Chapter 36

Alexander held the pregnancy test results in his hands—the same ones from Alice's first prenatal checkup. She had kept them tucked away in her bag, but when Victoria kidnapped her, the papers had been discovered.

After Alexander rescued her, Alice assumed the results were lost forever.

She never imagined they would end up in his possession.

"You... How did you get my medical records?" Alice's face burned with humiliation as her most private matters were laid bare before him.

Today had already been unbearable.

He had kissed her without warning in broad daylight.

Now he was brandishing her pregnancy test like some twisted trophy. She wished the floor would swallow her whole.

Fear prickled at her skin.

She had witnessed firsthand how he dealt with the men who had once taken her.

"Please... give it back," she whispered, her lashes fluttering to hide the panic in her eyes.

"Whose is it?" His fingers tightened under her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze.

"That... has nothing to do with you, Mr. Knight." Her voice trembled.

The memory of that night—the shame, the helplessness—would haunt her forever.

The child growing inside her was a living reminder of it.

And yet... she couldn't bring herself to regret it.

This baby was all she had in this lonely world.

But how could she, an unmarried woman who didn’t even know the father’s name, ever admit this pregnancy to anyone?

This was her secret.

Her burden.

"Nothing to do with me?" His laugh was cold.

Alice lifted her chin. "You already know what kind of woman I am. A delinquent. A convict. Isn’t it normal for someone like me to end up pregnant? I don’t owe you an explanation."

"I testified to your misbehavior myself," he sneered.

Before seeing the test, Alexander had almost believed his mother’s claims about Alice’s innocence. But then Nathaniel told him how she had groveled at Dominic’s feet, polishing his shoes like some desperate servant.

Pathetic.

Disgusting.

"You dare say it so casually?" His grip shifted to her throat. "First, you spread your legs for some bastard. Then you manipulate my mother into loving you—into forcing me to marry you. Was this your plan all along? To parade your pregnancy in front of my family?"

Alice couldn’t speak.

"You even had my mother summon Victoria here to humiliate her. All so you could take her place tonight and announce this?" His voice dropped to a lethal whisper. "Did I miss anything?"

"You—"

"A scheming little liar. I almost fell for your act."

Alice clawed at his wrist, gasping for air.

Just as her vision blurred, he released her—only to rip the test results to shreds before her eyes.