Chapter 70 An October Scorpio and a November Scorpio
Alexander looked toward Serena.
Serena immediately scolded the boy.
"Ethan, how many times have I told you? This is Uncle Alexander. Don't call people whatever you want."
Ethan burst into tears.
"No! I want Uncle Alexander to be my daddy!"
Grace pointed angrily at Serena.
"I worked myself to death to send you to university. Then you disappeared for six years and came back with a child. You've humiliated this entire family. What's wrong with a child wanting a father? If you couldn't give him happiness, why did you give birth to him?"
Serena's face turned white.
She stumbled backward and covered her head as if the words had triggered a terrible memory.
"Mom, please stop! Please don't yell at me!"
Alexander's expression hardened.
He walked over and supported Serena to the sofa.
Grace saw his reaction and immediately took Ethan toward the door.
"Come on. Grandma will take you to the store and buy you a toy."
Once they were gone, Alexander poured Serena a glass of water.
Her eyes reddened.
"I'm sorry, Alexander. I've dragged you into another mess."
Alexander sat across from her and once again took out a bank card.
He placed it on the coffee table.
"Serena, stop forcing yourself to struggle. Use this to buy a home. There will be enough left for you and Ethan to live on."
Serena lowered her eyes to the card.
She knew the amount inside was probably beyond anything she could imagine.
But she had changed her strategy.
She didn't want money.
She wanted access.
Connections.
A place in his world.
The more Alexander tried to compensate her, the more firmly she would refuse.
She wanted his guilt. His sense of debt. His need to protect her.
After he divorced Elsa, the position of Mrs. Horton would eventually become hers.
She would enter the Horton family openly and become the lady of Saintville's most powerful household.
Serena spoke with guilt.
"Alexander, Ethan and I have already caused you so much trouble. If I take your money too, I won't have the dignity to stay in this city."
Alexander's tone became unreadable.
"You don't want money. Do you want something else?"
Six years ago, whether his grandfather had forced her or not, Serena had taken the sixty million and hidden the truth from him.
The investigation proved she had suffered terribly afterward.
Even so, Alexander felt the need to test her.
His question nearly made Serena's legs collapse.
Her guilty conscience made her raise her voice.
"Alexander, what do you mean by that?"
He slowly stood.
"If my mother hadn't told me about the sixty million, how long were you planning to hide it?"
Serena hurried toward him.
"I already explained that. Your grandfather forced me. I didn't tell you because I didn't want you fighting with him because of me."
Alexander looked directly at her.
"Serena, I don't like people circling around what they want. Tell me honestly. Is it money—or something else?"
He emphasized the final words.
Serena answered instantly.
"I don't want anything!"
"You're sure?"
"Absolutely."
She spoke with fierce conviction.
"If you think I came back for your money, you can relax. Your money is in your pocket. I can't steal it. From now on, I won't use another cent of yours."
"If you think I came back because I want you, then you can relax even more. I wasn't good enough for you six years ago. I'm even less worthy now. I know my place."
"We've been apart six years. We both married other people. Your wife is elegant and beautiful. She's a thousand times better than me."
"I've been married. I've lost a husband. I have a child. All I want now is to live properly for Ethan. I don't have childish dreams anymore."
"I have to earn money for his school. I have to support my mother. I have rent, utilities, food... I don't have the time or the energy to plot against anyone."
Her voice broke and she began to cry.
"Alexander, tell your wife the truth about Ethan."
"Pretend I never saved you. Pretend everything I've suffered was what I deserved."
"If your grandfather someday throws Ethan and me onto a street in another country, abandons us on some island, or we simply disappear and die, don't worry about us. Our lives are already beyond saving. Maybe death would be another kind of freedom."
The clouds in Alexander's eyes slowly cleared.
He walked closer and, without realizing it, softened his voice.
"If I promise something, I keep it. Take care of Ethan. If you need help, call me."
He said nothing more and left.
Even after six years of suffering that had destroyed the happiness of her life, he thought, Serena was still the upright and kind woman he remembered.
He had been overly suspicious.
For the next stretch of time, Serena became extremely careful.
Determined to enter wealthy social circles and move closer to Alexander's world, she threw herself into livestreaming and social media. She maxed out credit cards on cosmetic procedures and spent obsessively to build an audience.
Far away in Taren, Elsa did the opposite.
She shut out every person and event that brought her pain and focused entirely on her career.
Soon it was early November.
On the first cold day of winter, Alexander returned to the family estate for dinner.
Old Mr. Horton reminded him, "The signing process between Horton Group and Avery Group is complete. I've appointed Attorney Qin to handle your divorce. If you have anything to discuss, speak directly with him."
Alexander set down his utensils and his face went cold.
"Grandfather, I've already told you. No one decides what happens to my marriage except me."
Violet saw the tension rising and hurried to change the subject.
"Alexander, send me Elsa's address abroad. Tomorrow is her birthday. I want to mail her something."
Alexander answered quietly and left the dining room.
The next evening in Taren, Elsa walked back to her apartment after a long day at the hospital.
It was her birthday.
She spent most of the walk talking to her parents.
Each time they said they should hang up, they found another thing to remind her about.
Elsa's eyes slowly grew wet.
She missed home terribly.
So she lied gently.
"Dad, Mom, my coworkers already celebrated with me. Don't worry. I'll be home at the end of the year."
Before entering the elevator, she forced herself to end the call.
In past years, her birthdays had always been crowded and noisy.
Her birthday was November eighth.
Alexander's was October twenty-eighth.
She was a November Scorpio.
He was an October Scorpio.
Alexander disliked celebrations and almost never marked his birthday.
So from the time Elsa was a teenager, she had insisted that he celebrate with her on her birthday instead. She would drag him to the cake, make him blow out candles with her, and force him to make a wish.
Over time, everyone around them came to remember it as if Alexander and Elsa shared the same birthday.
Back in the apartment, Elsa washed her hands and went into the kitchen to cook herself a bowl of birthday noodles.
Her phone lit up on the counter.
A message from Alexander.
Two words.
Open the door.