"Keep your eyes on me, Roxanne," Richard said, his deep voice laced with desperation as he looked into her eyes. "Don’t listen to a single word Cara is saying."
Roxanne looked back at him, her heart thumping violently against her ribs. Her blood rushed in her ears like a heavy wave. If only she could tell him the true reason behind her sudden silence. If only she could explain that she was hunting for proof, not harboring doubt.
Richard peeled his gaze away from her face before she could organize her thoughts and whirled around to face Cara. "This ends right now! All the games, all the manipulative lies! They end tonight!" he declared, his firm voice echoing through the grand hallway.
He turned his harsh gaze onto his mother. "I cannot believe that, as a woman and a mother, you would say such a disgusting thing to Roxanne."
"What on earth do you expect me to say, Richard?" Margaret shot back. "My loyalty belongs entirely to this family, not to some outsider. I will say and do whatever is necessary as long as it ensures we remain in complete control of everything we have built."
"Oh, please, Mother," Richard said, scoffing.
"It is the simple reality, Richard. If Roxanne had willingly agreed to take a DNA test the moment we asked, then perhaps this entire conversation would be different," Margaret said, giving an indifferent shrug. "Cara had absolutely no issue with it."
Roxanne said nothing. The problem wasn’t the DNA test itself. The problem was taking one before she knew exactly how Cara had manipulated the evidence.
"That is because she isn’t actually pregnant!" Richard snapped, shaking his head in total disbelief.
"I am pregnant!" Cara yelled back, her eyes flashing with instant fury. "The only person in this room whose condition remains completely unverified is Roxanne!"
Roxanne looked over at Cara and gave a slow shake of her head. Oh, Cara. Please, spare me the act, she thought to herself. The only reason you agreed so quickly is because you are most likely not pregnant. But I will not ruin your performance just yet. Not until I have the exact proof to expose you.
"Ask her yourself!" Cara barked, pointing a finger directly at Roxanne’s face.
Roxanne said nothing. She kept her posture relaxed and her facial expression entirely level, revealing zero emotion. She turned her head toward Richard, staring into his stressed eyes for a moment, and then let out a sharp exhale.
"Excuse me," she said softly, turning her back on the chaos and walking toward the grand exit doors.
"You know how this makes you look, right?" Margaret called out behind her, her cold voice cutting through the foyer. "You will get rid of that pregnancy, one way or another!"
"Do not cross that line, Mother! No one speaks to the mother of my child like that!" Richard snapped back, his voice booming.
Roxanne did not slow her pace for a second, nor did she look back. She pushed through the doors and stepped out into the cool evening air. Behind her, the sharp, hurried thud of Richard’s shoes echoed across the damp stone driveway.
"Roxanne! Please, wait!" Richard called after her, his breath coming in short bursts as he closed the distance. "You have to know Cara is manufacturing every single piece of this!"
Roxanne did not answer right away. Instead, she unzipped her purse with steady fingers and pulled out her smartphone. Her thumb moved swiftly across the glowing screen, rapidly typing out what she had memorized from the documents Cara gave her.
Richard continued following close behind her down the driveway. "Please talk to me, Roxanne. I have never lied to you about my past. I am being completely honest with you," he pleaded, his voice heavy with emotion.
Roxanne kept her eyes glued to her phone, refusing to look up until the note was saved.
Suddenly, Richard reached out and caught her hand, forcing her to stop under the warm glow of the estate’s exterior lights. "I need you to look at me and listen, Roxanne," he said, his tone softening into an earnest plea.
"I don’t want to have this conversation here, Richard. Not tonight," Roxanne said softly, her eyes searching his panicked face.
Richard’s brows pulled into a tight frown. "How can you possibly say that to me? I have spent the entire night fighting them for you, and you are asking me to just march back in there? Just like that?"
Roxanne swallowed against the dry lump in her throat, her pulse hammering in her wrists. She wanted so desperately to tell him her entire strategy, to tell him that she trusted him completely.
But as they stood out in the open driveway, a cold wave of caution washed over her. She remembered the last time they had tried to have a private conversation near the villa. Walls had ears in the Vance household.
She cast a quick glance over her shoulder at the looming structure. Anyone could be watching from those windows, she thought, her mind racing.
She let out a breath to calm her nerves. "It is nothing, Richard. I just cannot explain anything to you at this moment," she murmured, attempting to pull her wrist free and turn toward the waiting vehicle.
Richard held onto her fingers gently, refusing to let her drift away. "Look at me, Roxanne," he said, his deep voice barely above a whisper. She met his gaze, her dark eyes searching his. "Do you trust me?"
Yes. More than anyone in that room, she thought. But saying those words aloud would expose everything she was trying to accomplish. So she swallowed them.
Richard’s grip loosened, his hand falling back to his side as his broad shoulders slumped. He took a slow step backward, his face twisting with profound disappointment as he stared at her silence.
Roxanne’s heart broke at the sight. She wanted to reach out, grab his coat, and pull him into a tight embrace. She wanted to reassure him that his loyalty meant everything to her, but she forced herself to stand rooted to the spot, keeping her mouth shut.
Richard gave a slow, bitter nod. "I just want you to know that I have never betrayed your trust," he said, his voice solemn and laced with deep pain. "If you walk away like this tonight, you are letting Cara believe her desperate plan actually worked."
Roxanne swallowed hard, her hands curling into tight fists inside her coat pockets as she fought to maintain her composure. "Just go back inside to your family, Richard," she said, each word tasting like bitter ash on her tongue when all she truly wanted was to hold him.
Richard stared at her, his eyes softening for a brief second before his brows pulled together with sudden resolve. "If you are leaving, then we are leaving together. I have zero intention of going back into that house without you," he declared firmly.
Roxanne’s eyes widened in surprise. "No! You cannot do that! You need to stay and manage the problem!"
"Watch me," Richard said, pressing the key fob in his pocket to unlock the black sedan parked nearby. The headlights flashed twice in the dark. Before Roxanne could utter another word of protest, Richard strode over to the passenger side, pulled the heavy door wide open, and stood beside it.
"Please, get in."
Roxanne stared at him, her chest rising and falling in rapid breaths. "What on earth are you doing, Richard? You need to be in there."
"Why would I be in there?" Richard stated, his tone completely unyielding. "You are not in there, so I have no business remaining in that house. You and our unborn child come before everything else. So please, get in the car."
He held the door firmly, his posture radiating pure defiance against his family’s wishes.
Roxanne stared at him, her heart twisting painfully inside her chest. He wasn’t asking her to choose between him and his family. He had already chosen.
Her.
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