Chapter 69 No Room for Sentiment-or Morality
That evening, Alexander returned to the family estate after his grandfather personally called him.
Violet was still angry.
"Why are you back? I thought you'd already abandoned your entire family for that woman."
Alexander's face darkened.
"Violet, the older you get, the worse your manners become. Is that how you speak to your brother?"
Violet immediately hid behind Carson.
Eleanor stood.
"If he can stop recognizing his own mother, what does a sister matter to him?"
Alexander rubbed his temple.
"Mom, can you stop interfering in my private life?"
He continued, "Serena is Ethan's mother. You attacked her in public. What if a reporter photographed it?"
Eleanor's expression hardened.
"Good. Then maybe Elsa can escape this nightmare faster."
Alexander lowered his eyes and said nothing.
Charles scolded his wife.
"This is exactly why women shouldn't interfere in business matters. Did you think about our son's future? The future of the Horton family?"
He turned toward Alexander.
"He is the heir to this family. The family's interests come first. He was right not to act emotionally. Alexander gave Elsa chances. She's the one insisting on divorce. What do you expect him to do—kneel and beg her to stay?"
Eleanor was too angry to answer.
Old Mr. Horton spoke sternly.
"You're the lady of the Horton family. Slapping someone in the street is disgraceful."
Then he added, "Mercy does not command armies. Sentiment does not build fortunes. Emotion cannot govern serious affairs. If you intend to achieve great things, you cannot be ruled by feeling."
Eleanor looked at the three cold men in front of her and did not argue with the patriarch.
Behind the luxury and manners of their social world was a simpler rule: the strong survived.
They spoke the most civilized words while making decisions that could make ordinary people shudder.
In this circle, sentiment had little value and morality even less.
People looked courteous until interests collided. Then the teeth appeared.
Her son had been raised in exactly this system.
Eleanor said nothing. She took Violet and left the living room.
Alexander was already restless. Once his mother and sister left, he found an excuse to leave the estate as well.
Late that night, Alexander wore a dark robe and drank with Lucas on the outdoor terrace of his bay apartment.
Lucas kept pressing him.
"Things are already this bad. Divorce Elsa, marry Serena, and let everyone get what they want."
Alexander leaned against the railing, brows drawn together.
"If Grandfather hadn't persecuted Serena six years ago, she wouldn't be this fearful now. She asked me to hide Ethan's identity because she wants to protect her child. She's his mother. I can understand that."
Beyond that, Serena had never made excessive demands of him.
Even when she and Ethan had moved into his marital home, it had happened because Elsa herself arranged it. Serena had accepted under pressure because Ethan wanted a father figure.
Once she realized how wrong it looked, she apologized quickly.
Since then, she had kept her distance and never crossed obvious boundaries.
Now she was even trying to support herself, renting a home and working as a social-media creator rather than accepting his money.
She was doing all of it, Alexander believed, to keep Elsa from misunderstanding them and demanding divorce.
Lucas looked exhausted by the conversation.
"Alexander, when one or two people dislike someone, maybe they're biased. When every person around you dislikes her, shouldn't you at least ask why?"
"Because all of you like Elsa. You decided Serena returned with bad intentions, so you judge everything she does through that prejudice."
Lucas stared at him as if he were stupid.
"So you don't love Elsa, you love Serena. That's why you don't see Elsa's pain, and that's why you believe anything Serena says."
The irritation inside Alexander surged again.
"Lucas, all of you keep talking about liking people, loving people, feelings, romance. Do you honestly think it's worthwhile to pour this much time and energy into things that intangible?"
Lucas barked a laugh.
"You agreed to date Serena once. You met every week. If you weren't talking about feelings and romance, what were you doing? Chanting scripture and preparing to become monks?"
Alexander answered without embarrassment.
"I admit Serena is the only woman I ever believed I was in love with. She was also the woman I most wanted to marry. And I admit her return affected me strongly at first. But love and marriage are not my entire life. Serena disappeared for six years. I married Elsa. Elsa and I lived perfectly well."
Even if Serena's return had caused him to make impulsive decisions, he had never intended to reunite with her and destroy his marriage to Elsa.
One week later, Gavin entered the CEO's office at Horton Group with a thick file.
"Mr. Horton, the investigation is complete."
Alexander closed his laptop and opened the file.
"Talk."
Gavin reported everything.
"Six years ago, three months after Miss Whitmore arrived in Taren, she married a Lothar citizen named Cedric who was living there. Six months later, she gave birth to a child."
He paused.
"Neighbors and several of Cedric's relatives confirmed that shortly after the birth, Miss Whitmore began suffering domestic violence. The abuse continued for approximately four years."
Gavin continued, "She suffered three miscarriages and was diagnosed with depression. We obtained hospital records supporting both the injuries and the psychiatric treatment."
Alexander slowly closed the file and walked to the bar in the lounge area.
He poured a drink.
Gavin followed.
"Four years ago, Cedric suddenly acquired money. The physical abuse stopped. However, Miss Whitmore's medical records show that the same year her depression became most severe."
"One year later, Cedric died from a drug overdose. Miss Whitmore remained with his family. According to witnesses, her mother-in-law and sister-in-law frequently abused her verbally and physically."
"Another year later—several months ago—her mother-in-law tried to force her into another marriage. Soon after, Miss Whitmore stole a gold bracelet from her sister-in-law, sold it, and used the money to buy a ticket home."
Gavin delivered the final point.
"We checked the personal accounts belonging to Miss Whitmore, her mother, her brother and sister-in-law, Cedric, and Cedric's relatives. During those six years, there are no transfers suggesting the sixty-million check ever benefited any of them. In fact,
we found no unexplained transfer over three hundred thousand."
Alexander's face became terrifyingly cold.
His hand tightened around the glass until his knuckles whitened.
Serena had not lied about her suffering.
She had returned only because she had truly reached the end of every other road.
That evening, in an ordinary residential building in southern Saintville, Serena prepared an elaborate dinner.
She showered and changed into a new dress.
When someone knocked, she gave her mother, Grace, a meaningful glance.
Grace beamed and went to open the door.
Alexander entered.
Ethan immediately wrapped both arms around his leg.
"Daddy!"