Walking Away While Pregnant: Dear Ex-Husband, I Don't Love You Anymore

Chapter 134: Chapter 134

"Josh?" A man’s voice called out from behind.

Josh turned around. Seeing who it was, he raised an eyebrow slightly. "Hey, Alex, back so early? I take it your meeting went well?"

"It went fine." Alexander walked over, his gaze shifting back and forth between Elise and Josh. Finally, fixing his eyes on Elise, he asked, "You two know each other?"

"We don’t," Elise replied honestly. "He was just secretly taking photos of Lily and me, and I told him to delete them."

Josh flinched, visibly stiffening.

Alexander looked at him, his brows knitting together. "When are you going to drop that bad habit of yours? Did you delete them?"

"I haven’t had a chance to yet..." Josh muttered.

"Delete them," Alexander said firmly. "This is Miss Elise Harper, and she’s Lily’s godmother."

Feeling a bit awkward, Josh glanced at Elise and then at his cousin. "Alex, since she’s an acquaintance, can’t I just keep them?"

"Ever heard of portrait rights?" Alexander said with a straight face. "If Miss Harper wants them deleted, you delete them."

Josh had nothing to reply to that.

Elise looked at the two of them and pressed her lips together. "Are you brothers?"

"Cousins," Alexander explained gently, looking at her. "He’s my uncle’s son, Josh. He studied photography and then stumbled his way into showbiz later on."

"I know he’s a celebrity." Elise pursed her lips, shifting her gaze to Josh. "Since you’re Mr. Hayes’ cousin, you don’t have to delete the photos. Just send the raw files directly to me."

Josh smiled. "Sure. I’m a professional photographer, so if you want any photos taken over the next few days, I’d be happy to help. You and Lily clearly adore each other, and the scenery here is beautiful—you should take some more photos to remember it by."

Elise was actually quite tempted by the offer. Still, she had her reservations.

"You’re a celebrity," she noted. "Will your manager be okay with you taking photos for me?"

"Celebrities are human too. Besides, I’m on vacation right now. As long as my whereabouts don’t leak, Dona won’t interfere with what I do. Don’t worry, I definitely won’t let your photos get leaked."

Hearing this, Elise looked over at Lily sitting on the swing, her eyes softening. She really did want to take some photos with Lily.

"Tell you what—you take the photos for us, but I’ll pay you standard market rates."

"No need for that, I just genuinely love photography—"

"Business is business," Elise insisted firmly. "If you won’t accept payment, I won’t trouble you."

Left with no choice, Josh laughed and agreed. "Alright then. Let’s add each other on messenger, and you can just pay me whatever you think is fair."

"Okay." Elise pulled out her phone and opened the app. "Let me add you."

"Cool." Josh immediately pulled out his phone and brought up his QR code.

Once they successfully added each other, Elise said she would look into the going rates and transfer the money to him later. Josh smiled and told her there was no rush.

Standing nearby, Alexander watched Josh closely. He knew his cousin well enough; Josh loved photography, sure, but he was absolutely not the type to volunteer his services to someone.

Over the years, Josh had starred in various dramas and had his share of dating rumors with female co-stars. However, Alexander knew those were just for publicity. In his private life, Josh was quite picky about his partners. Aside from a girlfriend back in college, he hadn’t heard of him dating anyone else.

Alexander had met that college girlfriend—a sweet, delicate girl from the south. She was the complete opposite type of woman to Elise. Yet, the way Josh had looked at that girl back then was exactly how he was looking at Elise right now.

Alexander’s gaze darkened slightly. Looking at Josh, he cleared his throat and pointedly dropped a reminder: "Miss Harper is also my client."

Josh, who had just slipped his phone back into his pocket, looked at Alexander with curiosity. "You two met because of a lawsuit?"

"Yes," Alexander said. "You could say that."

"Really?" Josh looked at Elise. "Well, Miss Elise, you definitely came to the right guy. As far as I know, my brother hasn’t lost a single case in years!"

Elise felt there was no need to hide anything since he was Alexander’s cousin.

"A divorce lawsuit," she said quietly.

Josh’s eyes widened.

A divorce lawsuit?!

Seeing his frozen expression, the corner of Alexander’s mouth ticked up imperceptibly.

"Miss Elise looks so young though..." Josh’s smile was growing stiff. "Well, my brother is great at divorce cases too. It should go smoothly, right?"

"Yes, I have full confidence in his abilities." Elise didn’t want to dwell on the subject. Turning to Alexander, she said, "Lily took a nap with me around noon, so she’ll probably sleep a bit later tonight."

Alexander nodded. "Thank you for taking care of her today. Sorry for the trouble."

"I’m Lily’s godmother, it’s only right that I look after her. Besides, she’s a darling, and I love spending time with her."

Alexander smiled warmly. "I just don’t want you overexerting yourself. Since you’re pregnant, you should try to get as much rest as possible."

At this, Elise gently touched her stomach. "It’s fine. I’m in my second trimester, and the doctor actually recommended light walking."

"Pregnant?!" This time, Josh’s pupils practically underwent a seismic shock. A crack seemed to appear across his flawlessly handsome face.

His reaction was so extreme that Elise gave him a puzzled look.

Alexander swept a glance over Josh before addressing Elise. "By the way, when I was coming over, the inn’s owner was looking for you. It seemed like he had something to tell you."

"Alright, I’ll go check it out," Elise said. "I’ll leave Lily to you."

Alexander nodded. "Okay."

Once Elise had walked away, Alexander finally turned his full attention to Josh.

Josh was still staring blankly in the direction Elise had disappeared.

"Have you ever heard of Dylan Bennett from North City?" Alexander asked in a flat tone.

Josh snapped out of his daze and whirled around to face his cousin. "Don’t tell me her husband is Dylan Bennett."

"Congratulations, you guessed right." Alexander smiled at him. "So, don’t go getting any ideas. Unless you’re tired of living, you do not want to covet Bennett’s woman."

"...But didn’t she hire you for a divorce? That means he will be her ex-husband soon."

"Josh," Alexander said, his expression turning deadly serious. "Even if Elise gets a divorce, it’s impossible between you two. Take my advice and don’t go running into a brick wall."

"But Alex," Josh said, clutching his chest, "it’s too late. My heart was pounding just now, exactly the way it did when I liked Nina! Brother, I’ve fallen for her!"

Alexander could only sigh. "...Don’t force me to kick you in front of Lily."

Josh remained unfazed. "You don’t understand, it’s love at first sight! I can’t control it!"

"You better take my words to heart," Alexander warned sternly. "Even if she cuts ties with Dylan Bennett, the two of you aren’t a match. She won’t be interested in you."

"Whether she’s interested is her business," Josh retorted, frowning with determination. "But liking her is my business!"

"Josh!" Alexander snapped in a low, sharp voice. "Do you have to argue with me on everything?"

Josh frowned. "Alex, you’re acting weird."

Alexander froze.

Josh narrowed his eyes, studying his cousin before a sudden realization dawned on him. "I get it! Wow, you’re sly. You’re using Dylan Bennett as a scare tactic, but the truth is, you’ve got designs on Elise yourself!"

"You like Elise too, don’t you?" Josh stepped closer, lowering his voice. "Look, it’s perfectly normal to like a woman like her, but can’t you just be upfront about it? Creeping around like this is a bad look."

Alexander’s face darkened instantly. "Josh, keep talking nonsense and see if I don’t actually beat you up."

"Ah, the great Attorney Hayes is getting defensive! Looks like I really hit the nail on the head!" Josh backed away a few steps, keeping a safe distance.

Watching Alexander scowl with his ears turning slightly red, Josh raised an eyebrow and grinned. "Look, even though we’re cousins, love doesn’t care who got there first. So, from today on, let’s just see who wins her over fairly, alright?"

Whether it was alright or not remained to be seen. But the very next day, two uninvited guests arrived at the guesthouse.