Chapter 191
Audrey’s POV:
I stepped forward slightly, offering a smile that didn’t reach my eyes.
“Weren’t you expecting me? I thought this invitation was for both of
us.“I said, watching her reaction carefully.
Amelia’s eyes darted between us, trying to make sense of our united
front.
She clearly hadn’t anticipated Caspar would tell me about their
meeting.
“I…” she stammered, her confidence visibly faltering.
“This was meant to be a private meeting between Caspar and me.”
Beside me, Caspar’s posture stiffened.
“Four years ago, I made it perfectly clear that you were never to
appear in our lives again,” he said, his voice dangerously low.
“Was I somehow unclear, Amelia? Or do you simply treat my words as
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background noise?”
1 felt his hand tighten around mine as he spoke.
Amelia’s expression hardened, her initial shock replaced by defiance.
“Does a mother need a reason to see her own child?” she challenged,
her voice rising slightly.
“Noah is four years old now. He needs his mother’s presence in his
life.”
Caspar’s jaw clenched before he responded.
“Noah has everything he needs,” he stated coldly.
“Audrey provides all the companionship and maternal guidance he
could possibly want.”
Amelia’s gaze shifted to me, her eyes narrowing as her lips curved
into a venomous smile.
“Oh, so you want her to be his stepmother?”
She let out a harsh laugh.
Chapter 191
“We all know stepmothers don’t exactly have the best reputation in
fairy tales, do we? One wrong move…” she trailed off, letting the
implication hang in the air.
Caspar stepped forward, his eyes flashing with a cold fury I’d rarely
seen.
“She would be a thousand times the mother you could ever hope to
be,” he said, each word precise and cutting.
“You claim Noah is your son, but you haven’t fulfilled a single
maternal obligation since he was born. Not one.”
His voice dropped to an even more dangerous tone.
“You used him as a bargaining chip when he was still in diapers. Don’t
you dare stand there and question Audrey’s intentions when you’ve
proven exactly what kind of mother you are.”
I remained silent.
The accusation hung in the air between them–heavy, damning.
Amelia’s expression shifted.
“That’s precisely why I’m here now,” she said, her voice taking on a
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gentler tone.
“Because I’ve missed so much of Noah’s growth, I want to make
amends. To be better.”
For a moment, I almost believed her words.
Her eyes moved between us, calculating.
“I see you’ve already told him about our little chat this afternoon,”
she said to me, a slight smile playing on her lips.
I maintained my neutral expression.
“If I’d known you were so open with each other, I might not have
needed to play the villain,” she continued with a theatrical sigh.
“It would have saved us all some trouble, including your redheaded
friend. She looked as if she were about to devour me whole.”
I felt Caspar’s subtle shift beside me at the mention of Emma.
He turned slightly, his eyes questioning as they met mine for the
briefest moment.
I kept my face carefully blank, but my heart rate accelerated.
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Caspar cleared his throat, suddenly reaching for his phone.
“Excuse me,” he said, his voice suspiciously neutral. “I need to take
this call.”
He stood abruptly and walked toward the corridor window, leaving me
alone with Amelia.
The moment he was out of earshot, I pulled out my phone and quickly
typed a message to Emma: Leave the hotel now.
Emma’s reply came seconds later: Received.
I slipped my phone back into my pocket just as Amelia leaned
forward.
“I think I underestimated you, Audrey Lane,” she said softly, studying
me with renewed attention.
“But you know, men like Caspar Thornton don’t actually fall in love.”
I raised an eyebrow, unexpectedly irritated by her presumption.
“Is that so? Just because you couldn’t inspire genuine feeling doesn’t
mean everyone operates the way you do.”
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Her eyes widened slightly at my directness, and I saw a flash of anger.
She recovered quickly, leaning back with a calculating smile.
“Regardless of what you think, I am Noah’s mother,” she said, her
voice hardening.
“Blood is blood. And if I wanted to come back to the Thornton
household, it wouldn’t be difficult.”
She tilted her head, studying me.
“You wouldn’t be cruel enough to keep a child from his real mother,
would you, Audrey?”
I felt a heavy weight settle in my chest.
As much as I disliked her, she was Noah’s biological mother–that was
an undeniable fact.
She had a connection to both Noah and Caspar that I couldn’t erase,
no matter how manipulative she might be.
Before I could formulate a response, Caspar returned, his expression
unreadable as he rejoined us.
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“Let’s get to the point, Amelia,” he said, his tone clipped and
businesslike.
“What really happened five years ago?”
Amelia’s posture changed immediately, her shoulders slumping
slightly as she adopted a more vulnerable stance.
I was amazed at how quickly she has changed.
“I was a victim too, Caspar,” she said, her voice suddenly small.
“The drugs weren’t my doing. I had too much to drink that night, and
we… it just happened. I didn’t plan it.”
Caspar’s expression remained skeptical.
“Then why did you disappear the next morning without a word?”
Amelia looked down, playing with the hem of her blouse.
CA
“I woke up and realized who you were–the famous King C of Wall
Street. I was terrified you’d think I’d set you up, that you’d use your
power to destroy me. So I ran.”
She glanced up, her eyes glistening with what I assumed were
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practiced tears.
“Then I found out I was pregnant. I had no resources, no way to give
Noah the life he deserved. So I brought him to the Thornton estate. I
have no choice either.”
The performance was impressive, I had to admit.
If I hadn’t already known that she’d extorted a massive sum from the
Thornton family in exchange for her promise to never contact them
again, I might have even believed her.
“How noble of you,” I said, unable to keep the edge from my voice.
“I can only ever have Noah,” Amelia continued, her voice dropping to
a whisper.
“The doctors told me I won’t be able to conceive again. He’s my only
chance at motherhood.”
I felt an unexpected pang in my chest at her words.
Despite everything, this part of her story resonated with me.
My own situation was painfully similar–the early loss of my child,
the knowledge that I might never be able to have another.
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For a brief moment, beneath my suspicion and dislike, I felt a flicker
of understanding–even sympathy.
If what she said was true….
I’m not here for your money or your name,” she insisted. “I just want
a chance to know my son.”
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