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

Chapter 138: Chapter 138

The room fell utterly silent.

Everyone’s eyes landed on Elise. Her brow furrowed slightly as her gaze drifted to Robin.

The little boy was looking up at her expectantly, his eyes a mix of fragile hope and deep-seated anxiety.

Elise knew the child was innocent. She shouldn’t take out the grievances and complications of adult relationships on him. Yet the moment she thought of Fleur, she realized she couldn’t look at Robin without a lingering bitterness. At the very least, she could never bring herself to treat him the way she treated Lily.

A line had been drawn. She knew all too well that because of Fleur, the easy intimacy she once shared with Robin was gone. By any logic or emotion, it simply wasn’t possible anymore.

Elise finished the last sip of her soy milk, pulled out a few tissues to wipe her mouth, and stood up.

Looking over at Alexander, she said, "I’m going back upstairs to catch up on some sleep. I’ll have to trouble you to look after Lily and Robin for a bit."

Alexander nodded. "Of course. Go get some rest."

"Thanks." She turned her gaze to Robin. "Play nicely with Lily and listen to Uncle Alexander."

Robin looked at her, his expression deeply aggrieved. "Godmother, Daddy said he had to take care of some things and wouldn’t be back until late."

"That is between you and your father."

Robin froze, his eyes instantly welling with tears. He bit his lower lip, fighting to keep them from falling. "Godmother, are you angry? Are you unhappy because Daddy and I came here?"

Elise looked at him, her expression mild but distant. "Robin, I genuinely dislike people turning up and disrupting my life without warning. You’re a child, and you don’t have the ability to discern right from wrong on your own yet, so I don’t blame you. But right now, I just want to live my own life, and I don’t appreciate having my plans derailed by your arrival. Do you understand what I’m saying?"

Robin sniffled, his mouth trembling as he choked out a reply. "I... I understand..."

"Go play with Lily." After a brief nod to the others, Elise turned and walked straight up to the second floor.

Robin watched her retreating figure, his eyes growing redder by the second.

Lily looked up blankly at Alexander. "Daddy, why did Godmother’s mood suddenly change?"

Alexander patted her head gently. "Your godmother is just sleepy. She’s carrying a baby right now, so she needs a lot more rest than most people. Be good, you and Robin, and don’t disturb her, okay?"

Lily nodded obediently. "I understand."

Listening to their exchange, Robin blinked in confusion.

Alexander turned to him. "Robin, how about I take you and Lily to the beach to collect seashells?"

Robin nodded. "Okay, thank you, Uncle Alexander!"

"Don’t mention it." Alexander patted his head. "Robin, I know you’re a sensible boy. You can understand your godmother, right?"

Robin hesitated before asking quietly, "Uncle Alexander, are Daddy and Mommy never going to make up?"

Alexander offered a gentle, sympathetic smile. "I can’t answer that for you, Robin. All I can tell you is that, at least for now, your godmother doesn’t want to see your father."

Robin looked down, his voice muffled. "She doesn’t seem to want to see me either."

Alexander fell silent for a moment, weighing his words. "Give your godmother some time. Out of everyone involved, she’s had the hardest time."

The boy looked up. "Has Godmother really had it hard?"

"Yes, very hard. So, Robin, promise me you won’t grow up to be like your father, alright?"

Robin didn’t entirely understand, but he knew one thing: he didn’t want his godmother to suffer, and he wanted her to be happy. He stepped forward, grabbing Alexander’s hand, his dark eyes locked onto the man’s face.

"Uncle Alexander, I don’t want Godmother to suffer or be sad. Can you teach me what to do...?"

Back in her room, Elise didn’t sleep. Instead, she called Rina to ask about the filming schedule for the show.

After discussing work for a while, the conversation naturally shifted to Fleur.

"I saw those malicious threads targeting you yesterday," Rina said. "I was going to call you right away, but Dylan called me first. He said he would handle it, so I figured I’d stay out of it. If he’s handling it, there’s usually nothing he can’t smooth over."

"He’s only being proactive because I’m still legally the wife of the Bennett Corporation’s CEO; my reputation directly affects the company," Elise replied calmly. "Besides, Fleur probably called him."

"Fleur called him?" Rina scoffed. "She has that kind of good intentions?"

"It’s just her usual tactic." Elise sat by the window, aimlessly flipping through a book. "Honestly, I don’t care about the online hate. What bothers me more than being slandered is the fact that Fleur is the influencer ’Red Bloom’."

"I looked into it, and Red Bloom is definitely her," Rina confirmed. "She’s signed with Starlight Media. Their reputation is mediocre—they built their brand on promoting borderline-inappropriate influencers, and they’ve been on the decline lately. But it looks like some new capital just flooded in. A friend of mine in the industry mentioned that Starlight Media is planning to invest in a documentary. Connecting that with Fleur’s recent livestream, my guess is she’s the one they’re trying to push."

"If Starlight Media is backing Fleur, then is it possible," Elise deduced, "that their documentary shares the exact same subject matter as ours?"

The other end of the line went completely silent.

After a long pause, Rina spoke up. "Elise, you just woke me up. All of Fleur’s videos are plagiarized. If they’re shooting a documentary, plagiarism is likely the only trick she has up her sleeve. If that’s the case, we really are on a collision course."

"Starlight Media is building massive hype for Fleur right now, while we’ve kept completely quiet. If both documentaries launch around the same time, given the current narrative, Fleur will definitely try to turn the tables and accuse us of copying her."

"We absolutely cannot let a plagiarist get away with that," Rina said, her tone sharp and serious. "No, I need to call an immediate meeting with the team. Don’t worry, I know you don’t want to expose your alternative identity. I’ll discuss it with everyone and come up with a different strategy."

"Don’t rush, look at it this way," Elise said, staring out the window, her voice entirely even. "Since Fleur has the nerve to show her face as a plagiarist, I don’t mind playing along with her."

"Elise, do you have a plan?"

"Yes." Elise closed her book, a faint smile touching her lips. "Since Fleur’s greed knows no bounds, let’s give her the spotlight she wants. We’ll propel her to the absolute peak of her fame, and let her fully savor the taste of victory."

On the other end of the line, Rina caught on instantly and laughed. "Alright, we’ll do it your way. I’ll have my team cooperate with you every step of the way."