Bound by the Past, Locked by the Heart novel Chapter 237

Eleanor's face burned crimson, her chest heaving violently. All her ingrained refinement and aristocratic poise vanished in an instant.

She stepped aggressively toward Willa, her voice shaking with rage. "How dare you? How dare you betray him like this?"

Willa didn't flinch. She met Eleanor's furious gaze, her tone chillingly detached. "Mrs. Yates, there's no betrayal between Randal and me. He has a fiancée. What am I to him?

"I'm just the woman he keeps on the side. We're both getting what we want out of this arrangement. A woman of your status surely didn't think we were doing this for true love, did you?"

Eleanor choked on her words, utterly speechless.

"So... why exactly was I supposed to stay loyal to him?"

Saying those words out loud made Willa sick to her stomach, but she had no other choice.

She had to make Eleanor believe the child had no biological ties to the Yates family. If she didn't, they would take her baby away.

Eleanor's gaze carved into Willa's face, scrutinizing every feature for a single trace of deceit.

After a long, suffocating silence, Eleanor suddenly laughed.

The sound was entirely devoid of humor, sending a violent chill down Willa's spine.

Eleanor's voice had returned to its icy composure, dripping with mockery. "Did you really think I'd buy that?"

Willa's heart plummeted into her stomach.

Eleanor sat back down, reclaiming her throne of superiority.

She stared down her nose at Willa, a cynical sneer curling her lips. "You claim this isn't his baby. Fine. Then tell me—who is the father?"

Willa's fingers curled into tight fists. Bracing herself, she threw out a name. "Corbin Sommers."

Internally, she apologized to Corbin a thousand times over, praying this desperate lie wouldn't bring him any actual trouble.

Eleanor's expression instantly darkened. Her eyes dropped to Willa's belly, cold and calculating. "Is that the truth?"

Seeing the lingering doubt on Eleanor's face, Willa decided to go all in. "Then wait until the baby is born and do a paternity test. If the baby isn't Randal's, you let me walk away."

Perhaps it was the pregnancy hormones, but Willa suddenly felt completely overwhelmed.

Before she knew it, hot tears were streaming down her face.

Just then, the front door unlocked with a soft click.

Willa frantically scrubbed the tears from her cheeks and looked toward the entryway.

Randal walked in. As he was changing his shoes, he glanced up and caught sight of her face. He immediately strode over, crouching down in front of her and gently cupping her cheek. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

Willa turned her face away. "I wasn't."

His thumb softly brushed away the moisture at the corner of her reddened eyes, his voice dropping into a tender murmur. "Your eyes are completely red. What happened?"

"It's nothing, really," she forced a watery smile, scrambling for an excuse. "I was just watching a movie, and the ending was really sad."

Randal offered a soft smile and stroked her hair. "Don't watch things like that anymore. Crying too much isn't good for the baby."