Mrs. Lark came to the Capital from Ayashe the very next day. Alejandro was not at home, leaving only Melanie, along with her daughter, waiting by the entrance to greet her.Melanie could tell what awaited, yet a large part of her refused to believe it or accept it as reality. How could she, when she remembered how vehemently her mother had objected to her daughter marrying a disabled man? She would not have cared so much if she saw Melanie as a mere pawn, right?But then Melanie watched how fury oozed from every movement her mother made since disembarking from her car, and her heart sank. Fear began to claim her, and she stumbled a few steps back from the incoming presence. “Mom, I…”Mrs. Lark scowled with daggers in her eyes. “Don’t you dare! I am not your mother… I don’t recall having a selfish excuse as my daughter!”Selfish?!At that moment, Melanie felt every drop of blood in her body gel. It was early summer, yet she felt cold, nipping steel in her veins.“Me… selfish? Did
Alejandro picked the little girl up and cooed, “There, there; okay. Go play with your toys. Daddy will be with you after he’s done with some unfinished business, okay?”Melissa, already in a mood to report the bad guy, sniffled before complaining in her squeaky voice, “That grandma hit M-M-Mommy! She hit Mommy!”Alejandro pinched her cheek. “Aww, got it. Daddy knows.”Seeing how kindly Alejandro treated Melissa drew doubts in Mrs. Lark’s heart. How could an esteemed family of their standing, which traditionally demanded an heir rather than an heiress, see any need to dote on a girl? What kind of powerful family would ever be fine with not having a son?The nanny dutifully approached him to take Melissa away. Melanie, meanwhile, looked positively embarrassed. “I’m sorry, Alejandro. This… this is an altercation between my mother and me. It doesn’t concern you.”Alejandro narrowed his eyes slightly. “Yes, I agree. It’s none of my business. But you’re having your silly spat on my prop
Mrs. Lark sneered. “You want a divorce? Okay, I’ll get out of your way, but only if you know how to settle those properties—if you’re thinking about leaving my daughter anything less than she’s due, you can kiss your divorce goodbye! I know your reputation for underhanded trickeries, Alejandro, but I’m not intimidated by you at all! We Larks are not some doormats for you to walk all over!”Even when she was apparently fighting for her daughter’s share, it was really just for the family—none of it was for Melanie’s benefits. Once this realization set in, Melanie could not brook any more of her mother’s squalls. “Leave, Mom! Leave us be right now! This is none of your business!”Mrs. Lark stomped toward the door, the racket of furiously clicking heels trailing her. Shortly after she left, she had the temerity to text Melanie, ‘Alejandro still doesn’t know this is your big brother’s doing, does he? If you snitch, I’ll kill you.’Melanie deleted the message the instant she finished it.
Melanie waited until Alejandro put his pen down before signing her name with equal resolute. She ended it with a print of her thumb, asking, “So, when do we begin the legal procedures?”Alejandro didn’t answer her. Instead, he stormed out of the house and slammed the door.Melanie’s knees buckled and she crashed onto the couch, her strength leaving her body. Tears broke out from the corner of her eyes and traced an invisible path down her face, its salty liquid stinging the painful heat that had yet left her cheek. A while later she rose to her feet and went into the bathroom.She stared at her reflection in the mirror and suddenly felt a thick, awful lump furling in her chest. Mrs. Lark had put in more force than she expected, causing her cheek to swell even more than she had imagined. When Alejandro looked at her just now—she must have been a hideous sight to him, wasn’t she? He had never liked her, but after all of this, after Tiffany… He must hate her even more, did he not?The
“Where are you?”Alejandro asked to the beep of a terminated call.Instead of putting down his phone, he simply stayed in his posture, his mind churning unfathomable thoughts.A while later, he finally put his phone down before gingerly placing Melissa back onto her bed. Perhaps something was wrong with the way he lowered her—either way, the feel of his movement was too dissimilar with Melanie’s that Melissa woke up before screaming for her mommy again.Alejandro had lost his patience. Exasperated, he decided to let the child bawl and shriek to her heart’s content until Jett, who heard her from outside, knocked on the door. “Mr. Smith? Would you like me to help?”Alejandro sat on the edge of the bed, defeated. “Yes, just coax her to sleep. I’m done.”Jett pushed open the door. He adroitly brought Melissa up in his arms before gently rocking her. “Hush, hush. It’s alright, don’t you cry… Mommy will be back very soon.”Melissa would not listen. She knew her mother was not around.
Alejandro frowned. “What—why? Why would the West family have beef with the Larks?”Because Melanie pushed Tiffany? But if Jackson knew that, then should his target not be Melanie—or hell, Alejandro himself? Why would he take out his anger on the Larks?The man on the other side of the phone was just as clueless. “I have no idea. Thought it was kinda weird myself.”After the call ended, Alejandro paused for a minute before calling Arianne. It would be impossible for him to ask Jackson directly; he was sure the latter would hang up his call as soon as the man’s brain recognized Alejandro’s voice.As soon as she picked up, Alejandro went straight to the chase. “Why is West Industries flipping the Larks off?”Instead of answering him immediately, Arianne rejoined with a question of her own. “What? Can’t bear to see someone taking on your in-laws? Itching to hit back, aren’t you? Here’s a piece of advice: don’t. Stay out of it.”Alejandro fell silent for a beat before stating, “Melani
While Jett was still scrambling for the right response, Melanie shut the door in his face.He knew what his boss was like, so Jett eschewed returning to the Smith Estate right away and opted to call Alejandro instead. Hearing about Melanie’s rejection, Alejandro immediately supplied, “Tell her it’s because Millie has fallen ill—as in, super-seriously-ill. I know for sh*t she doesn’t have it in her to turn away from that. Then tell her that if she’s not coming back, I’m not taking the kid to the hospital.”That was a bit too much for a lie, was it not? At the very least, it made Jett hesitate, but not enough to make him object. Shortly after the call, he knocked on Melanie’s door again.She opened it with a face written with helplessness. “Jett, I’ve made myself very clear. I’m not going back. Unless this is regarding the divorce’s official procedures, I don’t have any reason to see Alejandro again.”Jett steeled himself. “Uh, you see… Actually, Little Miss… she’s, uh, sick. And Mr.
It was nothing like she expected.Alejandro sat by his bedside as he looked over at Melissa playing atop of the rug, wearing his softest expression. Toys were scattered everywhere in no discernible order.Melanie suspected she was looking at the calm before the storm. She stepped forward, picked up the toys, and put them away. “Millie, don’t scatter your toys like that.”Melissa froze when Melanie’s voice was within earshot. Then, she hurled herself into her mother’s arms, overjoyed, her glistening doe-eyes overflowing with glimmering tears. “Mommy!”Melanie carried the young girl in her arms, her heart aching. But when her eyes linked with Alejandro’s penetrant own, she willed every emotion leaking out of her to diffuse. She summoned the nanny to take Melissa away, though it took Melanie quite some time to mollify the child before she agreed to waiting for her mother downstairs.Melanie waited until there were just the two of them in the room before asking, “What do you want? Can