lexander followed the instruction to the rooftop.
Shirley slanted across the ledge where Shirley sat clutching Marleigh, her voice deliberately pitched high with tremor: “Alexander! How dare you toy with me!!”
He regarded her calmly, his tone steady. “Our contract covered the child and marriage. It never mentioned the Nguyen family. When did I toy with you?”
Shirley suddenly laughed, tears mingling with rain on her cheeks. “Alexander, must you destroy everything? Since you leave us no way out, I’ll take your child and die with her!”
Marleigh trembled in terror, yet sat frozen, tiny hands gripping the railing without a sound.
“Shirley, need I remind you whose child Marleigh is?”
Her heart clenched, yet a flicker of hope ignited.
His concern about the child’s origin meant he still cared, didn’t it?
He was just jealous, seeking revenge.
This thought sparked a twisted mix of triumph and desperation within her. Her voice cracked uncontrollably. “I’m car- rying your child in my womb. Do you truly not care at all?”
Her hand instinctively covered her belly, her final bargaining chip.
“Shirley,” Alexander’s expression remained icy. “Threats of death or children mean nothing. Your deaths hold no sig- nificance for me. I won’t mourn you, nor collect your bodies.”
Shirley searched his eyes for any trace of their past tenderness, finding only frozen stillness.
She realized, abruptly, that her old tactics – the feigned innocence and fragility she’d wielded so effectively to trap him had utterly failed in this moment.
“Alexander…” she whispered his name, despair seeping through. “You truly… won’t look back?”
“No. Come down if you want to live.” Alexander edged forward. “State your demands. Negotiate properly. If I’m pleased, I might grant you something. Otherwise, you get nothing.”
He lunged, yanking Marleigh from the ledge.
Rita didn’t stop him. She simply stared at this man, once familiar now a stranger, at the ice in his eyes that no longer reflected her image. Abruptly, she laughed a sound more twisted than tears.
–
“Alexander,” she murmured, “Is it wrong… to want to be with you forever?”
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Chapter 16
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Before the words faded, her foot slipped.
She reached for the railing, fingers only brushing cold metal. As gravity took hold, she saw Alexander sprint towards
her.
Too late.
His palm barely grazed her fingertips.
Thud!
Rain kept falling, washing over the thick crimson staining the ground.
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