Even though she’d been listening for a while, Anne Sutton still couldn’t believe it.

After all, Nathan Fawcett had died all those years ago.

The man who was alive now was Ethan Linden, wasn’t he?

Justin Shields knew he had let it slip, and what’s worse, Anne Sutton had heard him. This was a disaster!

Terrified, he quickly tried to cover his tracks. "No, you must have misheard!"

Anne Sutton looked at Nathan Fawcett. He was sitting there, staring at her. She demanded, "You tell me!"

She had always felt that this man was hiding something from her.

But she never knew what it was.

She had even thought it was about the child!

Now it seemed what he was hiding from her was his very identity!

He was Nathan Fawcett, not Ethan Linden!

And yet he appeared before her every day without ever telling her the truth.

He had even called her "sister-in-law" before!

Nathan Fawcett saw Anne Sutton staring at him, his expression calm. He had never expected to hide it from her for long. In fact, her finding out now was already a bit later than he had anticipated.

Facing Anne, he didn’t seem guilty at all. He just said, "What do you want me to say?"

"Are you Nathan Fawcett, or Ethan Linden?" Anne felt her entire body trembling uncontrollably.

Nathan Fawcett raised an eyebrow. "Didn’t you just hear everything?"

"So, you really are Nathan Fawcett?" Anne took a few disbelieving steps forward, moving closer to him.

She realized he looked so different now compared to before. So much so that she hadn’t recognized him until she heard someone else say his name!

Seeing her staring at him, Nathan Fawcett asked, "So what if I am?"

’So what if I am?’

His gaze was cold, and his words sent a shiver through Anne’s heart.

She looked at Nathan Fawcett. "Why didn’t you tell me?"

She had been kept in the dark this whole time.

"If I had told you, wouldn’t you have been upset?" Nathan Fawcett said. "Before I left, you told me that even if I were gone one day, you would keep my child. But you? What did you do? You aborted my child!"

...The subject of the child had always been a source of pain in her heart.

Now that he brought it up so bluntly, Anne felt her heart tear apart.

Tears immediately streamed down her face.

"Yes, what happened with the child was my fault. I’m the one who didn’t give birth to him. But Nathan, it wasn’t on purpose."

"Not on purpose?" Nathan Fawcett looked at her and laughed, his eyes filled with scorn. "Before my surgery, I came to see you. I thought that even if the surgery failed, I could at least see you one last time. But you? You were pregnant with my child and on a date with Charles Prescott. My being alive must have been an obstacle for you, right? Getting in the way of you and Charles. So as soon as you heard I was gone, you couldn’t wait to be with him."

He still remembered when he’d arrived and seen her with Charles Prescott. He had almost strangled them both on the spot.

But later, he figured it was her choice!

So he let her be.

He just never imagined that in the end, she wouldn’t even keep the child.

"That’s not it!" Anne said. "It wasn’t like that! I never thought you were an obstacle. You came back then, but you never told me."

"By not telling you, I got to see your true colors, didn’t I?"

Nathan Fawcett sat on the sofa, staring at her coldly.

Even though Anne now knew he was Nathan Fawcett, his attitude toward her hadn’t improved one bit.

On the contrary...

Now that the truth was out, his resentment toward her flared up.

Anne looked at him and reached up to wipe away her tears. "I was only with Charles Prescott back then for the sake of the child. I never truly wanted to be with him. But the child is gone now, so you won’t believe me even if I tell you all this. In any case, Nathan, I’m just glad you’re alive!"

Knowing he was alive put her heart at ease.

She looked at the man before her, who felt both familiar and strange.

Before, her heart had been heavy, wondering why he was pestering her like this.

Now that she knew he was Nathan Fawcett, she suddenly felt much lighter.

At least she wasn’t a homewrecker.

And he wasn’t Stella Shields’s fiancé!

...

Justin Shields sat to the side, watching Anne’s crestfallen expression and glancing at Nathan Fawcett’s cold demeanor. He wanted to say something, but he realized it wasn’t his place to interfere.

Anne looked at Nathan Fawcett’s cool and distant manner and said to him, "You two continue your chat. I just came to get Ian’s backpack."

Hearing this, Justin quickly handed her Ian’s Pikachu backpack. Anne took it and went upstairs.

Justin breathed a sigh of relief only after she had left.

He looked at Nathan Fawcett and said, "Sorry, I didn’t know she was there."

Nathan Fawcett said, "It’s nothing. She would have found out sooner or later. If there’s nothing else, you can head back."

Justin had originally wanted to plead Stella Shields’s case, but Stella had already run off. And now, he had just exposed Nathan’s secret. Feeling a little embarrassed, he stood up and left.

The butler walked in, saw Nathan Fawcett, and asked, "Sir, has... has Madam learned your identity?"

"..." Nathan said, "It’s better that she knows. It saves me from wondering what’s going through her head all day."

’All she knows is how to run!’

He couldn’t even be bothered to go find her.

...

Upstairs, Anne Sutton was with Ian, flipping through a book for him.

Ian looked at her and said, "Anne."

Anne answered, "I’m here."

"Are you unhappy?"

Anne glanced at Ian. "No."

’She had just learned Nathan Fawcett’s identity; her feelings were simply a complicated mess.’

’What she hadn’t expected...’

’In just a few years, he even had a child of his own!’

’Meanwhile, she had spent all these years unable to move on from the loss of their child.’

Ian raised his hand and touched her face. "Anne, if you’re sleepy, you should go to bed."

"I’m not sleepy."

"I’m sleepy." Ian gave her a peck on the cheek and lay down.

Anne looked at the little guy. "Alright, you get some sleep."

She put the book down for him, stood up, and left Ian’s room.

When she returned to the bedroom, she saw that Nathan Fawcett had already come upstairs.

He was sitting on the bed, reading a book. Anne looked at him, remembering his cold attitude toward her, and was at a loss for words.

She walked over and asked Nathan, "Has Justin gone home?"

For some reason, now that she knew his identity, she felt a sense of closeness, yet at the same time, things seemed even more awkward.

After all, so much had happened between them.

Nathan Fawcett said, "He’s gone."

Anne looked at Nathan Fawcett. The room was too quiet, so she tried to start a conversation. "I overheard some of your chat today. Was it you who replaced Stella Shields as the female lead?"

"..." Nathan raised his eyebrows, a silent admission.

Anne looked at him and said, "Nathan... is it okay if I call you that?"

Hearing her voice, Nathan’s hand holding the book tightened unconsciously. "Suit yourself," he said.

"Back then, your father said you were gone. I thought it was true. Is... is your illness completely cured?"