My CEO Ex: Let Me Go.-Chapter 98

Other’s POV

The Blackwoods’ Villa.

The assistant handed over a file. "Sir, the information on Vivienne Sinclair has been gathered. Everything’s here for you to review."

"Just leave it," Miles replied.

The assistant placed the file on the desk.

Miles opened it, skimming through a few pages of information.

The first page contained Vivienne’s basic details:

Name: Vivienne Sinclair.

Gender: Female.

Date of Birth: December 2, 2000.

Father: Maxwell Sinclair.

Mother: Margaret Stone.

When Miles saw the name "Margaret Stone," his eyes narrowed.

He didn’t bother reading further, quickly flipping to the next page. Sure enough, he found more information about Vivienne’s mother, Margaret Stone.

The details were outdated, and there was no photograph, but from the other information, Miles was certain this Margaret Stone was the woman he once knew.

Looking at Vivienne’s date of birth, everything clicked. After leaving him, Margaret Stone must have married Maxwell Sinclair.

...

Vivienne’s POV

At noon, I took my assistant to meet a client.

On the way, I stepped out to use the restroom.

"Vivienne?"

Hearing someone call my name, I stopped and turned around. It was Maximus.

I smiled and walked over to greet him. "Maximus, are you eating here too?"

Maximus nodded. "What about you? Did you come with Alexander?"

"No, I’m here to meet a client."

"How’s everything between you and Alexander now?"

"So far, it’s going well."

For now.

I wasn’t sure if Isabella had been in contact with Alexander privately, but I knew she wouldn’t give up on him that easily.

"I’ve been keeping an eye on you two from the start, and I’m really happy for you."

"Thanks!"

Of all of Alexander’s friends, Maximus was the only one I could truly be honest with.

"But Alexander’s the type of person who values loyalty. When Isabella went through that, he wouldn’t have just ignored her."

Maximus noticed the confusion on my face and continued, "Has he never mentioned it to you?"

I shook my head.

I think Alexander had been trying to avoid upsetting me, so he rarely brought up Isabella in front of me.

"When they were together, Isabella was kidnapped. During the ordeal, she was... assaulted by the kidnappers."

My eyes widened in shock.

"Maximus, who are you talking to?" A voice called out from the doorway.

"I’ll talk to you later. I have to go back."

"Take care."

Watching Maximus walk away, I couldn’t shake the unsettling feeling in my gut.

I had suspected something bad had happened to Isabella, but I never imagined it was this.

But it wasn’t like Alexander had arranged Isabella’s kidnapping—so why would he agree to her demands?

Could it be that Isabella’s kidnapping had something to do with Alexander?

The Crescent Estates

"If you have any questions, just ask," Alexander said.

At the dinner table, this was the fourteenth time I had glanced at Alexander. I lowered my gaze, took a sip of my porridge, and fell silent for a moment. "What exactly happened between you and Isabella?"

Alexander paused, his expression faltering. "What made you ask that?"

"I just... I just wanted to know," I replied, meeting his gaze. "If it’s something you don’t want to talk about, that’s fine."

He handed me a slice of beef. "Eat more, don’t just drink the soup."

"Oh."

"There’s nothing I can’t talk about. It’s just that those things are in the past; there’s no need to keep bringing them up."

"You’re right."

Seeing my expression, Alexander sighed and then spoke up. "You should know some of this. I first met Isabella at our university’s anniversary event. That year, the celebration was huge. We started rehearsing a month before. After the event, we started seeing each other. It wasn’t a big deal at first, but later, some... unpleasant things happened. After that, she broke up with me and went abroad."

The "unpleasant things" he referred to were probably what Maximus had mentioned.

"There wasn’t much to it? What do you mean, ’it wasn’t a big deal’?" I asked, my tone a little sharper than I meant.

"My schedule was packed with classes, and we didn’t spend much time together," he replied.

"Who confessed first?"

"Isabella."

Back in university, Alexander had been juggling courses from two different fields, so his schedule had been overloaded. He didn’t have time for anything else, not even the anniversary event, which he hadn’t originally wanted to attend.

As he reminisced about those days, Alexander squinted his eyes, lost in thought.

It had been so long that the only reason he could remember agreeing to be with Isabella was because he enjoyed how easy it was to be around her.

Alexander had always been reserved. While other college students were busy making grand gestures with placards, roses, and chasing after girlfriends, Alexander had been completely focused on his studies. At that time, Isabella had seemed gentle and considerate—unlike other girls who clung to their boyfriends, she gave him plenty of space and never pressured him for his time.

"The charm of CEO Hawthorne hasn’t faded, has it?" I flashed a rare smile.

Alexander’s eyes flickered slightly, and I could tell he hadn’t seen me smile like that in a while.

Something stirred in his heart, and he gently rubbed my head, leaning in closer. "Would you like to experience my charm?"

"How do I experience it?"

He chuckled, lifting me up and carrying me upstairs. "You’ll find out once we’re in bed."

"Your mind is always on that. We just finished dinner, and Gabriella might have seen us." I playfully tapped his shoulder.

"Isn’t it nice to have a little fun after dinner?"

...

Later that evening, I was packing my suitcase for a business trip, along with Alexander’s.

I squatted in the walk-in closet, opening a drawer full of Alexander’s men’s underwear. I picked out a few pairs and placed them in the suitcase.

"Is there anything else you need to pack?"

"This should be enough. If I need anything over there, I’ll just buy it," he said.

"Okay."

Alexander wrapped his arms around my waist from behind, his warm kiss trailing from my ear down to my neck.

They say that intimacy can strengthen a relationship.

That saying isn’t without reason.

Since that day, our relationship had grown much closer. Every night for the past two days, we had been together.

I pushed his hand away. "No, we’re flying tomorrow. It’ll be exhausting."

"Just once."

Alexander lifted me and placed me on the bed.

Exhausted, I quickly fell asleep.

The next day, my flight was at noon, so I let myself sleep in.

I woke up around nine and went downstairs. Alexander wasn’t in the villa; he had a morning meeting and was probably at the office by now. Gabriella had made breakfast for me and left it on the table.

“Thank you,” I said, noticing Gabriella standing there, looking like she wanted to say something.

“Is something on your mind, Gabriella?” I asked.

Gabriella hesitated for a moment before asking, “Vivienne, has your period been late lately?”

She must have noticed something when she was cleaning up yesterday. She hadn’t seen any sanitary products in the master bedroom or in the second-floor bathroom trash bins for a while.

I froze for a second and nodded.

“Oh, Vivienne,” Gabriella sighed. “Why didn’t you go to the doctor sooner? It could be...”

“I’ve already been checked,” I interrupted.

“What did the doctor say?” Gabriella’s face lit up, like she was talking about her own daughter’s pregnancy.

“It’s exactly what you think.”

“Really? That’s wonderful!” Gabriella exclaimed, clearly overjoyed.

“Vivienne, does Mr. Alexander know yet?” she asked, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. If he knew, he’d probably already be making arrangements for maternity supplies by now.

“He doesn’t know yet. Gabriella, you have to keep this a secret for me.”

“What? Why?” Gabriella blinked, clearly surprised.

“Because our relationship is still unstable. There’s a chance we could get a divorce.”

She was still uneasy about my relationship with Alexander.

“But if Mr. Alexander knows you’re pregnant, he definitely won’t want to divorce you,” Gabriella said, trying to comfort me.

“It’s not that simple.”

Gabriella didn’t quite understand, but she agreed to keep the secret. “Vivienne, I’ll help you keep this from Mr. Alexander for now, but once your belly starts showing...”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”