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.

her a faint, almost

momentarily dazed,

her mind. It was

memory, Alistair

until this moment that she realized how striking

did it hit her that he had

his mind turning over

and where it might show

figured even if he sat still, as long as the system was reliable,

his plate, he decided

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a bit run-down, would do just fine. After all,

back to his

accident when he was young. Not long after, his father remarried, starting a

family. To outsiders, they were the picture of father and son. Alistair, who took

one out.

used to being alone and had no desire to disrupt

the afternoon, his opportunity still

He wasn't discouraged, though.

activate within forty-eight

didn't you pick Daniel up from school on time today? He's throwing a fit, crying to go home. Can you

call from Maggie Payne, Daniel's kindergarten teacher, caught Alistair off guard.

2 The

frustration.

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at four-thirty. It was

always handled drop-offs and pick-ups, and he knew Rebecca probably

instinctively turned to him

keeping his tone even. "I'm divorced from Daniel's mom

came through the phone, loud and piercing. Maggie,

Alistair to come. She hadn't even registered what he'd

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

her."

was, coincidentally,

at rental listings and waiting

the area.

picked Daniel

าวเ

Rebecca to be more attentive. But he didn't want to do that. Daniel wasn't his son, and if

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seen plenty of divorced parents before but

so soon after the split.

strong.

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 got married, she'd want a husband just

the verge of tears, she pleaded, "Mr. Harlow, can't you just swing

he cried. And today, he had

tried calling Rebecca, but her

more, but