Chapter 285

Silas flipped through the photos one by one.

The little girl had two pigtails, squatting on the ground picking up leaves.

The next one showed her sitting on a swing, grinning with a missing front tooth.

In the next one, she was lying at a table drawing, her hands covered in crayon colors.

Silas's fingers began to tremble.

That day at the mall, when that little girl looked up and called him daddy, he thought she had mistaken him for someone else.

But she hadn't been mistaken.

She was his daughter.

His own flesh and blood, she had his blood running through her veins.

No wonder when he looked down at that face, his chest suddenly tightened.

No wonder after Serena carried the child away, he stood there for a long time without moving.

He put down the photos, picked up his phone, and dialed Serena's number.

She answered after two rings.

"What is it?" Serena's voice was clearly impatient.

"Come up. 1801."

"I just got back to my room..."

"Come up now." Silas's voice was noticeably shaking.

Silas hung up.

He stood by the window, his mind full of the little girl's smiling face from those photos.

He had a daughter.

He actually had a daughter, and he couldn't remember anything.

After what felt like forever, there was a knock at the door.

Silas walked over and opened it.

Serena stood outside, her face still showing the displeasure from being tricked by him at the hot spring earlier.

She stepped inside, casually closing the door behind her, and glanced up at Silas.

Then she froze.

Silas's eyes were red.

His whole state was completely different from half an hour ago—his jaw was clenched tight, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down several times.

Serena instinctively took half a step back.

"What are you doing?"

Silas stared at her, his lips moving, his voice hoarse beyond belief.

"Where's Aria?"

Serena's expression changed instantly.

"What?"

"Our child." Silas forced out each word. "Where is she?"

Serena stood frozen in place.

She looked at Silas's face, her mind racing.

Silas was asking her where Aria was?

Since when did he start caring about Aria?

A smile slowly formed at the corner of Serena's mouth.

"At home, she's fine." Her voice turned cold. "Why are you asking about this now?"

Silas didn't respond.

His clenched fists loosened and tightened again, his nails nearly digging into his palms.

Watching him like this, the anger that had been building in Serena's chest for so long suddenly flared up.

"Silas, what are you pretending?"

She took a step forward, lifting her chin to look at him.

"You never cared about Aria before. Who are you putting on this act for now?"

Silas's body swayed.

Serena didn't stop, continuing: "You're home maybe a few days a year, and when you are, you stay in your study. Once, Aria waited outside your study door for two hours, just wanting you to play blocks with her. When you came out, you didn't even look at her—you just walked away."

Silas's face went pale instantly.

He didn't remember any of this. Not a single thing.

Everything Serena was saying was completely blank to him.

But when she said it, the pain was real.

The hatred churning in her eyes was real too.

He really had done those things.

Even though he couldn't remember, those things had definitely happened.

Silas suddenly stepped forward and pulled Serena into his arms.

Serena wasn't prepared and crashed into his embrace.

When she realized what was happening, she started struggling, pushing against his chest with both hands.

Silas held her tight.

"Serena." His chin rested on top of her head, his voice coming from deep in his chest, hoarse to the extreme. "I was wrong before."

Serena's movements paused for a second.

"Forgive me." Silas tightened his arms, pressing her whole body against him. "Let's start over, okay?"

Serena was stunned for a long time.

Then she laughed.

She stopped struggling and just let him hold her.

"Silas, is there something wrong with your brain?"

"You have Clara. You're about to marry her. I have Clayton too. Our lives haven't had any connection for a long time."

Silas's arms tightened even more.

"You're the one who kept pushing yourself on me." Serena closed her eyes. "Since this team building started—forcing me to agree to stay with you, sending Clayton away, driving Clara away. What exactly do you want?"

"I said, let's start over..."

"Start over?" Serena suddenly lifted her head, looking straight into his eyes.

Her gaze was calm, as if she were looking at a stranger.

"Silas, I don't want to start over with you. Do you understand?"

Silas loosened his grip a little.

He looked down at Serena.

There was no anger on her face, no grievance, no emotion at all.

This was even harder to bear than her yelling at him or getting angry.

She truly didn't care anymore.

Something was stuck in Silas's throat, unable to go up or down.

He was about to speak, wanting to tell her he had amnesia, that he couldn't remember anything that had happened in the past two years...

Just then, Serena's phone rang.

The ringtone echoed in the quiet room.

Serena looked down at the screen and answered.

"Rex?"

An urgent male voice came from the other end: "Director Serena, we have a problem. Those overseas branches we've been negotiating with suddenly all backed out today, saying they need to reevaluate their cooperation intentions. Projects that were all set to be signed are now all postponed."

Serena frowned.

"When did this happen?"

"Just now. They sent the emails this morning, I just saw them."

Serena turned and headed for the door.

"I'll be right there."

She hung up and walked toward the door without looking back.

Silas called out behind her: "Serena..."

"I have something to deal with." Serena opened the door, not stopping. "If there's nothing else, I'm leaving."

The door closed behind her.

Silas stood in place, staring at the closed door.

The words on his lips ultimately went unspoken.

The room was left with just him again.

John had walked in at some point, and seeing Silas's state, he slowed his steps.

Silas didn't turn around.

"What exactly happened during the time we were married?"

John opened his mouth.

"Tell me from the beginning." Silas's voice grew heavy. "Don't leave anything out."

John stood three steps behind him, deliberating for a long time before finally speaking.

"You and Serena got married ten years ago. At first, the relationship was actually okay, but after Luna returned to the country, you started distancing yourself from Serena and her daughter."

"Why?"

"Because Luna told you that Serena had deliberately provoked Miss Frost, which caused her old illness to flare up. You believed her."

Silas turned around.

John continued: "After Aria was born, you rarely went home. Even when you did, you never stayed long. Serena raised the child alone. Later, she brought up divorce several times."

"What did I say?"

"You didn't agree." John paused. "Every time she brought it up, you just ignored it. Then two years ago, Miss Frost told you she'd been diagnosed with a terminal illness and wanted to marry you in her last six months."