What Separates Me and You

Lewis still acted calmly. "Let's find him first."

Nancy said hesitantly, "Why do I have the feeling that he has eloped with that woman?"

Robert was a scumbag, but he never spoke ill of Layla after all these years and still had photos of them together in his study. He explained that he found it troublesome to clear them away, so he had left them as they were, but he never threw them away and merely placed them somewhere inconspicuous.

Nancy felt a thorn pricking her heart whenever she remembered that incident. She also felt fortunate that Layla had never returned, or she doubted she would still be Mrs. Alvarez.

"You're overthinking. Wait for the police's investigation results." Lewis ended with that sentence and hung up. He casually cast his phone on the table.

Seth looked at his phone, and his eyes flickered. "Is Robert missing?"

"You're well-informed, Mr. Fairchild."

"You can't expect it to remain a secret after you report it to the police," said Seth. "Alvarez Corp hasn't resolved its previous crisis, and now Robert is missing. If word gets out, Alvarez Corp's share value will plummet to an all-time low."

"What are you afraid of? We still have President Kiran, don't we?" Lewis stood and slowly walked toward the window. He looked down at the city beneath him and said, "His abilities must be top-notch since Robert strongly vouched for him to be the president. I believe President Kiran will turn the tides around and lead us out of this crisis."

Seth chuckled. "You're really something."

He was temporarily at a loss for words to comment on Lewis. Lewis was truly ruthless. He would even take action against his father when needed.

Something crossed Seth's mind, and he turned to look at Josephine, playing with the baby. Ignorant, she wasn't aware of everything that was happening around her. Seth looked at her for several seconds and left without saying anything else. Naturally, he left without his son too.

Soon, Conrad entered with a document and handed it to Lewis. "Sir, the DNA test results are here."

Lewis took it and scanned the contents.

"The results are as you foresee-Young Master Baron is not Mr. Fairchild's biological son."

"Interesting." Lewis cast it aside, adding, "Bring it, and let's head for the prison."

"Sure." Conrad was about to move when he looked back at Josephine. "But what about Madam?"

"Take her along."

Conrad was speechless. With so many tagging along, he wondered if they were visiting relatives instead.

Inside the visiting room, Daphne appeared before them, clad in a prison uniform. Her once-long hair had been cut short, and she looked haggard and thinner than before.

She started weeping when she saw Lewis and almost threw herself at the glass window. "Lewis, when are you bailing me out from here? I don't want to stay here even a day longer!"

Lewis stared at her, holding the phone. Then, he said, "You and Seth ..."

He paused mid-sentence.

Daphne's eyes brimmed with tears. Her fingers wrapped around the receiver in a tight grip as she sobbed, "Seth? What about him? Is he here?"

"You know better what kind of a person he is. What makes you think he'll come?"

Daphne's tears rolled down her cheeks at his words. "He..." Sobbing, she suddenly laughed self-depreciatingly. "He's nothing but a wolf in sheep's clothing, a deceitful scoundrel. Why on earth did he approach me?"

That was a question Daphne had never found the answer to. Seth painstakingly approached her and had been gentle and considerate, but he did so without an ounce of feeling toward her. She would have given him her shares if that was what he was after. But she tested him and found out that was not his motive. On the contrary, he didn't care much about wealth.

"He's..." Lewis said faintly, "after something more complicated."

"What?"

"It doesn't matter. It's meaningless to talk about these. I'm only here to show you something." Lewis placed the DNA test results against the glass window. Daphne saw the results through the transparent glass. Her eyes widened, and a look of disbelief appeared on her face. "H-how can that be?"

"Is it so hard to believe? But, well."

"How did it happen ..."

Lewis narrowed his eyes when he saw Daphne was on the brink of turning hysterical. He asked, "You've been with him for so long, yet you didn't know?" Daphne looked flustered. She clutched her sleeves and found it difficult to talk.

After a while, she made up her mind to tell Lewis the truth. "Lewis, Seth and I had been married for slightly over a year. I got pregnant briefly after our marriage. After ten months of pregnancy and one month in confinement..." Daphne was too embarrassed to even bring it up. Seth was particularly busy after she had given birth. He would leave home early in the morning and return late at night. He didn't even touch her. As for her, the child wore her out, and she didn't have the time to think about anything else. Therefore, Daphne felt her heart ache when it crossed her mind that those few times she had had physical intimacy could have been someone other than Seth. "Did he despise me so much?"

Lewis raised an eyebrow and remained silent as he listened to her. "Then what are your plans for this child?"

Daphne lowered her head and fiddled with her fingers. "I don't know. I totally have no idea ..." Her head snapped up suddenly as she looked at Lewis. "Who is he?" Lewis replied, "I don't know."

"Impossible. You must have found out. Lewis, please tell me. You can at least let me die knowingly!" Her eyes burned into Lewis as she grew agitated.

Lewis pondered for a moment before saying, "I really don't." Then, he continued, "I only know he's one of the Vance family. I'm still trying to find out his exact identity."

"The Vances..." Daphne was in a daze. "The Vance family? Which one? It can't be ..." She thought of Josephine. Could Seth have approached her all because of Josephine? "You've guessed correctly."

Daphne was incredulous. Her beloved had approached her all because of another woman. "But it doesn't make sense," said Daphne in a hoarse voice. "He mistreated Josephine. It seemed unlikely he would come for her. He even took Josephine to undergo an abortion that day. I-If he is Josephine's brother or someone related to her, why would he do so?"

"That day?"

Daphne was stunned. She realized she had let it slip. She glanced at Lewis nervously and saw the threatening look in his eyes. There was nothing else she could say besides the truth. "Several months ago, Mom took Baron to the hospital and ran into Josephine." She put all the blame on Nancy. "So Mom got someone to investigate and discovered Josephine was pregnant. T-Then, she asked Seth to bring Josephine to abort her-no, your child without you knowing."

Lewis stared intently at Daphne emotionlessly, and darkness swirled in his eyes.

Daphne's voice softened as she said, "It's all Mom's doings. I have nothing to do with it."