Chapter 203 Rachel's Boyfriend is Karl
Sometimes fate works in the strangest ways. Arabella thought she'd just run into Rachel in the waiting area, but it turned out they were on the same flight.
During boarding, Rachel and her boyfriend stood right behind her. With Alexander there, Rachel didn't dare say anything. Oncethey boarded the plane, though, Arabella discovered that Rachel and her boyfriend were seated directly in front of them.
Running into Rachel killed whatever excitement Arabella had felt about flying first class for the first time. She listened to Rachel ordering the man around—get this, grab that. He stayed accommodating through it all, until he messed up adjusting her seat because he didn't know how first class worked. Rachel tore into him.
"Karl, are you trying to piss me off? Does this look like a position I can sleep in?"
The man quickly apologized. "I'm sorry, Rach. Please don't be mad."
Rachel kept snapping at himfor a while.He patiently soothed her until she finally backed off and let it go.
But Arabella had gone completely rigid in her seat.
Alexander immediately noticed something was wrong. "What is it? Are you feeling sick?"
Arabella forced a distracted smile. "No, I just... remembered something. I'm fine."
But her eyes stayed glued to the man in front of them.
Alexander followed her gaze, his brow furrowing. He leaned close and asked quietly,"Something off about him?"
Arabella swallowed hard and shook her head. "Let's talk after we land."
She'd just heard Rachel call her boyfriend Karl. If she remembered correctly, wasn't Faye's boyfriend also named... Karl?
The plane had wifi. After a moment's hesitation, she messaged Gillian: [Do you have any photos of Faye's boyfriend?]
Gillian responded quickly: [Let me check.]
A few minutes later: [No luck. I don't think Faye's ever brought him around.]
Arabella pressed her lips together before typing: [Can you get a photo from Faye somehow?]
She was on the plane with Karl sitting right there—if Faye called, he might overhear.
Gillian sent back a question mark: [What's going on? Why the sudden interest in her boyfriend?]
Arabella put her phone on silent, then snapped a photo of the two people in front of her. She sent it to Gillian along with the picture she'd taken for Daisy of Rachel and a man shopping together.
[This guy's name is also Karl.]
Gillian caught on immediately: [Leave it to me.]
About half an hour later, Gillian sent a photo. [I was worried she'd get suspicious, so I told her we're planning a get-together with everyone's partners.: I said I wanted to see what her boyfriend looked like so we wouldn't mistake him for someone else. That's how I got her to send this.]
[Don't forget about the dinner thing, by the way. We should actually do it Monday night to keep the story straight with Faye.]
Arabella replied with a quick "okay" and opened the photo.
Her fingers froze. The the man with his arm around Faye, grinning widely, was identical to the guy submissively following Rachel around.
Karl was... cheating?
Did Faye know?
She was pregnant. They were supposed to get married at the end of the year!
Arabella didn't know what to say.
Just then, Gillian sent another message: [When I called Faye for the photo, she didn't want to give it to me at first. I kept asking and finally found out why—Karl doesn't like her taking pictures of him. He also doesn't like her introducing him to people. To this day, besides Faye's parents, not a single one of her friends or coworkers has met him.]
Arabella sucked in a sharp breath.
Gillian was typing for a while before sending: [You think Karl's setting her up?]
Arabella bit her lip. [Didn't we already plan dinner with Faye for Monday? Let's observe him carefully when we meet.]
Gillian sent back an “OK” emoji.
Arabella put her phone away. When she looked at the two people in front of her now, her whole perspective had changed.
At first she hadn't paid them much attention—just two strangers. But now, knowing the man with Rachel was Faye's boyfriend, she could barely stand to look at them.
In Faye's descriptions, her boyfriend was proud and ambitious. Despite coming from poverty, he'd worked his way to Majestic City through sheer determination. He was smart, capable, and responsible.
But this guy acting like Rachel's lapdog in front of her? He didn't match Faye's description at all.
After some internal debate, Arabella opened her phone's camera, zoomed in, and recorded a video. She saved it carefully. Might need it later.
Alexander watched her suspicious behavior but seemed to guess what was going on. He didn't interfere—if she was having fun with it, he'd let her.
After they landed and got into the car that had came to pick them up, Alexander finally asked, "You know that guy?"
Arabella nodded, then shook her head.
She gave him a quick explanation of Faye's situation.
Alexander got straight to it. "He's after money. Same goal as that Zack guy."
Arabella blinked. "Huh? How do you know about—"
Zack had been her supervisor. He'd pursued her for a while, then got tangled up with another woman in the office. That woman ended up jumping off a building, and Zack got fired.
She'd found out later that Zack came from nothing and wanted to marry a Majestic City girl—preferably an only child—to skip twenty years of struggling.
But that had all happened when she first started working, back when she and Alexander had barely knew each other. How would he know about it?
Alexander just smiled without answering.
Arabella began to understand. "You've been watching me this whole time?"
Alexander looked at her. "Didn't I already tell you? I've loved you for years."
Arabella didn't know how to respond. She silently turned to look out the window.
---
The car had been arranged by Alexander's father, Marvin. Arabella had no idea where they were going until the car stopped in front of an estate and she saw Vera rush out holding a dog, acting like a servant as she reached out to support Arabella's arm.
Arabella was mortified. What had she done to deserve this stunning woman helping her out of the car?
Vera looked annoyed. "I swear, you're pregnant and you're still not careful at all! You’re getting out of a car this high without a second thought. And Alex—what kind of husband are you? Don't you knowyou should help her?"
Arabella broke into a nervous sweat. Calling her "Mrs. FitzRoy" or "Mom" both felt wrong, so she skipped the title altogether. "I'm fine, really."
Vera gave her a disapproving look. "Let me tell you something—pregnancy is not something to mess around with. Even if you don't care about the babies, you need to think about yourself. You're basically carrying around a ticking time bomb in there. One wrong bump and who knows what could happen. You have to be more careful."
Arabella could only nod. "Okay, I'll be more careful from now on..."
Alexander came around from the other side and naturally slipped his arm around her waist. "Mom, Arabella's not a child. Stop lecturing her."
Vera was about to snap at him when she spotted Marvin approaching. Her expression instantly crumpled. She pointed at Alexander with tears in her eyes. "Honey, look! Your son is bullying me!"
Marvin was immediately concerned, rushing to wipe away tears that weren't actually there. "Okay, okay, I'll deal with him. Don't cry, sweetheart. Don't cry."
Vera whimpered pitifully a couple times, then apparently got bored with the act. She grabbed Arabella's hand and pulled her toward the estate, talking as they walked. "Well, at this point I can't exactly split you and Alex up anymore. Like it or not, you're carrying his child. You're the mother of his babies. We won't pretend otherwise. You two need to have a proper wedding, though. You should wear the dress before your belly gets too big—it'll look better that way."
Arabella opened her mouth but didn't say anything.
Before, she'd wanted Vera's approval. Now that she had it, she found herself backing away.
If Vera knew the truth, she'd probably rip Arabella apart.
Vera continued, "Look, when I first didn’t want you marrying Alex, it wasn’t personal. I just thought you came from too low a background to help him in any meaningful way."
Arabella quickly said, "I understand."
Vera glanced at her. "You understand what? My concerns were valid. I was worried because I've walked that road myself. You know Alex's grandfather originally groomed Marvin to be the heir, right? In terms of ability and vision, Marvin was far superior to his two older brothers. He was the obvious choice."
Then her expression turned a bit smug. "My husband is amazing. Seriously amazing."
Arabella couldn't help but smile.
Vera's face fell as she sighed. "But he insisted on being with me. He refused to marry the woman his father wanted for him. His father looked down on me and told Marvin that if he insisted on staying with me, he'd have to give up his position as heir. And Marvin agreed."
She looked sad. "He had such a bright future ahead of him. He gave up everything for some wild nobody like me. I was terrified he'd regret it someday. Scared we'd get sick of each other. But you know what? He's been great. All these years and he hasn't changed."
By the end, she was happy again, gesturing enthusiastically pride written all over her face. "The man I picked is the best! I have excellent taste in men!"
Arabella didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Vera must have been incredibly protected by Marvin all these years to maintain this cheerful, innocent personality.
"Don't be mad at me," Vera said. "I just didn't want you and Alex to end up like Marvin and me. Alex is my son. I know how exceptional he is. I didn't want you holding him back."
Arabella nodded. She'd never taken it personally. She'd always understood. And honestly, she shared Vera's concerns.
Vera smiled. "But thinking about it now, it's really not a big deal. You're already pregnant anyway. Worst case scenario, we just raise another heir. And the best part? Nobody's going to interfere with you two anymore."
Arabella's chest tightened, but she maintained her smile and nodded.
She couldn't exactly have this conversation with Alexander's mother.
Vera didn't notice anything wrong. She pulled Arabella forward, pointing excitedly. "Look! See that big water wheel? Marvin just built it for me. The pond too—he dug it fresh. Isn't it gorgeous?"
Arabella looked ahead and saw the large wheel turning constantly, probably powered by electricity. Water cascaded off it in sheets.
The pond was beautifully designed—an irregular shape surrounded by stones, with lush green grass beyond .
As she got closer, Arabella could see the bottom had been waterproofed. Colorful fish swam among pretty aquatic plants.
Vera bragged proudly, "Beautiful, right? I saw one of these water wheels in a video and got curious about how it worked. So Marvin built me one by hand! Look, I can even ride a bike on it."
Arabella followed her gaze and spotted a bicycle contraption mounted on the outer edge of the wheel.
"You're pregnant so I won't let you try it," Vera said. "But it's super fun. Come back after you have the babies and I'll let you play."
Arabella instinctively glanced back.
Marvin and Alexander were walking toward them, one in front of the other. Both wore casual clothes, their tall frames giving them a polished, elite look.
Marvin rarely smiled. It was hard to imagine such a serious man pampering his wife when she fake-cried, or building her an enormous water wheel on a whim.
The whole thing was incongruous. "Doting husband" just didn't match Marvin's vibe at all.
She watched as Marvin passed a small fenced area. He casually picked up a food container hanging nearby and tossed breadcrumbs to the chickens inside.
The chickens swarmed and fought over the scraps. Marvin said gently, "Okay, okay, don't fight. There's enough for everyone."
He threw in two more handfuls.
Looking up, he noticed Alexander standing there watching. The smile instantly vanished from Marvin's face. He went back to his stern expression and continued walking.
Arabella took all this in and felt an unexpected pang of sympathy for Alexander.
His parents each loved what they loved—just not him.
Vera noticed where Arabella was looking and laughed. "Those are my chickens. Marvin says we can eat them for New Year's. I'll send you home with a few to help build up your strength. Don't pregnant women on TV always drink chicken soup?"
Arabella politely declined. "Thanks, but I'm not really a fan."
Vera wrinkled her nose. "You don't like it either? Honestly, neither do I. It's so greasy. But I don't know what else to feed you to help with the pregnancy!"
She was the mother-in-law now, after all. She'd seen too many horror stories online about terrible mother-in-law relationships. She instinctively wanted to maintain a good relationship with this daughter-in-law who'd fallen into her lap.
After thinking it over, Vera brightened. "How about I just give you money instead!"