Second Chance His Unending Love (Calista Hartwell) novel Chapter 73

Chapter 73

Both Calista and Olivia understood that every gift from fate came with a hidden price tag. Nothing was free, and no one acted without wanting something in return.

Evander rubbed his forehead and sighed, “This is exactly why I didn’t want to tell you the truth. Didn’t expect your dad to blow my cover.”

Olivia paused. “Oh, Dad said you’re a fraud and gave me a fake. I don’t know your real identity or how powerful you actually are, Mr. Hayes, but I know you wouldn’t give me a knockoff.”

Killian said the Hayes family won the auction. And from what she’d seen of Evander’s means, she was pretty sure he was from the Hayes family.

Evander gave Olivia a thumbs up. “Just for having such good judgment, I have to give you this chess set.”

“But it’s so expensive.”

“Tell you what, I’ll play a game with you. If I win, we do things my way. Deal? You brave enough to take the 15:39

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challenge?”

“Really? Mr. Hayes, you’d actually play chess with me? Dad says chess takes too long and it’s boring!” Olivia’s eyes lit up.

Evander motioned for her to set up the board. Once he gave something away, he never took it back.

Right now, he hadn’t married Olivia, but if he did, he’d give both of them the whole world if he could. When would he finally be able to give them gifts legitimately?

Calista wanted to say more, but seeing how excited and energized Olivia looked, she kept quiet.

She sat nearby, casually flipping through a book and occasionally glancing over at Olivia and Evander.

Thinking back to those years with the Frost family, Olivia would always look up at her with those big hopeful eyes and ask, “Mom, does Dad have time? Can he play chess with me?”

Calista had always felt so helpless facing her hopes.

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Olivia had wanted so badly to spend time with her father and do the things she loved with him, but Killian was always busy with work, dinners, networking.

Even when he clearly wasn’t busy, he never spent time with Olivia. Instead, when he saw her playing chess by / herself, he’d frown and say, “Girls shouldn’t learn chess. It’ll make them too sharp.”

Calista propped her chin on one hand and quietly watched the two of them. They went back and forth, sometimes joking, sometimes deep in thought, and their interaction flowed easily without any awkwardness.

Maybe Olivia really did want someone like a father figure to be part of her growth and life.

In the end, Evander won. Olivia stared at the board for a

long time before looking up at him with admiration. “Mr. Hayes, I want you to be my teacher.”

Evander raised an eyebrow with a teasing smile. “Can’t do that. I don’t teach my chess skills to outsiders. Unless you’re family.”

Olivia was speechless. 376

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Come on, that is way too obvious.

Calista ignored his joke, and seeing how late it was getting, she quickly urged Evander to leave.

*****

Killian got home and spent ages rummaging through a drawer with a frown on his face before finally pulling out

two photos.

In the photos, Calista sat across from a man in a coffee shop. The man only showed his back, but Killian recognized him anyway. It was that manipulative bastard from tonight!

Rage surged through Killian’s chest as everything suddenly clicked into place. So they’d already been hooking up back then, and he and Calista hadn’t even divorced yet!

No, maybe it had started even earlier. He’d had Edward investigate this figure before, but they could never find out who he was. But this time, now that he’d seen that bastard’s face, it should be easier to track him down.

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Calista was such a fool. Did she think she was still some

hot young thing that men would be lining up for after a divorce? They were just after her money!

“Dad.” While Killian was seething with rage, Austin knocked on the door. “Nicole wants to talk to you.”

“Come in.” Killian reined in his anger a bit.

Austin handed over his phone, and Nicole’s bright, cheerful voice came through the speaker. “Mr. Frost, are you back from the auction?”

Killian wasn’t in the mood and gave a flat “Yeah.”

Nicole was grinning from ear to ear.

“So is there anything you wanted to tell me tonight?”

Killian frowned. “Weren’t you the one who wanted to talk to me? What do you actually want to say?”

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