Alexander lowered his gaze and, without hesitation, deleted the photo from her phone.
He handed the device back to Danielle, his face utterly impassive.
His eyes were cold and indifferent, his voice as flat and emotionless as ever. “If it wasn’t her, it would have been someone else. Isn’t that right?”
Danielle took her phone, glancing at the now-missing photo, and let out a short, derisive laugh.
She heard every word he said—his meaning couldn’t have been clearer.
Those condoms weren’t for Millie Fletcher, but for someone else.
So, Millie was nothing more than a convenient shield, a public decoy to protect some unknown woman hidden in the shadows.
Danielle’s expression didn’t shift, as if she’d expected as much. If anything, a spark of curiosity flickered in her eyes.
“You go out of your way to protect Millie. She must be pretty magnanimous, not to be jealous,” she remarked.
Alexander glanced at her. “Yeah. She’s quite magnanimous.”
Danielle hadn’t expected him to be so blunt, to admit without a hint of shame that there was another woman behind the scenes. Nor had she expected him to confirm so openly that she hadn’t been mistaken about the condoms.
He owned up to it all, no evasion, no pretense.
“In that case,” Danielle went on, locking eyes with him, “there’s really no reason for us to keep up this rivalry. It’s all just a game, so why get so worked up? Why keep opposing me at every turn?” Her gaze sharpened. “Is the real reason you won’t acknowledge your daughter because of the woman you’re hiding?”
Alexander looked down at her from his considerable height, his tone measured and cool. “If that’s how you want to see it, you’re not wrong.”
Danielle felt no urge to press for the hidden woman’s identity.
Men like Alexander—if they truly wanted to protect someone, they’d do so with such thoroughness that not a single detail would slip out. No one would ever know. He was the type to hide things so perfectly, not even a hint of a crack in his facade.
Unlike Millie, who was held up high for all to see, Alexander’s real woman would never be exposed to the storms and dangers of his world.
He was well aware of Millie’s position; he must know that if things ever went south, she’d become the scapegoat, the one the world would turn on and revile as the “other woman.”
If he truly loved someone, why would he ever let her take that kind of risk?
Danielle had to admit—Alexander’s tactics were flawless. He shielded the real woman so completely that everyone was fooled into believing Millie was the love of his life.
And today, he’d ended things with the Fletchers without hesitation, cutting all ties cleanly.
For the first time, Danielle saw just how ruthless and calculating he could be.
He was like water slowly heating to a boil, quietly destroying everything in his way, so subtly that no one noticed until it was too late.
His answers were cold, his eyes flat and detached.
There was nothing more for Danielle to ask.
Alexander felt nothing for her; of that, she was now certain.
The woman he cared for—he had protected her perfectly.
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