The CEO's Regret: His Lost Wife's Secret Twins novel Chapter 167

Chapter 167

ARIA

To get everyone’s mind off the awful evening with Ben, Richard and Elaine insisted we proceed with Aurora’s dance celebration at Bellagio’s. Pink balloons and streamers fill the private room. My three-year-old points excitedly at everything.

Olivia keeps checking her phone, barely touching her food. Richard delivers a fifteen-minute speech about ‘precious Aurora’s dance

journey’ while William kicks the table and Ethan stabs his cake, plotting escape routes.

By the time confetti poppers arrive, Aurora’s passed out against my shoulder.

Back home, Olivia shepherds the boys upstairs. “Bedtime, guys.”

“Not sleepy,” William protests, then yawns hugely.

“Me not sleepy too,” Ethan mumbles, rubbing his eyes.

I carry Aurora up to her pink bedroom. She feels warm and heavy against me, completely knocked out. When I lay her down, her tiny hand

reaches out, grasping at air.

I lean down to kiss her fingers and tuck her in when she mumbles in her sleep.

“Un…Uncle…

My stomach drops. I know exactly which “uncle” she means. Blake. The man who has no idea he’s her father.

The taste in my mouth turns bitter. I swallow hard and force myself to breathe. I quickly tuck the blanket around her and get out before I

lose it.

My laptop’s notification light blinks when I get to my room. New email. I should know better than to check it this late.

Different sender address, but the subject line says it all: “Thinking of You.”

The message is short: ‘Dear, today I still miss you.”

Blake. Again. With a new email address. Because of course.

Something snaps inside me. I slam my fist on the desk so hard my laptop jumps. Pain shoots through my hand but I barely feel it.

My bedroom door flies open. Richard and Elaine stand there in their robes, looking freaked out.

“What happened?” Richard asks.

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Chapter 167

‘Nothing- I try to sound normal. “Just saw a spider. Sorry.”

Elaine crosses her arms. “A spider.”

I nod, trying to look embarrassed instead of furious.

“Then I’ll call Jessica right now and ask if you’ve been having spider problems at work too. She mentioned you’ve been distracted lately.”

Busted.

“Fine. It’s not spiders.” I turn my laptop toward them. “It’s him.”

Richard moves closer. His face darkens as he scrolls through the folder labeled “BLAKE” filled with dozens of similar messages from

different addresses.

“These are all from Blake? He found you!” His face goes pale.

“He recognized me, I explain. “Now he won’t stop. I block one address, he uses another. I’ve changed my number twice already.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Elaine demands.

Richard’s hands ball into fists. “That complete bastard.”

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Elaine sits on my bed. “You should have told us right away. Three years ago, we figured things out too late. We couldn’t protect you then.” Her voice breaks. “But things are different now. The Grant family isn’t helpless anymore. If Blake wants to use his power against you, we’ll

fight him till the end.”

I see the pain in her eyes. Three years ago still haunts her-how she almost lost me, how she discovered too late what Blake was really

like.

“I wasn’t planning to let him push me around again,” I say. “If things get worse, I’ll leave the country. Take the kids somewhere he can’t

find us.”

“But you haven’t yet,” Richard points out.

‘My career’s just starting here. And William- I stop, not wanting to bring up my son’s illness. ‘William needs to stay in the US for

treatment.

Richard and Elaine exchange worried looks.

‘Does Blake know about the children? Elaine asks quietly.

I hesitate. “Not exactly. He doesn’t know Aurora is mine. But William has met him.

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Chapter 167

Their shocked faces make me continue.

“That ‘friendly uncle’ Aurora talks about? That’s Blake. He doesn’t know she’s my daughter, but Emma figured it out. She tried to mess

with Aurora at the dance competition.”

“How?” Richard demands.

“She pressured Nina to switch Aurora to a different class. Thank god Nina loves Aurora and saw through Emma’s plan to ruin her

training.

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