bChapter /b341

Charlotte probably never imagined, not even in her wildest dreams, that there woulde a day when she’d hear him admit–out loud–that he

worried about her.

She turned her gaze away and let out a quietugh. “Now you’re worried about me? Don’t you think it’s a bit toote for that?”

He studied her face, his eyes unwavering. “As long as you’re willing, it’s never toote.”

Charlotte smiled, meeting his gaze. “But I’m not willing.”

Evander’s expression tightened, his jaw set in silence.

“Excuse me, can we get the check please?” Charlotte called out.

The café owner came over, holding the bill. “That’ll be a hundred and twenty.”

“I’ve got it,” Evander said, paying quickly before Charlotte could reach for her bag. As the payment went through, the owner nced between the two of them and beamed. “You two make such a lovely couple!”

“We’re not-”

“Just friends,” Charlotte cut him off, standing up and gathering her things. “We’re inot /itogether. We never will be.”

She walked past Evander and headed for the door.

Evander’s face darkened, just barely, but enough for the owner to notice.

Awkwardly, the woman’s eyes drifted to the wedding ring on Evander’s finger, Charlotte’s hand, on the other hand, was bare, Suddenly, things clicked into ce.

So that’s it… The guy’s married and fooling around, and the girl knows he’s taken, so she’s keeping her distance!

No wonder she turned him down. What decent woman would want to be

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Chapter b341 /b

the other woman?

Charlotte was about to cross the street when Evander reached out, pulling her back just as a group ofte–night cyclists sped by, nearly brushing against her.

His grip was a little too tight. “Were you even watching where iyou /iwere going?”

She looked startled, herposure shaken. After a beat, she nced down. “You’re hurting me…”

Evander let go, and Charlotte slowly collected herself. “Mr. Howard, you should go home. I’m leaving.”

“I’ll drive you.”

“I don’t need you to.”

She sidestepped his outstretched hand and slipped into a waiting cab.

As the taxi pulled away, Evander stood under the streetlights, his silhouette stretched thin and lonely in the glow.

The next morning.

Loretta was passing by the master bedroom when she caught voices from behind the half–closed door–the sound of a father and son from the

Rayburn family in conversation. She paused, stepping back to peek through the crack.

Inside, Sean sat at his desk, reading through a stack of documents.

By the end, his expression had grown dark. “So the test results really were tampered with?”

Wesley stood by the fish tank, sprinkling in some food. “The results were checked twice. Besides Julian, there was Renard–Julian grew up with me, I trust him. But Renard…”

“He’s from your mother’s side of the family,” Sean said after a moment’s

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silence. “Maybe you’re being too suspicious?”

Wesley turned from the aquarium, looking straight at him. “Dad, even though Mom isn’t in her right mind, she still refuses to acknowledge Loretta. But she’s always favored Charlotte–someone who’s not even family–more than me, her own son. Don’t you find that odd?”

At Charlotte’s name, Sean’s face went nk for a moment.

After a long pause, he set the papers aside. “She does… look a lot like your mother did when she was young. But even so, there are plenty of people in the world who look alike…”

“Charlotte was adopted by the Sterling family. And she’s Rh–negative.”

Sean stared at him, stunned. “What did you say?”

The Rayburns hadn’t always carried Rh–negative blood; it supposedly started with Sean’s great–grandfather, who married a woman with Rh–negative blood. When she gave birth,plications from blood ipatibility meant only one of their twins survived–a frail boy who almost didn’t make it, nearly ending the Rayburn line.

In the next generation, Sean’s own father had deliberately married a ssmate with Rh–negative blood to avoid the same tragedy. As a result, both Sean and his father were Rh–negative.

Luckily, his own son had escaped that gic fate.

Rh–negative blood was rare–less than three in ten people had it. Thinking again about Charlotte’s features, Sean unconsciously tightened his grip on the folder.

Could she… could she really be my daughter?

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