He nodded obediently. "Okay."


    Watching the exchange, Haynes''s dark eyes deepened.


    For some reason, he suddenly thought of Rachel.


    Every time they ate together, Rachel would order overly sweet drinks, just to please Keen. Even if Keen was supposed to avoid certain foods, Rachel would insist, "Just a little taste won''t hurt him."


    Back then, Keen was constantly getting sick. Once, after eating a slice of nut cake, he ended up in the hospital with a severe allergic reaction.


    As the memory resurfaced, Haynes looked down, a trace of regret in his eyes. How foolish he had been, blindly trusting Rachel''s reckless advice.


    He''d thought Rachel genuinely cared for Keen-but looking back, even someone with questionable motives like Joshua seemed more sincere.


    Haynes poured Ste a ss of water and was just about to hand it to her when his entire expression froze.


    For a moment, he wondered if he was seeing things.


    Was that really... Rachel, standing here?


    After Rachel had run off, Haynes hadn''t bothered to hunt her down. As long as she stayed out of sight, he saw no need to pursue her any further. Truth be told, his divorce from Ste wasn''t entirely Rachel''s fault. He bore a fair share of the me himself. Without his indulgence and favoritism, Rachel never would have grown so brazen.


    He had his own mistakes to answer for; there was no point trying to pin everything on Rachel.


    Besides, after she''d thrown acid at Simone, Haynes realized that backing Rachel into a corner could drive her to extremes. Thest thing he wanted was for Rachel tosh out at Keen, or at Ste.


    Rachel met Haynes''s disbelieving stare with a coy, bashful smile.


    "Haynie."


    She stepped up to the group, her voice soft and delicate. "I''m pregnant."


    Haynes blinked, utterly baffled. "You''re pregnant. And what does that have to do with me?"


    Rachel replied, "But this baby-it''s yours."


    Everyone turned to look at Rachel, stunned.


    Rachel ignored their stares and gazed only at Haynes. "Haynie, don''t you remember? That night, not too long ago, when you drank so much. you could barely stand That night, you and I... we..."


    Before Rachel could finish, Ste shot to her feet.


    "Joshua, take Keen and go."


    Keen, still confused, looked from one adult to another. Even at his age, he


    understood what it meant for someone to be having a baby.


    But Rachel didn''t care about any of


    that she was here to make a


    and the more public


    e bette scen


    Keen knew, it would be even harder


    for Haynes to deny responsibility.


    Rachel tried to block Keen''s path, but Joshua gave her a cold, dismissive nce.


    Rachel froze, her attempt to interfere dying on her lips.


    Joshua led Keen away, passing Rachel without a word.


    Ste said, "You two have things to discuss. I''ll be going as well."


    She and Haynes were divorced now; she had no interest in hearing about


    whatever mess Haynes and Rachel had gotten into.


    Haynes stood up, trying to stop her. "Star, I never slept with her "


    Before he could finish, Rachel threw herself into his arms. "Haynie, are you really going to abandon me and our child?" Using Rachel''s sudden embrace as cover, Ste slipped away.


    After a full morning out, Keen was looking tired, and Ste didn''t want to run into Rachel again at the amusement park. So they headed back to Williams Mansion


    Keen, havinge all the way to Solmaris, naturally wanted to meet Skyler Williams.


    But as soon as they stepped into the foyer, they found a crowd gathered inside— Leonard among them.


    Ste''s longshes fluttered; she sensed immediately that something major must have happened.


    Israel was the first to spot her. His eyes shed with open hostility.


    "Ste, did you set Aurora up to take the me for you?"


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!