Chapter 179 Not Father
"Cordelia."
Alaric murmured Cordelia's name in a low voice. "I can."
Before he could finish his sentence, Cordelia withdrew her gaze from him and lowered her head to remove the bracelet already on her wrist.
Alaric's brow furrowed slightly.
After taking off the bracelet, Cordelia placed it in Alaric's palm.
She kept her head down, so she didn't see the nervous and lost expression on Alaric's face when she removed the bracelet.
"Thank you for the birthday gift, Mr. Hughes."
"Although this bracelet is almost identical to the one I lost back then, in my heart, that bracelet's meaning cannot be replaced by this one."
"I'm actually not that obsessed with things I've lost. Whether it's people or objects, they can all be lost in an instant. I won't trap myself in obsession over those lost people or things."
"So Mr. Hughes, I've let it go. I don't need it."
Her voice was very soft, so soft that Alaric couldn't detect any emotion in her words.
Her words pierced straight into Alaric's heart.
His body stiffened slightly, and he fell silent.
"Cordelia."
Dominic's voice rang out nearby.
Hearing this, Cordelia stood up from the bench and said softly.
"Mr. Hughes, please excuse me."
After speaking, she walked away toward Dominic.
When Dominic saw Cordelia approaching, he couldn't help but glance at the other figure on the bench.
By the moonlight and the dim yellow garden lights, he could still tell from the person's silhouette that it was Alaric.
Only after Cordelia left did Alaric look up at her retreating figure.
Watching her walk toward Dominic and show him a gentle smile, his emotions lost control for a moment.
He sat in the shadows, his eyes filled with red bloodshot veins and glistening with tears.
No one had ever made him feel this miserable with just a few words.
So miserable that even breathing felt difficult.
He reached up to loosen his tie a bit, but still felt as if something was stuck in his throat.
"Need a tissue to wipe your tears?"
Bruce's voice appeared behind him at just the right moment.
Alaric's eyes darkened, his deep gaze instantly hiding the vulnerability from moments ago.
"Which eye of yours saw me crying?"
Bruce raised an eyebrow slightly.
He had just seen Alaric in the living room and was about to go greet him, but Alaric walked straight toward the backyard.
He was a bit curious about how the cold Alaric, whom he'd grown up with, actually handled relationships, so he followed him to the backyard.
But he didn't expect to witness Alaric being rejected.
"Feels pretty bad inside, doesn't it?"
Bruce sat down on the bench, crossed his legs, leaned back arrogantly, and looked at Alaric with a teasing gaze.
Alaric: "No."
Bruce persisted, "Must hurt at least a little."
Alaric fell silent.
Bruce sighed softly. "Three years ago I told you that if you divorced Cordelia, you wouldn't be able to win her back. You didn't believe me."
She's a surgeon who holds a scalpel—she's seen life and death countless times. Her heart is probably colder than the scalpel in her hand.
Bruce casually picked up the bracelet from Alaric's palm to play with it.
Alaric suddenly snatched the bracelet back.
Bruce raised an eyebrow.
"She doesn't even want it, and you still treasure it that much?"
Alaric stood up with a cold expression, said nothing, and walked toward the front yard.
Seeing this, Bruce followed and quickly said.
"Don't cause any trouble. I'm Cordelia's brother-in-law now. If you cause trouble, I'll definitely take Cordelia's side."
Alaric gave him an indifferent glance, as if looking at an idiot.
Bruce smiled unconcernedly and walked beside him.
The two had just arrived at the front yard.
A small figure rushed straight toward Alaric and hugged his leg.
"Mr. Hughes."
"Amber has been looking for Mr. Hughes for so long."
Allegra followed Amber closely. Seeing Amber run toward Alaric as soon as she spotted him, her expression was both affectionate and helpless.
"Amber just looked everywhere and didn't see Mr. Hughes. She thought you weren't coming today."
Since seeing Amber, Bruce's smile hadn't left his face.
"How come Amber doesn't look for me?"
"Don't you like me?"
"Let me hold you."
Alaric was in a bad mood right now and definitely wouldn't hold Cordelia's child with another man.
Bruce was also trying to ease the atmosphere.
However, in the past, whenever he asked for a hug, Amber would let him hold her even if reluctantly, but this time, Amber kept her head tilted up looking at Alaric and even swatted away his outstretched hand.
"Mr. Hughes."
Amber spoke again.
Alaric frowned, took a breath, and finally bent down to pick Amber up.
Bruce pretended to be hurt. "Amber doesn't like me anymore. I'm going to cry."
He deliberately wiped the corner of his eye as he spoke.
But Amber rested her little head on Alaric's body and pointed her small hand toward where Evelyn was.
"Go cry over by Aunt Evelyn."
Bruce paused, realizing Amber was telling him to go cry by Evelyn. He thought this Amber was both adorable and infuriating.
When she was cute, she made you want to kiss her.
When she was annoying, there was nothing you could do about it.
Alaric sat in a corner sofa holding Amber.
Allegra attended to them nearby.
Amber held her bottle, sitting in Alaric's arms, her round beautiful eyes searching around.
After finding Cordelia, Amber pointed in her direction.
"Mr. Hughes, that's Mommy."
Alaric looked in the direction of her little hand, his mood heavy.
Dominic was beside Cordelia, and Thomas was across from Dominic.
Thomas was talking with Dominic, and the atmosphere between them seemed harmonious.
Alaric's eyes darkened, and his expression grew somber.
Amber turned to look at Alaric, her tone cheerful.
"Mommy is the prettiest."
Alaric gave a soft acknowledgment.
He glanced at Amber in his arms, his expression subtle. "Your dad is over there. Don't you want to go find him?"
Thomas was Amber's father. Logically, Amber should be more attached to him.
Amber took a sip of cool water from her bottle. Hearing Alaric's words, her expression was somewhat confused.
"Who's dad?"
She had never called anyone dad.
She only knew that Cordelia had a dad, Evelyn had a dad, but she didn't have a dad—just like how Cordelia and Evelyn didn't have a mom. So Amber didn't think this was anything strange.
Alaric paused.
Amber looked toward where Cordelia was, realizing Alaric might be referring to Thomas, then said very seriously.
"He's Papa, not dad."