Chapter 8 Dont Tell Anyone
Alexander's protection made Serena feel especially secure.
She urged him to go after Elsa. "Alexander, I don't want to buy anything anymore. Go after your wife and explain everything to her."
Alexander remained unhurried. "Violet is with her. She'll be fine. I'll take you back to the hospital first."
He asked the staff to package the shoes Serena had been trying on, then escorted her out of the mall.
Their driver had worked for the Horton family for years. When he saw Alexander, he wiped sweat from his forehead and said anxiously, "Sir, Mrs. Horton just ran out of here crying."
"It's nothing. Drive."
Alexander opened the rear door and got into the car with Serena.
Serena held out a bottle of water. "Alexander, here."
He didn't take it.
She quietly studied him and noticed that, despite his calm expression, his unfocused eyes showed he was lost in thought.
Serena cleared her throat and called his name again before he finally came back to himself.
She turned toward him, guilt and hesitation written across her face. "Alexander, can you promise me something? Please don't tell anyone about my son and me."
He looked puzzled. "Why?"
Before Serena even began, her eyes turned red.
"Back then, your grandfather threatened me with your safety and forced me to break up with you. To make sure you gave up on me, he made me leave the country and marry someone else."
Her voice shook.
"All these years, I never stopped loving you. My husband knew it. He abused me for years, forced me to have his child, and I developed severe depression."
"Sometimes I wanted to disappear somewhere no one could find me and die quietly. But I couldn't bear to leave my son."
"Maybe heaven finally had mercy on us. A little more than a year ago, my husband died from a drug overdose. Only then were my son and I finally free."
"I was alone overseas. I missed home, my parents... and I missed you. So I secretly brought my son back."
Tears gathered in her eyes. "Alexander, I'm terrified your grandfather will hurt us again. I'm begging you—please don't tell your family that I'm back. I'm really scared."
When Alexander nodded, Serena continued.
"I don't want to remember any of those terrible things. And I don't want people pointing at us or judging my son. Until I'm well again, please don't tell anyone about his painful background. Not even your wife. Please."
Serena's emotions became increasingly unstable, and she even began speaking as though she might hurt herself.
Alexander's expression softened with pain. He pulled her into his arms.
"Serena, don't say that. Everything you suffered happened because of me. I won't tell anyone what happened to you. I will take responsibility for you and your son. I promise."
His reassurance finally made Serena smile through her tears.
"Don't worry about me, Alexander. I'll get better as soon as I can. I won't make you worry forever."
Alexander took Serena back to the hospital, stayed until she finished lunch, then returned to the office.
He found more than a dozen missed calls from Violet and other family members.
After hesitating for a moment, he called Violet back.
The moment she answered, Alexander asked calmly, "Has Elsa finished making a scene?"
Violet's voice came through the phone in a tearful shout.
"Elsa is missing! Mom and I have been looking for her everywhere!"
The call ended.
Alexander stared at the screen for a moment, then stood and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window.
Those two troublemakers had probably teamed up to fool him again.
His assistant, Gavin, entered the office. "Mr. Horton, is the two-thirty meeting still going ahead as scheduled?"
Alexander lit a cigarette and answered with a calm, "Yes."
Gavin had worked beside him for years. He had a deceptively young face but a serious, disciplined personality. He was smooth when dealing with people, steady under pressure, and more than capable in a fight. He was one of Alexander's most trusted men.
Alexander finished work and left at his usual time.
The family driver, who normally never questioned an instruction, surprised him by asking, "Sir, are we going home or to Miss Whitmore's place?"
Alexander hesitated. "Home."
A faint smile appeared on the driver's previously tense face.
Alexander leaned back and closed his eyes.
He had planned to stay away for a few days and give Elsa time to cool off.
After she'd followed him and caught him with Serena today, there was no telling what kind of scene she might cause.
Half a day had already passed. She had probably smashed enough things at home to get the anger out of her system.
If she was calm now, perhaps they really did need to talk.
When Alexander arrived home, Elsa wasn't there.
He followed his usual routine: showered, changed into sleepwear, and went into the study to work.
A little after nine that night, Eleanor and Violet arrived.
Eleanor had spent half the day searching for Elsa and was so anxious that painful sores had formed at the corners of her mouth.
Seeing her son sitting at home working as if nothing had happened nearly made her faint from anger.
Alexander tried to reassure her instead. "Mom, relax. She'll be fine."
He knew exactly how dramatic Elsa could be.
Once, he'd given her birthday present one day late.
Elsa had gotten angry and secretly disappeared.
When Alexander finally found her, she was soaking in a hot spring, drinking red wine, and enjoying a massage from an expensive therapist.
Elsa knew how to enjoy life.
She loved herself too much to truly put herself in danger.
She might torture everyone else with worry, but she would be fine.
Eleanor threw a cup of tea directly into Alexander's face.
She was so furious that her voice trembled.
"Alexander, I carried you, raised you, and spent thirty years being proud of you. Now I finally see it. You're exactly like your father—cold-blooded and heartless."
Alexander barely reacted. "Mom, you're exaggerating."
Eleanor's eyes filled with tears. "Elsa is your wife. That girl has loved you since she was a child, and after one fight you punish her with silence? Are you trying to drive your marriage all the way to divorce?"
Alexander's answer was firm. "We are not getting divorced. I know what I'm doing."
Violet gave her brother a sarcastic thumbs-up. "Sure. You're just relying on the fact that Elsa loves you too much to leave."
Then she added, "But don't forget—the more someone loves you, the less they can tolerate betrayal."
"Be quiet."
Violet shut her mouth, though her expression remained furious.
After Eleanor and Violet left, Alexander lit another cigarette.
At three in the morning, he called Gavin.
"Don't come to the office for the next two days. Stay near the hospital. The moment my wife shows up there, call me."
Before ending the call, he added, "Her mother just had heart surgery and needs rest. Don't disturb her."
On the other end of the line, Gavin stared at the clock to make sure he hadn't misread it.
Past three in the morning.
His CEO was sending him to stake out a hospital in the middle of the night.
Had Mr. Horton's insomnia gotten worse again?
Three days passed.
There was still no sign of Elsa.
Eleanor and Violet wanted to call the police and notify the Winters family.
Alexander refused.
He was certain Elsa was fine. Give her a few days, and she would come home on her own.
Charles and Old Mr. Horton also opposed involving the police.
The disappearance of the Horton family's young mistress was hardly something they wanted made public.
Besides, the Winters family had been bankrupt for years. In their eyes, Elsa had no practical value to the Hortons and was not worth creating a scandal over.
Soon it was the day Margaret was discharged.
Alexander sent Gavin to help bring Elsa's mother home, while he personally handled Serena's discharge paperwork.
At nine that morning, Gavin saw Elsa arrive at the hospital, safe and unharmed, to collect her mother.
He immediately called Alexander.
Alexander was packing Serena's things when he received the news.
His expression barely changed.
He gave Gavin the rest of the day off and told him to go home and sleep.
As for Elsa...
There was no need for Alexander to say anything.
She would come home on her own.
Carrying Serena's luggage, he stepped into an elevator with her.
At the same time, Elsa stood outside another elevator with her parents.
The doors opened.
Elsa looked up and immediately saw Alexander.
His arm was protectively around Serena, shielding her so the people entering and leaving the elevator wouldn't bump into her.
It was exactly the same way he had once protected Elsa in a crowded elevator.