His Wicked Obsession (Archer and Virginia) novel Chapter 7

Virginia paused and let out a scoff. "I'm sure the Caldwells have already explained it clearly to you, Mr. Vanderbilt."

Cindy's biological parents had died in a tragic accident when she was just a baby. She was about to be sent to an orphanage, but Virginia couldn't bear the thought, so she had adopted the child herself.

Archer stared at her for a few seconds before crushing his cigarette and closing the distance between them with his long strides.

"We were trying for a baby back then, so there was a real chance you could have gotten pregnant. Cindy's age lines up perfectly. It's only natural for me to be suspicious."

Archer's commanding gaze carried a heavy weight of scrutiny, maintaining his usual authoritative posture. "I have plenty of ways to verify the truth, but I want to hear it straight from you."

Virginia took a deep breath, suppressing the irritation flaring in her chest, and met his eyes directly. "She's not."

"I have no desire to repeat the details of Cindy's background, and I couldn't care less how you plan to investigate. But maybe you should look at it from another angle—given how obsessively my parents favor Chloe, if Cindy really were your child, they'd hide us at the ends of the earth before letting us show up and ruin your marriage."

She crossed her arms, taking a sudden step forward, her smile practically dripping with ice. "Besides, what gives you the confidence to think I'd ever have a child with a cheating ex-husband?"

The moment those words left her mouth, the temperature on the terrace plummeted.

Archer's face turned to stone. He stared at her with dark, storm-filled eyes, remaining entirely silent for a long time.

In the middle of the standoff, Chloe's voice drifted up from downstairs. "Archer, breakfast is ready! Come down!"

Virginia looked past him and saw Chloe in the courtyard, holding Toby and looking up at the terrace. The exquisite features of her face couldn't hide her nervous apprehension.

No one answered. Archer merely cast a fleeting glance at her before ordering the nanny to feed her.

The conversation at the table centered around Chloe. Years ago, she had injured her arm doing extreme sports. Although it had physically healed, whenever she performed abroad, her arm would uncontrollably shake, causing her to make mistakes. As a result, she was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Madeline immediately grabbed her daughter's hand, her tone filled with heartache and a hint of reproach. "Didn't you get an invitation to Mercer Psychiatric Hospital back then? Archer, didn't you take Chloe to see Doctor White?"

Chloe bit her lip, her eyes turning slightly red as she softly defended him. "Mom, it wasn't Archer's fault. Mercer is a top-tier international research facility; they don't take outside patients. When we went there, the assistant realized the invitation wasn't in our names. No matter how much we begged, they refused to let us in..."

"Since we've been back, Archer found out that there's a massive psychiatric summit happening in the capital. Doctor White and his disciples will all be attending. I heard he recently took on a new student named Ginny who specializes in PTSD. All of her published papers have incredible clinical value. My doctors abroad also said that if I could get her to treat me, I would definitely be cured. It's just that she's incredibly low-profile, and very few people have actually met her."

At the mention of Ginny, Chloe's eyes filled with longing. She cast a timid glance at Archer, secretly vowing to herself that she had to get back on stage so she could truly be worthy of him.