Chapter 203:

He called the caregiver, who had stepped out when the doctor arrived, back into the room. “Take care of her,” Brandon instructed.

The caregiver didn’t reply right away and instead looked to Vivian, uncertain. Vivian held on to Brandon with her eyes. He reached out and patted her gently on the head. “I can’t let my grandparents know I’m here. I’ll come by when I can,” Brandon said.

Vivian knew better than to keep pretending now. She couldn’t risk him calling the doctor back. So she turned her face to the side and kept up the image of being hurt. Brandon gave one last reminder to the caregiver and turned to leave.

But just as he reached the door, Vivian’s voice drifted after him, soft and bitter. “I don’t know what she said to you tonight… but Brandon, I just want to know what you really feel. Is the…”

“Is the issue with the child really settled? Who’s that child? She’s using your grandparents—and the child—to reel you back in. Are you really going to let her?”

Brandon paused for a heartbeat, but he didn’t turn around. He kept walking. The door closed quietly behind him.

Vivian clenched her jaw as she looked at the caregiver, who was quietly tidying up nearby. She flung whatever she could grab in frustration. How humiliating! She had practically thrown herself at him—standing completely naked in front of him—yet he still wouldn’t touch her. It was totally unacceptable. She couldn’t let the Watson family keep pulling Brandon back to Millie.

Her thoughts spun quickly, and within seconds, she picked up her phone and made a call.

Brandon left the apartment building, walked out into the night, and slid into the driver’s seat of his Bentley. But he didn’t drive off right away. He lit a cigarette, rolled down the window, and stared into the drifting smoke as it curled into the air.

That event a year ago… he still didn’t feel like thinking about it. The incident had changed so many things. Vivian’s parting words kept repeating in his mind. His head began to ache, and he pressed his fingers into his temples. Brandon knew Vivian sometimes went too far. He wasn’t blind to it. But she only had six months left. After that… after she was gone, things would go back to how they used to be.

g𝓪𝓵𝓷σv𝒆𝓵𝓼.cøm – check it out!

The cigarette burned down to the filter. Brandon flicked it out, picked up his phone, and called Darden. Then he started the engine.

At Blue Lounge, the music throbbed through the floor and spilled into the streets. Inside one of the dark, private rooms, Brandon sat quietly, separated from the crowd below, watching them dance to the rhythm.

The door opened, and Darden walked in.

“Drinking alone now?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Brandon gestured to the table beside him, where a glass, a bucket of ice, and a few unopened bottles awaited.

Darden took the seat next to him, and Brandon quietly poured him a drink. Neither of them sat on the cushy leather couch. They both leaned against the low-lit bar counter.

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