Chapter 136 Reality Is Much Crueler
Peter sent over a secret-recipe roasted turkey, freshly made by his private chef.
Benjamin sent a set of racing car toys.
Ethan sent a box of fireworks, plus an extra bottle of perfume from Melissa for Rebecca.
The person who delivered the gifts was Ethan's secretary. After arranging the presents, she looked at Rebecca respectfully and said, "Mrs. Windsor, Mrs. Scott asked me to tell you that whenever you have time, she'd like to treat you to dinner to apologize."
Rebecca paused for a moment. Seeing Frederick glance at Alex, she suddenly understood.
At their first meeting, she had asked Melissa about the history between Frederick and Alex's mother.
Melissa knew Alex was Frederick's nephew, but she had been vague and misleading, letting Rebecca believe Alex was Frederick's son, until Frederick denied it yesterday.
Now that the truth was clear, Melissa must be feeling very guilty.
"That's not necessary..."
Rebecca shook her head with a smile. "I'll contact Melissa myself in a bit."
After the secretary left, Rebecca called Melissa to thank her and Mr. Scott for the gifts, and they chatted about that misunderstanding.
After hanging up, she could hear the sounds of racing cars zooming around from the bedroom.
Rebecca walked over to see Alex freely controlling the race cars with a remote.
"Done with your call?"
Frederick ruffled Alex's hair, letting him continue playing, then walked over to Rebecca. He checked her forehead temperature and led her away to take her medicine.
When they came back, they sat together by the bay window.
Looking at Alex, who was as handsome as a child star, Rebecca's sympathy for him multiplied several times over.
She had originally thought his mother had just abandoned him, but at least he still had Frederick as his father to care for him. When he grew up, apart from Elizabeth and Frederick, he would be the most precious one in the Windsor family.
But it turned out Frederick wasn't his father—he was his uncle.
"Frederick..."
Rebecca moved closer to Frederick and asked in a low voice, "Alex's father..."
"He passed away."
With that one sentence from Frederick, Rebecca immediately pressed her lips together.
She heard him say softly, "Alex's father died before he was even born. Alex is a posthumous child."
"His mother wasn't married to Jasper yet at that time. His grandmother cried until she nearly went blind, kneeling before her and begging her to give birth to the child. She agreed."
Recalling the past, Frederick's expression turned cold.
The night air swept past with the cold wind, and everything around seemed frozen, filled with a chilling coldness that made one's heart tremble.
"For Alex's sake, they promised her that if she kept the child, she would get half of Jasper's assets. Besides that, she would be free—free to go wherever she wanted, marry whoever she wanted in the future. The Windsor family would keep it secret and never let anyone know Alex was her child, so it wouldn't affect her future marriage prospects."
"She agreed! But after the child was born, she changed her mind!"
Rebecca's heavy heart suddenly lifted. "A child is carried and born by the mother with such hardship—of course, she couldn't bear to give him up. What happened after that?"
What happened after that? How did Alex end up being brought back?
Almost as soon as she asked, "What happened after that?" Rebecca sensed something was wrong.
Frederick's already gloomy expression seemed covered with frost, his pitch-black eyes seemingly filled with dark clouds.
"After that..."
Glancing at Alex, who had already taken the race car apart into a pile of pieces and was now reassembling it according to the instruction manual, Frederick said in a heavy voice, "After that, she moved out with Alex."
"No one knew what happened. All we knew was that his grandmother was so angry she coughed up blood. When I rushed over, Alex... was locked in a cage, covered in injuries... and that day was his second birthday."
"A cage?"
Too shocked to even make a sound, Rebecca moved her lips and looked back at Alex.
Tears suddenly streamed down her face.