NovelNext Chapter 11
Chapter 11
The projector flickered to life with a sharp click.
The first clip showed Alexander Huxley's arrival at the Sinclair household. He stood in the kitchen, a faint smirk playing on his lips. Ethan Smith had already refused his help, yet Alexander insisted on carrying the scalding soup.
"Ah!" On screen, Alexander suddenly let go, spilling the boiling liquid over himself. In the next instant, his expression twisted into feigned panic. By the time Sophia Sinclair and Luna Smith rushed in, he was already pointing a trembling finger at Ethan, tears welling in his eyes. "He... He did this on purpose..."
Sophia's nails dug into her palms.
The second video was from a birthday banquet. Alexander took a tray from a waiter, then furtively pulled a packet of white powder from his suit pocket, dumping it into a champagne flute. The scene cut to him in the hospital, weakly clutching Sophia's hand after having his stomach pumped. "It was Ethan... He tried to kill me..."
Luna clapped a hand over her mouth.
The final footage was the most horrifying. One moment, Alexander was tenderly seeing Sophia and Luna off at the door—the next, he turned and seized a whip, lashing it mercilessly at Ethan, who was bound to a chair. When a phone rang, Alexander gripped Ethan's throat and hissed, "Beg for help, and I'll end you." After hanging up, he grinned at his bodyguard. "Keep going. Just don’t kill him."
Crash! Sophia slammed her fist onto the coffee table, shattering the glass.
Now she understood why Alexander had suddenly shown up last night, pretending to be remorseful. He had been stalling them—buying time for his men to keep torturing Ethan.
"Alexander," Sophia's voice was glacial, "is this what you meant by 'Ethan tried to hurt you'?"
Luna's eyes burned with tears. "You promised Dad would bring Ethan back unharmed today!"
Alexander paled, staggering back. He never imagined the man he'd left half-dead would not only escape but leave behind such damning evidence.
"Th-This is all fake!" He grabbed Sophia's sleeve desperately. "Sophia, you know me—I wouldn’t even hurt an ant—"
"Bastard?" Sophia cut him off with a cold laugh. "Aren’t you supposed to be the kindest, gentlest soul? Funny how easily the insults roll off your tongue now."
Alexander froze. In his panic, he’d slipped back into his true nature.
Sophia seized his chin, her grip bone-crushing. "I must have been blind to think a man who abandoned his wife and child for five years had any conscience left."
"N-No, it’s not like that—" Alexander turned desperately to Luna. "Luna, sweetheart, please—tell your mother—"
Luna tugged at Sophia’s sleeve. For a second, triumph flashed in Alexander’s eyes—See? A stepdaughter could never replace a real father.
But then Luna spoke, her voice eerily calm. "Mom, we can punish him later. Right now, we need to find Dad."
It was the first time she had called Ethan Dad since Alexander’s return.
A shame the man who always smiled so gently would never hear it.