?Chapter 167:


    “Mom, why do you think Alexander wille?”


    With a knowing chuckle, Katrina replied, “He probably got rejected by Dani. Do you really think the Bet family hasn’t considered all their options? At the end of the day, they’re eyeing our fortune.”


    A knot of unease tightened in Joyce’s chest. She harbored fears that Alexander might scorn her, and beyond that, she was troubled by the thought that he might not treat her child with kindness.


    It wasn’t until Katrina reassured her that the Harper family’s fortune would be in her child’s name and that she’d take care of the child herself that Joyce’s tension eased slightly.


    Caiden furrowed his brow upon hearing that.


    The thought of taking care of a child was the furthest thing from his mind.


    He had no interest in a life cluttered with the chaos of diapers and nursery rhymes.


    Yet, he kept his feelings to himself for the moment.


    ncing over at Joyce’s belly, Caiden realized this child wasn’t connected to him by blood. Was he about to endow his vast fortune to someone who wasn’t even his own kin?


    Joyce living in his house and using his money was one thing. He couldn’t take his wealth with him beyond the grave. But the thought of leaving it all to an outsider sent a chill down his spine. The child did not share his blood.


    The more Caiden dwelled on this fact, the deeper his difort grew. And if Joyce ever married, her allegiance would inevitably pivot to her husband’s family, relegating him, her stepfather, to an ever more peripheral role in her life.


    Something about the situation just didn’t sit right with him, no matter how he pondered it.


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    He trudged toward the garden, his mood somber, and called back to Katrina that he was off to pick up Richard and Alexander.


    Katrina, oblivious to the storm brewing in Caiden’s mind, brightly reassured Joyce.


    “See how eager your father is to embrace a grandchild someday. Don’t worry, Joyce. Everything in this house belongs to you and your child—no one can im it otherwise.”


    Caiden’s pace faltered as he stepped outside. For an inexplicable reason, he nced back over his shoulder.


    In the living room, illuminated by the bright lights, Katrina’s face was heavily made up, her eyes alight with pride and her smile wide with a hint of smug superiority.


    Memories flooded back to Caiden unexpectedly, recalling the summer Katrina first became a part of the Harper family.


    He hade home to retrieve some documents during lunchtime.


    He saw Dani perched at the top of the stairs while Joyce, seated at the grand dining table with a bib tied neatly around her neck, dered insistently, “I want egg custard!”


    The maid shed a smile and suggested, “You’ve had a lot of egg custard today. Perhaps you’d prefer some fish instead?”


    Joyce’s mood soured instantly. She ripped off her bib and began to wail loudly.


    Katrina shot the maid a fierce look and defiantly carried the whole te of egg custards to Joyce, who devoured them with enthusiasm.


    At that moment, Caiden hadn’t really been paying attention.


    It was just a bowl of egg custard, after all.


    Yet now, as he reminisced about the incident, he remembered seeing Dani, whose te bore nothing but a few scant leaves of vegetables.


    During that time, Dani had shed her baby fat at an rming rate.


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