Pampered by my Billionaire CEO Husband
Chapter 157: What did you just say?

Chapter 157: Chapter 157: What did you just say?

The words burst out of her lips before she could even stop herself. A gasp emerged from my lips as silence enveloped us for what felt like an eternity.

I watched as Evelyn’s face went pale within the next second while James froze in his spot and he was looking at his wife with wide eyes. A mixture of shock and surprise was swirling in the depths of his eyes as he remained dumbfounded with disbelief written all over his face.

"What... did you just say?" The words finally left his lips as his eyes darted between Natalie and I with a tiny frown etched between his brows. I could see the gears in his head shifting as he struggled to register what had just happened. "Aurelia is our daughter?" He repeated, tossing her words right back at her.

Natalie kept her gaze steady and her voice remained unwavering. She knew it was too late to back out now. The truth is out and she wasn’t planning on hiding it anymore.

She straightened her posture and cleared her throat audibly. "That is right," she said, confirming her words without hesitation while James continued to stare at her with a blank expression that masked his features. "Aurelia is our daughter. They were swapped as babies and we never suspect a thing," she explained.

Silence stretched between them once again as the air crackled with unspoken tension.

He shook his head. "No," he muttered softly under his breath, clearly still in denial. He took a step back, creating some distance between us before he looked back up to meet her eyes. "There’s no way. I don’t believe you. Is this some kind of sick joke?" He asked, the words that left his lips were dripping with accusation as he glared at her with narrowed eyes.

"No it isn’t," Natalie said, her voice filled with certainty as she looked at her husband. "Aurelia really is our daughter! I –"

"No, Evelyn is our daughter!" His voice boomed loudly, cutting her off before she could complete her sentence. He was now standing next to Evelyn as he had his hand resting on her shoulder, emotions running wild in his eyes.

I watched as Evelyn’s hand travelled up to hold onto her father’s hand as she looked up at him and they locked eyes. She had a pitiful look plastered across her face as tears filled the brim of her eyes.

"Daddy..." She muttered softly under her breath, her voice was barely above a whisper. "Is it true? I’m not your daughter?" She questioned, feigning innocence as she let a single tear drop roll down her rosy cheeks.

He took in a deep breath as he let the corners of his lips curled upwards into a slight smile and he shook his head lightly. "No, that’s not true," he assured as he patted her on her head. He bent down so that he was at her eye level. "You are my daughter and you will always be my daughter," he told her as his voice trembled slightly, still overwhelmed with emotions.

He stood back up and turned back around to face Natalie and I as his face darkened visibly.

"I don’t know what the two of you are up to..." He snarled with a disdainful scorn. "But Eve will always be my daughter."

"But the maternity and paternity test results –"

"I don’t want to hear another word about this," he demanded through gritted teeth, interrupting Natalie. "I don’t care about the test results. It can’t be true."

He whipped his head around to glare at me with his eyes narrowed into thin slits. "You did this, didn’t you?" he accused, his tone carrying a sharp edge to it. "You put this idea into my wife’s head and faked these results because you are greedy, because you are eyeing our wealth, right?" He continued to accuse me as he clenched his jaws tightly and I could picture his blood boiling with anger.

"Why would I be eyeing your wealth?" I retorted. "I have my own money and I am doing pretty well on my own. If I didn’t need you for over 20 years, I certainly don’t need your money now either," I fought back.

I watched as his eyes grew wide with anger and the frown that was etched onto his face deepened, forming deep creases in his forehead. "You –!"

"It wasn’t her!" Natalie quickly interrupted, her voice slicing through the tension that hung in the air between us like a thick blanket. "I was the one who did the test," she confessed without a second thought.

A soft chuckle emerged from his throat as he looked at her with an incredulous look plastered across his face. "You? You did that?" He asked in disbelief.

He walked towards her this time, closing the gap between them as he leaned in closer towards her, his lips hovering close to her ear. His voice dropped to a hush whisper as he spoke.

"Eve is suffering from breast cancer right now," he reminded her crudely, his sharp words piercing right through her chest and into her heart. "I can’t believe you would secretly do a paternity and maternity test on her and suspect that she isn’t our daughter," he spat the words out like they were poison in his mouth.

He leaned back this time, his eyes holding hers captive.

"How could you be so heartless?"

Natalie let out a breath she had been holding as she took a step back and lowered her gaze to look at the ground instead. He then turned to fix his attention on me at the next moment. "Stay away from my wife, you are not my daughter," he sneered with contempt swimming in his eyes.

I didn’t say a word as I only looked at him and remained unfazed the entire time.

"Come on, Eve, let’s go," James announced and I watched as he wheeled her off without even turning around to spare us another glance.

***

I was just leaving the office when I heard a familiar voice reach my ears. Almost immediately, I snapped my head around and my eyes landed on a pair of blue eyes I haven’t seen in a while now.

A tiny frown immediately crept onto my face to rest between my brows.

"Blake?" His name left my lips, my voice laced with a hint of shock and surprise. Of all people, he was one of the last few people I would have expected to see standing right before me. I watched with wide eyes as he carefully made his way towards me, closing the distance between us with a few large strides before he stopped right in front me.

"Hey Aurelia, how have you been?" He asked casually as the corners of his lips curved upwards into a smile. "It’s been long."

Silence stretched between us for what felt like an eternity as I struggled to find the right words to say. It took a while but I finally broke the silence.

"I’m good," I said. "What are you..." My voice trailed off as my eyes flickered down to glance at the bouquet of flowers he was holding in his hand. "You got flowers for Stella?"

"No, they are for you," he said as he reached up to hand the flowers over to me.

My eyes widened with surprise as I stared at him with a raised brow and a puzzled look etched onto my face.

"For me?" I asked in disbelief as my mind started to buzz with thoughts. "Why would you –"

The words barely left the tip of my tongue when he interrupted, cutting me off before I could finish my sentence.

"I just wanted to thank you," he explained, the smile still lingering on his lips as he held the flowers in front of me.

"What for?"

"For everything," he replied, his eyes running wild with emotions. "Mostly for helping me with the movie."

A soft chuckle escaped my parted lips as I kept my eyes on him.

"Blake, I told you..." I drawled, my voice trailing off. "I know you think I only did this for you but like I said, it is also an investment opportunity for my husband and I," I said, my tone stressing on the last few words that left my lips.

I gently pushed his hand in an attempt to get him to keep the flowers.

"You can give these to Stella," I urged. "I’m sure she would love these."

"No, tulips are your favourite flowers, I remember."

"They are but..."

"Then just keep them," he insisted. "I got them specially for you. They told me that we are no longer together but why can’t we try again?" He asked, hurt flashed past his eyes for a brief second.

"I..." I stammered as though there was a lump stuck in my throat and I was unable to get the words out. "I am very happy with my husband. I don’t ... We can’t get back together, we can’t try again. It’s too late for that."

I saw the hope left his eyes within the next second but the next few words that left his lips shocked me.

"But I still love you, Aurelia."

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