Chapter 538
Staring at the ‘Delivered’ receipt on her screen, Maya’s lips curled into a vicious, calculated smirk.
It didn’t matter how solid Elissa thought her relationship with Rowan was.
No woman on earth could receive a photo like that and maintain blind trust.
Once the seed of suspicion was planted, it would inevitably take root and fester.
Rowan wasn’t exactly known for his patience or gentle temper. If Elissa started questioning him, the constant arguing would eventually grind their romance to dust.
Besides, if Rowan was secretly keeping a pregnant woman tucked away abroad, it proved he wasn’t nearly as devoted to Elissa as he pretended to be.
Which meant Maya still had a very real chance.
At the end of the day, businessmen were pragmatic creatures. As long as Elissa remained permanently exiled from the Wilkinson family, Rowan would eventually do the math and realize who he was actually supposed to marry.
Marcia pushed open the bedroom door, practically glowing with schadenfreude. “Does Rowan seriously have a woman on the side?”
Maya smugly waved her phone. “I just sent her the photo. How could it be fake?” Maya had studied abroad in the exact same country Rowan was currently visiting.
Back then, the international student community would constantly gossip about the handsome, unreachable foreign men.
Annoyed by their obsession, Maya had whipped out a candid photo of Rowan from his early twenties. He had been at the absolute peak of his youthful, arrogant brilliance, and his devastating looks had instantly silenced the entire room.
One of those very same classmates had bumped into him at the hospital today, snapped the photo, and sent it straight to Maya.
Hearing this, Marcia finally felt like the arrogant brat was pulling her weight. She laid the flattery on thick. “Your social network is unbelievable. You have connections literally everywhere.”
“Obviously,” Maya scoffed, rolling her eyes as if it were the most basic fact of life. “That’s what happens when you’re born into the right circles.”
She was a daughter of the Wilkinson family. Even if she never left her house, she could pull strings on the other side of the planet if she wanted to.
It took everything Marcia had to swallow her disgust.
*Born into the right circles?*
*Nothing you have is yours by blood. You’ve played the fake heiress for so long you’ve actually managed to brainwash yourself.*
Biting back the insult, Marcia pivoted smoothly. “By the way, did Frank ever reply to that message you sent him?”
She was desperate to know if Frank actually loved Elissa, or if he was simply acting out of wounded male pride and territorial possession.
“Of course ” Maya started, then caught herself. Her expression snapped into a cold sneer. “Do I have to report my every move to you now? Do you genuinely believe you’re the actual young lady of this house?”
By the time Elissa and Tanya pulled up to Rivercross Residence, the city lights were already illuminating the evening sky.
Worried that Elissa’s mind was completely scrambled, Tanya had insisted on driving.
As she put the car in park, she turned to the passenger seat. “Are you absolutely sure you’re okay?”
“I’m really okay.”
Elissa had been answering the exact same question on a loop ever since they left the hospital.
Seeing how fraught Tanya looked, Elissa cut straight to the point. “You said it yourself. I don’t believe he’s that kind of man either.”
Even though the very first emotion that had pierced her chest when she saw the photo was pure, terrifying suspicion.
Maybe it was because they had been separated for nine years. Or maybe it was because she had spent her entire adult life bracing for the worst and ensuring she always had an exit strategy. But she realized her faith in Rowan wasn’t nearly as bulletproof as it had once been.
She had actually, genuinely entertained the thought that he was hiding a secret family.
She had even briefly wondered if *she* was the other woman.
After all, the woman in the photograph was noticeably further along in her pregnancy than she was.
It felt like a cruel joke.
The father of her baby was currently escorting another woman to her prenatal appointments.
But those toxic thoughts only managed to poison her mind for a few agonizing minutes.
The sharp, biting chill of the autumn air outside the hospital had shattered her panic, forcing her logic to reboot.
Was she really going to doubt Rowan?
Was she going to question the loyalty of the man who had systematically dismantled his own life just to keep her safe?
Tanya stared at her, utterly bewildered. “Did Rowan slip a love potion into your drink when he convinced you to move in here?”
Elissa gave her a sidelong glance, a faint smile breaking through. “Forget a potion. I think he cast a permanent spell on me.”
Seeing her best friend crack a joke, Tanya finally exhaled a massive breath of relief.
The two women walked inside. Janice was thrilled to see Elissa had brought a friend home, immediately instructing the kitchen to prepare extra dishes.
Tanya was incredibly charming when she wanted to be. After dinner, she accompanied Janice to the indoor conservatory to arrange flowers, keeping the older woman laughing the entire time.
Seeing they were getting along perfectly, Elissa slipped away, heading upstairs to shower and settle at her desk to work.
The project team was deep into the development phase for the new drug, trying to aggressively cut production costs without sacrificing efficacy.
But her eyes kept darting to her phone.
Aside from updates from the lab and her professors, the screen remained agonizingly blank.
It wasn’t until eleven o’clock at
night-around seven or eight in the evening where Rowan was-that Elissa finally picked up her phone. stepping out onto the cold balcony, she slid the glass door shut behind her and dialed the international number.
She had promised herself she wouldn’t jump to conclusions, but as the line rang, her stomach twisted in knots.
Thankfully, she didn’t have to wait long. The call connected, immediately filled with the muffled sounds of a lively dinner party.
A woman spoke in fluent, native English: “Hello? Are you looking for Rowan? He’s a bit tied up right now and can’t come to the phone.”
Elissa had only heard that voice once before, but the elegant, airy tone had been permanently etched into her memory.
It was the exact same woman who had called out to him the other night.
And more than likely, the pregnant woman from the photograph.
Elissa gripped the phone so tightly her knuckles turned white. She reminded herself that even the strongest relationships could be shattered by unvoiced suspicions. Instead of making a polite excuse and hanging up in a jealous panic, she replied in equally flawless English: “Yes. I need to speak with him immediately. Is he in a business meeting?”
“Oh, no, he’s just having dinner with my family—”
The woman’s sentence was abruptly cut off as the phone was clearly snatched
away.
Then came Rowan’s voice, low, razor-sharp, and dripping with hostility. “Who gave you permission to answer my phone?”
The woman just clicked her tongue. “Wow. You’re way less fun to tease than your fiancée.”
Rowan completely ignored her. The sound of his footsteps echoed
through the receiver until he founda
quiet isolated space. When he
finally spoke to Elissa, his tone had softened significantly. “She’s an absolute psycho. Ignore her.”
Knowing instantly that Rowan must be incredibly close to this woman to speak about her so casually, Elissa didn’t miss a beat. Is she such a psycho that you had to personally* escort her to her ultrasound?”