Chapter 1823

“You are so full of yourself, Elwood,” she said.

“Who told you I kept that child because I still had feelings for you?”

“Keeping the baby was not a choice. It was a medical necessity,” Carola said, her voice low but firm.

“The doctors told me that with my health condition, ending the pregnancy would have meant never conceiving again. I could not let that happen. I could not lose my only chance at being a mother. That is why I made the decision to keep the child—reluctantly, maybe, but decisively. And it had nothing to do with you, Elwood.”

Her voice shook faintly, but she steadied herself with a slow breath.

Then she lifted her chin and pinned Elwood with a frosty stare.

“From the moment we broke up, I stopped loving you.” The words cut clean, sharper than any blade. And the instant they left her mouth, pain coiled in her chest, twisting deep.

Elwood’s complexion turned ashen. His eyes, wide with disbelief, searched her face as if begging her to take the words back.

“I do not believe you!” he growled.

“I refuse to believe you have no feelings for me at all.”

Carola’s expression barely shifted. The indifference on her face had curdled into disdain.

“Believe whatever you like. That is your business, not mine. If you want to cling to the fantasy that I still love you, be my guest. But let me make one thing clear. Kylee is my daughter. Mine alone. I will never hand her over to you. If you are thinking of fighting me for custody, forget it. You would not stand a chance.” Her voice was final, each word delivered like the strike of a gavel. There was no room for argument.

Elwood could clearly feel that she meant every word.

She truly cherished Kylee.

After their exchange, something shifted inside him. His doubts about Carola’s role in altering the paternity test began to fade.

In Carola’s eyes, Kylee was indeed their child.

But the truth was…

Step into a new world at gα?ησνs?c?m

Thinking of this, Elwood could not help but furrow his brows.

Where had things gone wrong?

Was Kylee the daughter of Carola and him?

Only the paternity test would reveal the truth.

Elwood pressed his lips together, his gaze fixed on Carola. His voice dropped to a softer register.

“You do not have to worry. I will not take her from you.”

Whether Kylee was truly his or not, he would not take her from Carola.

Because he believed he had no right to do that.

He had not been there for Kylee. Twenty years gone, and not a single day of fatherhood to claim. So, what justification did he have now to take her from her mother?

Carola’s shoulders eased, just slightly, the tension in her spine loosening.

But peace was fleeting. The thought of the other Wright family members soured her mood again.

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