Chapter 506
No.1
"Have you lost your mind?" she hissed. "Why bring this up now?"
Alexander's gaze turned glacial. "You must choose between her and me."
Mr. Kingsley's face darkened with rage. "Do you realize what you're saying?"
"Mr. Kingsley." Vincent Sullivan finally spoke. "Evelyn did acknowledge my wife as her mother. She even entrusted us with her birth mother's keepsake."
He produced a gilded booklet from his coat.
"This is the proof—"
"Auntie Zhou!"
No.2
Evelyn Sinclair's voice rang out from behind them.
Madam Zade turned eagerly, accidentally knocking the booklet to the floor.
William West narrowed his eyes and retreated into the shadows.
"Evelyn!" Madam Zade seized Evelyn's hands. "You promised to be my daughter!"
Evelyn gently returned the clasp. "Auntie Zhou, I remember everything now."
She turned to Eleanor with apologetic eyes. "Mrs. Kingsley, I'm sorry..."
Eleanor paled. "Evelyn, we can still discuss—"
No.3
"Enough." Alexander cut in. "Forced affection bears no sweetness."
Eleanor staggered back before fleeing the hall.
Mr. Kingsley shot his son a venomous glare and hurried after his wife.
...
Isabella Winslow nearly danced with joy upon hearing the news.
"William, this is all thanks to you!" She clung to William West's arm.
William mused, "Do you know what keepsake Evelyn's mother left behind?"
No.4
Isabella's fingers stiffened. "N-no idea..."
She forced a smile and changed the subject. "After the Sinclairs fell, the Kingsleys took everything valuable."
William nodded thoughtfully.
...
Moonlight bathed the Sullivan garden.
"That butterfly brooch..." Vincent studied Alexander's sudden pallor. "The one you asked me about years ago?"
Alexander's blood turned to ice.
No.5
He remembered Evelyn's swollen eyes, how she'd cradled the brooch with such care.
Not a tantrum—but grief.
The night breeze carried floral whispers.
When Evelyn stepped outside, she found Alexander waiting in the moonlight.
He approached and knelt before her.
A diamond ring glittered like captured starlight.
"Evelyn." His voice roughened. "Will you marry me?"
No.6
Alexander Kingsley dropped to one knee. Evelyn Sinclair's fingers trembled slightly.
Thirteen years of memories flashed through her mind like a kaleidoscope.
The cold profile of the boy she first met. His slender fingers guiding hers as he taught her calligraphy. His retreating back when he turned away from her.
The image froze on two red lines of a pregnancy test.
"A baby needs a father..."
She crushed the thought before it could take root.
The diamond ring in Alexander's hand gleamed cold under the moonlight. She recognized the design instantly—identical to the engagement ring Isabella Winslow had flaunted last birthday.
No.7
"Alexander," her voice was shards of ice, "I will never marry."
Headlights pierced the darkness—the Sullivan family car approaching.
"What if I find the Butterfly Brooch?" Alexander called after her.
Evelyn paused mid-step.
"Don't you understand?" Tears glistened as she turned. "The brooch was never the problem."
The night wind lifted the hem of her coat.
"Can you swear you won't revert to your old ways after marriage? With legal bonds and a child, I'd have no escape."