Flash Marriage to a Stunning CEO (Alistair and Richard)

Chapter 2 The Real Dad

Rebecca could hardly believe her eyes.

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The moment Alistair had been divorced, he looked... relieved. Almost weightless, as if a burden had been lifted.

He didn't seem the least bit nostalgic about their marriage.

Rebecca bristled. She'd let him stay by her side for six years, and she believed he should've been grateful for it. Honored, even.

Seeing him act so indifferent, so unbothered, sparked an unexpected irritation deep within her. However, she couldn't quite put her finger on why it bothered her so much.

It was over now. The years of tug-of-war with Richard, the man she truly loved, had finally come to an end. The placeholder, Alistair, the man she used to provoke Richard, had played his part and was now out of the picture. He was even sensible enough to leave without a fuss, and she should've been over the moon, awaiting Richard's proposal, ready to start their blissful life together.

Last night had been perfect. Richard and Daniel got along like father and son, and Richard had been unusually gentle with her. This should've been her happy ending, but something felt... off.

Now, with her, Richard, and Daniel, finally poised to live as a

Chapter 2 The Real Dad

happy family, everything was falling into place, just as she'd scripted it. Yet a nagging restlessness gnawed at her.

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When Alistair turned to leave without a word, that restlessness. boiled over.

"Hey, Alistair!" Rebecca snapped, yanking off her sunglasses and fixing him with a cold stare.

She'd once been the dream girl of countless guys, stunningly beautiful, with a figure that turned heads and a meticulous. skincare routine that kept her looking like a college student. No one would've guessed she was the mother of a five- year-old.

Alistair glanced back, his face blank, not a flicker of emotion in his eyes.

This man didn't feel like the Alistair she once knew.

The old Alistair was always at her beck and call, eager to please, bending over backward for her. But now, he looked at her with a cool detachment that unsettled her.

"Something up?" His voice was flat, almost bored.

Rebecca wanted to lash out, to use him as her punching bag like she always had. But when her eyes met his calm, steady gaze, the words caught in her throat.

He was different. Not the pushover she'd known.

She scrambled for an excuse to vent her anger, her eyes flicking

LOJES JOJ Jou Didweg

Chapter 2 The Real Dad

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to his cheap clothes. With a scornful huff, she sneered, “Alistair, you were with me for years, and your taste is still this awful? Let me make one thing clear. Don't you dare tell anyone you were my husband. I have a reputation to protect."

The insult, sharp as it was, didn't even graze him.

Six years of her sharp tongue had made him immune. Her insults were nothing

new.

gave her a faint, almost amused

dazed, as

It was cold,

memory, Alistair had never

she realized how striking he

his figure vanished from view did it hit her that

aimlessly, his mind turning over what

where

as the system was reliable, the opportunity

his plate, he

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Something small, even a bit run-down, would do just fine. After all, he

to his father wasn't an

an accident when he was young. Not long after, his father remarried, starting a new family with a stepson the same

by his stepmother, got along so well with Alistair's father that they seemed like a real family. To outsiders, they were the picture of father and son. Alistair, who took after his mother and

one out.

used to being alone and had no desire to disrupt his father's

in the afternoon, his opportunity still hadn't

He wasn't discouraged, though.

would activate within forty-eight hours, and there

pick Daniel up from school on time today? He's throwing a fit, crying to go

kindergarten teacher, caught Alistair off

The Real

frustration.

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four-thirty. It was now an hour

handled drop-offs and pick-ups, and he knew Rebecca probably forgot him or assumed someone else would take

instinctively turned to him instead of

Alistair said, keeping his tone even. "I'm divorced from Daniel's

waits came through the phone, loud and

Alistair to come. She hadn't even

firm but calm. "Ms. Payne, I'm divorced from Daniel's mother. She has custody. Daniel's no longer my responsibility. Please

her."

was, coincidentally, near the

waiting for his opportunity, he'd wandered

the area.

could've picked

าวเ

Rebecca to be more attentive. But he didn't want to do that.

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parents before but rarely had one

the split. After

strong.

admired Daniel's father. He was one of the most hands-on, patient, and responsible dads in the whole school. She used to joke with her coworkers that if she ever

of tears, she pleaded, "Mr. Harlow, can't you just swing by?

a handful when he cried. And today,

but her

more, but still