Winning Her Heart Back (Emelie Hoven )

Chapter 859 Your Biological Older Brother

Emelie abruptly interrupted him, "Wait a minute."

Lyle stopped and looked at her.

Emelie brushed the flour off her hands, stood up, and went to the liquor cabinet. She grabbed a bottle of strong whiskey and filled half a glass with ice from the fridge.

"You just ate something hot, so don't drink cold alcohol. It'll upset your stomach."

She poured herself a drink. The strong liquor and ice made her feel instantly alert and calm. Exhaling, she gave Lyle a faint smile. "Alright. Go on."

They had already come this far, so there was no point in hiding anything now.

Lyle continued, "Wesley is Mrs. Filo's biological son. This has been thoroughly confirmed by the Filo family.

"If Mrs. Filo is indeed Mrs. Pierce, then Wesley is Mrs. Pierce's son. This means that the boy, Kingston, who was kidnapped by traffickers, is... your biological older brother."

Silence filled the air.

Emelie watched the beads of condensation gathering on the glass as the ice melted into the alcohol. Then, she simply said, "Oh."

Lyle had expected her to break down, to question if he had made a mistake, to react with disbelief, or to be so devastated that she would cry and destroy everything in sight.

The last thing he had anticipated was for her reaction to just be an "oh".

After a while, when she remained quietly drinking, Lyle couldn't help but ask, "Is 'oh' really all you have to say?"

To his surprise, Emelie managed a light hearted smile. "Didn't I say I was prepared for both outcomes when I asked you to investigate? This is exactly what I expected. So, what else am I supposed to say besides 'oh?""

She reached for the bottle again to refill her glass.

Lyle quickly grabbed her hand. "No, something's off. If you were truly this calm, you wouldn't be drinking at all. You're just pretending to be composed, aren't you?"

Emelie remained still for a moment, then suddenly, tears began to fall from her eyes.

Like pearls breaking from a string, they splattered onto the table.

Lyle froze. Instinctively, he withdrew his hand and then scrambled to grab tissues for her, but Emelie shook her head. She poured herself a full glass and downed several gulps in one go. Laughing bitterly, she said, "No wonder he never touched me."

How could she explain it?

Desire didn't always equal love, but when there was love, there was always desire.

The most intimate thing she and Wesley had ever done was kiss, and even that had been initiated by her.

Wesley was always calm and emotionally distant, giving off an air of detachment from worldly things. She herself had a rather cold demeanor, and combined with the burdens of work and family vengeance, she hadn't truly been at ease for the past three years.

Though she had vaguely wondered how a man in his prime could remain so restrained around his fiancee, she had never delved deeper into the thought.

Now, she finally understood.

Emelie let out a laugh.

Knowing the truth allowed her to piece together many things from the past.

"In high school, he must have liked me in the way a man likes a woman. I could feel it." Emelie smiled faintly.

"Teenage girls are the most sensitive when it comes to emotions. I would have known if he liked me. There's no way I could have been wrong.

"Later, he went abroad. The first reason was to take over the Filo family. The second reason was because of his bet with William. The third reason was that he found out about our true relationship.

"He didn't take me with him because he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to protect me. That was his first reason. He wanted to end our relationship, which was the second reason. Lastly, he hoped that by leaving, everything would return to normal."

But he failed. He couldn't let her go, and he still loved her.

And so, the mistakes kept piling up.

Lyle was furious. "But he lied to you! He could've told you the truth and let you decide whether to continue or not, but he chose to keep it from you. He knew that if you found out, you wouldn't stay with him.

"If that kind of selfish, despicable man was standing in front of me right now, I wouldn't ler him off!"