Dangerous Love: You Are My One and Only Bride novel Chapter 1307

Melanie spotted the confident sparks in Don’s eyes and understood that the old patriarch had his contingency plan mapped out. It reassured her a little.

Still, she could not bear to see the old man die with regrets. And so, a bold and almost-crazy idea took form in her mind. “Grandpa, I was thinking… What if I undergo surgery to deliver the baby earlier than expected? I could do it after two more months. That way, you could see it before you go,” she suggested. “I know it’s still a bit too early relative to the expected time of delivery, but I doubt it’ll impart too severe an effect on the baby.”

Don’s expression turned austere. “That’s a horrible idea, Melanie! You must not be reckless just because you pity me. You can’t force a baby to come out early like that; a mother’s womb is the best place for it to grow. Please, don’t entertain these crazy ideas because of some words an old geezer said… And really, Melanie, this is your weakness: you’re too altruistic! Don’t you know that men are always interested in wild, wayward women over self-sacrificing altruists?”

“And yet, everyone knows that if a man loves a woman, she could be anything—even a beggar—and he would still see a queen in her. But if a man has no love for her, then it wouldn’t matter how hard she works and presents herself—everything she does is wrong in the man’s eyes,” Melanie replied with a self-deprecative laugh. “He doesn’t love me, Grandpa. I have no leeway to be anything but ‘altruistic.’ It’s precisely because of this ‘weakness’ that has made it easier for him to tolerate my existence so far.”

Don gave another heavy sigh, and suddenly, all of the vim he had erstwhile accumulated seemed to have left him. Quickly, Melanie helped him lay down while cooing, “Take a rest, Grandpa. I won’t disturb you anymore.”

…

It was midnight when Jackson suddenly paid the Tremont Estate a visit.

Mark’s sudden rise from their bed roused Arianne from her sleep. “Hey, where are you going?”

“I’ve hired someone to do some digging,” he continued, “And apparently, the old Smith patriarch only has three months left before he kicks the bucket. Time’s passing, man. Alejandro’s gonna inherit the Smith family business very-goddamned-soon. Then, when he returns to the Capital, the first sh*t he’s gonna do is tell Tiffany that he’s—surprise, surprise!—Ethan-f**king-Connor all along! Aaargh! Just imagining how this sh*t’s gonna go down is driving me nuts!”

Arianne pulled back her cuffs. “God, does he remember he was the one who dragged Tiffie into hell years ago? If he really wants to atone for his sins, the only way to do that is to commit to his role as Alejandro Smith and never cross paths with Tiffie again,” she commented. “But no, we’re dealing with an obsessive psycho here. For his need to clear away that feeling of guilt, he doesn’t care if he’s making things worse for literally everyone else. The shortest word to describe him would be plain-old ‘selfish.’”

Mark rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Well, why don’t you confess the truth to Tiffany before he does—as a sort of mental inoculation? That way, when Alejandro confronts her with his secret, she wouldn’t be too terribly thrown off or get triggered,” he suggested. “Tiffany’s well-known for being insensitive, so who’s to say she can’t accept the truth forever just because she didn’t take it very well that one time? Maybe all she needs to buffer the shock is enough time.”

Arianne was inclined to agree with Mark. It used to be better for her best friend to remain blissfully ignorant, but that was only because no one wanted a pregnant woman to be shocked. Now, the only caveat was gone, and the best way to solve this was to reveal the truth to Tiffany as soon as possible.