Chapter 4

Not long after, footsteps sounded in the corridor, and the hospital room door opened again.

Two familiar yet strange faces appeared in my line of sight—my long-absent in-laws.

The couple who controlled a trillion-dollar empire, Anthony and Lester Blackwood.

They looked travel-worn at the moment, their brows carrying some indissoluble worry, lacking their usual grace and presence.

Behind them followed the expressionless Tobias.

That's when I understood why Alice left so quickly.

The two people who hated her most had appeared.

"Elliott, you've worked hard." Lester walked to the bedside and gently touched my belly.

Her voice was flat—not warm, but not cold either.

"You're a hero to the Blackwood family. Your father and I will stay here and wait for the child to be born."

Anthony nodded, saying a few platitudes like "rest well" and "safe delivery for mother and child."

I nodded obediently in response, stealing a glance at Tobias.

The entire time, Tobias's expression remained unchanged.

I don't know why, but the relationship between these three family members always gave me a strange feeling.

In the end, I had no way to break this deadlock.

The day of delivery still came. Everything went smoothly. I gave birth to a son.

Tobias held the child, sitting by the bed with a slight curve to his lips.

His eyes held no tenderness or fatherly love, only a kind of satisfaction.

I understood—his thinking was the same as Alice's.

My child was the perfect chess piece to facilitate his being with Alice.

Next would come the day he kicked me out and took the child.

Facing this inevitable outcome, I felt only an indescribable sense of powerlessness.

Looking at the son I'd carried for ten months, my eyes couldn't help but redden.

Forget it, forget it. This was fate.

At least for my son, as long as he grew up safely in the Blackwood family, his future would be brilliantly bright.

I had to admit, deep down I'd accepted Alice's suggestion.

I leave, the child stays—it's best for everyone.