Chapter 170 I'm Going to Be a Grandpa
Alexander turned slowly to face him.
"Not an acquisition. An investment in Caroline's name. I'll inject capital to cover the losses, stabilize the stock price, clean up the dirty books, and root out the corruption inside."
"But you'll need to sign an agreement. After your death, all remaining Neville family assets under your name go to Caroline unconditionally. Nothing can be left to Isabella, or... Celeste."
This wasn't a negotiation. It was a notification.
Alexander was taking back everything Caroline should have had but lost, doing what little he could to compensate for his own stupidity.
Damon stared at him, silent for a long moment, then finally nodded heavily.
"I... agree. It should have been hers all along anyway. I... I failed her."
Getting his answer, Alexander turned to leave again.
"Alexander!"
Damon shot up from his chair.
The movement was too sudden. He broke into violent coughing, his thin shoulders shaking uncontrollably.
He covered his mouth, coughing with a racking pain, and when he finally caught his breath, tears filled his eyes.
"I... I know I have no right to ask. But please, let me see her one more time. Just once. Please?"
Alexander's footsteps stopped, but he didn't respond.
Damon's tears finally spilled over. His back hunched, as if he'd aged ten years in an instant.
"I... I have cancer. Late stage. The doctors say I don't have much time. All these years, because of Edith's death, I hated, I resented, and I took it out on Caroline. I didn't dare see her. I didn't know how to face her, how to tell her that her sister's death wasn't her fault. I couldn't even say a single word of comfort. I owe her so much. I'm not a good father. I just want to see my daughter one more time before I die... please, Alexander."
A man who'd dominated the business world for years now stripped himself of all dignity and pride, begging in a broken voice.
Alexander stood with his back to him, his hand at his side curling almost imperceptibly.
After a long silence, just when Damon thought he'd refuse or even humiliate him, Alexander finally turned around.
"I'll arrange for Grandhaven's best oncology specialists to consult on your case and do everything possible to treat you."
"When her condition stabilizes, I'll arrange for you to come to the island."
"She's pregnant. She needs family with her. Especially during delivery—she'll be scared if no one's there."
Damon's head snapped up.
Pregnant? Caroline was pregnant?
He stared, frozen in place.
Alexander offered no further explanation and left.
The conference room door shut heavily behind him.
Seconds later, Damon sank to his knees, covering his face.
"Pregnant? Caroline... she's having a baby? I'm going to be a grandfather? I'm going to be a grandfather?!"
He repeated it incoherently, crying and laughing at once.
Alexander returned to the island at dusk.
The setting sun painted the sky in brilliant gold and crimson, the ocean shimmering with light.
He found Caroline on the back beach.
The beach was secluded, white sand stretching soft into the sea. Caroline lay quietly asleep under an umbrella, loosely holding an open book in her hand.
Alexander slowed his steps, approaching quietly. He bent down and carefully slipped the book from her fingers.
He looked down at the familiar cover.
He paused.
This book... he remembered it.
Years ago, when they were still teenagers, he'd visited the Neville mansion and seen this book in Edith's study.
She thought she was Edith, so she'd become childlike and sweet like her, loving books like this.
Bitterness rose in Alexander's chest.
He gently brushed the fine sand from the pages and sat down in the lounge chair beside her, opening to the page she'd been reading.
He cleared his throat and began to read softly.
"Grown-ups love figures. When you tell them you've made a new friend, they never ask you any questions about essential matters. They never say to you, 'What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies?' Instead, they demand: 'How old is he? How many brothers has he? How much does he weigh? How much money does his father make?' Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him."
Alexander's voice was soft and gentle.
He hoped his voice would enter her dreams, chase away nightmares, yet feared waking her, feared making her remember the heavy past.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye."
When he reached that classic line, his voice carried an involuntary edge of bitterness.
He'd looked with his eyes for five years and seen only hatred, deception, and illusion.
What he should have seen—that pure heart—he'd blinded himself to, hurt, and finally buried with his own hands.
"You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed."
The words struck like needles into the softest, most painful place in his heart.
Had he tamed her?
No. He'd imprisoned her with violence and lies.
But somewhere along the way, without realizing it, she had tamed him.
His joy and sorrow, the very essence of his life—all of it had become deeply entangled with Caroline, inseparable.
He had to be responsible. For everything he'd done, and for her and the innocent life growing inside her.
Lost in thought, he suddenly felt a gentle gaze fall on his profile.
He stopped reading and turned his head.
Caroline had woken at some point.
She tilted her head slightly, eyes fixed on him without blinking.
"Alex..." she called softly. "You're back!"
She sat up, pushing off the blanket, about to throw herself at him.
"Careful!"
Alexander set down the book and reached out to catch her steadily.
Her body was so light he could hold her with one arm.
He wrapped his arms around her carefully. "Slow down. Don't move too fast—think of the baby."
"I'm fine!" Caroline ignored his warning, nestling against him with contentment, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and burying her face in the curve of his shoulder.
"You're finally back! I missed you so much! That story you were reading... it was so beautiful. I never knew your voice sounded so good when you read aloud..."