chapter 44

The documents lay scattered across the table, but Lucas had only skimmed through them before that infuriating smirk appeared.

Claire had been impatient. "Just sign it already. Don’t drag this out like some coward."

But Lucas had laughed, his dark eyes gleaming with mischief. "Oh, you want my signature? Ever heard of a farewell fling?"

Her breath hitched.

Seriously? They were on the verge of divorce, and this was what he wanted?

The realization stung—Lucas was exactly that kind of man. He had taken advantage of her vulnerability, leaving her frustrated and empty-handed, the papers still unsigned.

Rage simmered beneath her skin.

In two years of marriage, they had barely touched. Yet now, at the brink of separation, he couldn’t resist one last claim.

Just two weeks ago, after a similar encounter, he had leaned in, voice dripping with arrogance. "Claire, until that divorce is final, you’re still mine. Get used to it."

Her palm had met his cheek before she could stop herself.

And since then—silence. A cold war between them, neither willing to bend.

Claire watched Evelyn's face flush crimson as she listened to the explanation.

"So you're saying you had some spotting this morning, but it's not your cycle? You really should get that checked out," Claire said, her voice dropping to a concerned whisper.

Evelyn bit her lip and nodded. This wasn't something she could ignore.

The car ride stretched longer than expected through Cresthaven's midday traffic. Claire drummed her fingers on the steering wheel before breaking the silence.

"By the way, everyone's talking about you punching Ethan Caldwell. Rumor has it he's still hospitalized."

A quick glance confirmed Evelyn showed no remorse. After last night's confrontation, it was clear any affection for her ex-fiancé had evaporated.

Claire continued as they stopped at a red light. "The entire Caldwell clan descended on Willowbrook Medical Center at dawn."

She hesitated before adding, "Your husband, Alexander... he's probably there too."

Evelyn's breath caught. Her fingers tightened around the seatbelt as possibilities raced through her mind.

The light turned green. The car lurched forward, mirroring Evelyn's churning thoughts. What fresh chaos awaited at the hospital? And why would Alexander be there with the Caldwells after everything that had happened?

A dull ache pulsed in her abdomen, a physical echo of her growing unease. This wasn't just a routine checkup anymore. Something far more complicated was unfolding.

"Alexander went to see Ethan?"

Claire noticed the confusion in Evelyn's eyes and realized she probably didn't know about the connection between Alexander and Ethan.

It made sense.

Alexander had always been a mystery, only stepping into the public eye in the last year.

Before that, very few knew anything about him.

Besides, Evelyn had spent the past three years locked away in a remote prison, completely cut off from the outside world.

The traffic light turned green, and Claire pressed the accelerator gently. The car moved forward smoothly.

She kept her voice low. "Alexander is Ethan's uncle. He never told you?"

Evelyn's face went pale.

Her mind raced. Am I hearing this right, or is Claire playing some kind of cruel joke on me?

She turned to Claire, swallowing hard. "You're kidding, right?"

Claire's expression turned grave as she met Evelyn's gaze. "Do I seem like I'm playing games with you?"

Her next words struck like lightning.

"Alexander is Ethan's uncle—his blood relative. And Titan Capital Group? That belongs entirely to Alexander."

She added, "Alexander and Lucas are practically inseparable. I've even shared meals with Alexander before."

Evelyn's mind spun.

All this time, she had dismissed Alexander as just another insignificant businessman!

Questions erupted in her thoughts like wildfire.

"If that's true, why would he ever choose to marry me?"

The logic refused to align.

She had clung desperately to Ethan for seven years, only for Alexander—his own uncle—to claim her as his wife.

Wouldn't that make him the subject of ridicule?

Alexander was a titan of industry, a man who commanded respect. Surely, reputation mattered to him.

Did he truly not care about becoming the punchline of high society's jokes?

Her fingers tightened around her glass, the chill of condensation seeping into her skin.

The pieces didn't fit.

Unless...

Unless there was something she was missing.

Claire had pondered this very question all night.

Surely Alexander couldn’t be ignorant of the tangled past between Evelyn and Ethan.

If he knew and still chose to marry her, there was only one plausible explanation…

"Does he truly intend to repay you for saving his life?"

Evelyn pressed her lips together, silent.

But there was another possibility—one that sent a shiver down Claire’s spine.

What if Alexander had fallen for Evelyn?

Not just a fleeting attraction, but something deeper, fiercer.

Something that made him willing to defy everything—even the ghosts of the past—just to claim her as his own.

The thought lingered, heavy and unspoken between them.

And in that silence, Claire realized the truth might be far more dangerous than she had imagined.