Alfred calmly invites Isla to sit beside Jeffrey Cavalier, but she is frozen with fear and disbelief. When Alfred reveals that he orchestrated the entire deception involving the fake pregnancy test and photos, Isla is devastated. She realizes that he is the true enemy behind Gabriel’s coldness and distrust, and her heart breaks with pain and confusion. Despite her urge to defend herself, she is overwhelmed by the betrayal from her own grandfather.
Jeffrey quietly leaves the room, leaving Isla alone with Alfred, whose imposing presence and reputation make it clear he is not to be challenged. Isla reluctantly sits down, her emotions a mix of grief and anger. Alfred explains that his manipulations have always been his way of controlling the family and preserving their legacy, treating it as a necessary strategy rather than a cruel act.
Alfred admits to being a paranoid man whose actions, though harsh, were meant to protect the family from falling apart. He reveals that he knew everything about Isla before she married Gabriel, which shocks her deeply. As Alfred paces the room, he confesses that his paranoia nearly destroyed everything and hints at a devastating secret: Gabriel is not Anna’s son.
Isla is stunned by this revelation, struggling to comprehend the truth that shakes the foundation of her marriage and the family she married into. After two years of loving and fighting alongside Gabriel, she had never suspected such a hidden truth, leaving her reeling from the betrayal and mystery Alfred has exposed.
Alfred’s lips curled into a calm, almost gentle smile, the kind that masked deeper intentions. His aged, wrinkled hand rose slowly, motioning toward the chair next to Jeffrey Cavalier.
“Please, sit down, Isla,” he said quietly.
But Isla remained rooted to the spot, her body refusing to obey.
For a fleeting moment, it felt as if her heart had stopped beating altogether. A cold wave of fear surged through her veins, chilling her from the inside out. She was certain—no, convinced—that the old man had swallowed the same lie Gabriel had believed. Her instincts screamed at her to defend herself, to plead, to make him understand the truth. Yet, before she could form a single word, Alfred’s next statement ripped the air from her lungs.
“Don’t be foolish, Isla,” he said with an even tone, his voice steady and unnervingly calm. “I arranged everything. The fake pregnancy test, the photos—every bit of it. It was all my doing. Now, sit down. Listen to what I have to say.”
The world around her seemed to freeze in place. Isla stared, unable to blink, her knees trembling beneath her. She clutched the edge of the nearby chair, desperate for something solid to hold onto.
“What… what did you just say?” she whispered, her voice barely audible and shaking with disbelief.
Alfred simply regarded her with that same composed, unreadable expression, as though his confession was nothing more than stating the weather.
The realization crashed into her like a bolt of lightning. He was the one—the true adversary she had been seeking all along. The reason Gabriel had turned distant, the reason his eyes held doubt instead of love. It had been Alfred all this time.
Her throat constricted painfully, tears pooling rapidly in her blue eyes until her vision blurred. “Why?” she choked out, voice fragile and broken. “Why would you do this to me, Grandfather?”
Taking a few unsteady steps forward, she shook her head in disbelief, grief and anger warring inside her.
Jeffrey remained silent, avoiding her gaze completely. His hands rested folded calmly on his lap, his expression unreadable. He knew better than to intervene. Alfred Wyndham was a man no one dared challenge—not even him.
This was a man who had built empires from nothing, who had manipulated industries, families, and bloodlines alike to safeguard his legacy.
Finally, Alfred sighed and rested both palms on his cane. His voice softened slightly but retained its commanding edge.
“Perhaps once you’re seated, I’ll explain everything.”
He turned to Jeffrey. “You’re dismissed, Jeffrey. Thank you for your time.”
Without hesitation, Jeff stood up, smoothed his coat, and nodded politely toward Isla. She didn’t acknowledge him—her eyes were too full of pain to register his gesture. The door closed behind him with a soft click, sealing her inside the study with the man who had just destroyed her trust.
A bitter resentment toward Jeffrey welled up inside her. She was certain now that he had been complicit in the deception. The thought twisted her stomach painfully.
At last, Isla moved, her legs heavy and reluctant, but she forced herself to sit—though not in the chair Jeffrey had occupied. Instead, she chose the seat beside it, sitting upright with a bitter expression etched across her face.
She stared at him, eyes wide and stunned, struggling to absorb the truth that shattered everything she thought she knew about her husband, her marriage, and the powerful family she had married into.
Two years. Two long years of living beside Gabriel—loving him, fighting him—and she had never known this secret.
The weight of Alfred’s revelations settled heavily over Isla, leaving her heart torn between disbelief and an aching sense of betrayal. The walls that once seemed to protect her now felt like a cage, built by a man whose control had shaped every fragile thread of her life. Yet beneath the storm of emotions, a flicker of understanding began to emerge—Alfred’s manipulations, though cruel, were born from a twisted desire to preserve a legacy he feared losing. Isla’s pain was raw, but it was also the first step toward facing the truths that had been hidden in shadows for far too long.
In this quiet, charged moment, Isla found herself at a crossroads, caught between the past she thought she knew and the uncertain future that lay ahead. The fragile bonds of trust had been shattered, but within the ruins, a new resolve began to take root. Though the path forward was unclear, the strength that had carried her through every hardship whispered that she would rise again, not as a pawn in Alfred’s game, but as a woman determined to reclaim her own story.
The next chapter promises to unravel even deeper layers of the Wyndham family’s tangled web, as Isla grapples with the staggering revelation about Gabriel’s true parentage. Her world, already fractured by Alfred’s manipulation, is poised to shift once again, forcing her to confront not only the man she thought she knew but also the legacy that binds them all. The emotional turmoil simmering beneath her composed exterior hints at a storm of questions and confrontations yet to come.
Meanwhile, Alfred’s enigmatic motives and the weight of his past decisions loom large, suggesting that the family’s secrets are far from fully exposed. As Isla seeks answers, the fragile alliances around her may be tested, and the line between protector and adversary could blur in unexpected ways. Readers will find themselves on edge, wondering how much of the truth Alfred will reveal—and at what cost to those caught in his intricate game.
Florence is a passionate reader who finds joy in long drives on rainy days. She’s also a fan of Italian makeup tutorials, blending beauty and elegance into her everyday life.

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