Chapter 4

Alex's handsome brows drew together.

"She's not your honey," he explained, trying to keep his patience.

"That's right." Alex lifted his chin, full of confidence. "You said so yourself.

"You said as long as I found her, she'd be my wife. You even said she'd cook for me, give me baths, and sleep with me."

Alex started counting on his fingers. "She did all that just yesterday.

"She made me eggs with love, gave me a nice, clean bath, and hugged me while I slept. That means she's my honey."

I felt like I was suffocating.

I couldn't figure out what kind of preschool education he had given his son.

I didn't understand what was meant by 'once he finds you, that's it'. It didn't sound like any treasure hunt or game of hide-and-seek.

I also didn't get why he said things like 'I'll cook for you, give you a bath, and put you to bed'. That sounded more like hiring a nanny than anything else.

Alex's expression soured so fast you could see it happen.

He never imagined those offhand words he'd used to calm his kid would come back to bite him, especially with his son repeating every single word in front of everyone.

The bodyguards behind him kept their heads down, but their shoulders were shaking like crazy.

They were totally holding back their laughter.

I felt like my social death just hit a whole new level.

"Alex," he said, taking a deep breath, his voice already tinged with warning.

He stood up, towering over me, his gaze so cold it felt like he was about to tear me apart.

"Miss," he said, his voice icy, "I think you owe me an explanation."

The moment of reckoning. There was no escaping it now.

My palms were sweating, my mind racing as I tried to find the right words.

"Mr. Cooper, right?" I stammered, voice shaky. "This is a total misunderstanding. I swear, it's all just a huge mix-up."

"A misunderstanding?" He raised an eyebrow, a mocking smirk playing at his lips. "You took my son from kindergarten, he spent the night at your place, and now you're telling me it was all just a misunderstanding?"

"It really was a misunderstanding." I was on the verge of tears. "I went to pick up my nephew yesterday. His name is Ryan, he goes to the same kindergarten, and he's about the same age as your son. Honestly, I just mixed them up."

After I finished, I looked at him hopefully, praying he'd buy my wild but totally true explanation.

He went quiet, his sharp eyes flicking over my face, like he was trying to read me and see if I was for real.

After a long pause, he finally spoke. "Your nephew's name is Ryan?"

I blinked, then nodded without thinking. "Yes. That's right."

Instead of answering, he pulled out his phone and made a call.

"James Grant, check on a kid named Ryan in Class 3 at Sunlight Kindergarten," he ordered, keeping it short and to the point.

Whatever was said on the other end, he just grunted and hung up.

Then he just stared at me, not saying a word.

Each second was pure agony. Time crawled by, and I felt like I was dying inside.

Alex was hugging my leg tight, and even he could feel how tense things were. He went totally quiet, didn't move an inch.

Finally, after a couple of minutes, his phone rang. He answered without hesitation.

He said, "Mr. Cooper, it's confirmed. There's definitely a kid named Ryan in Class 3 at Sunlight Kindergarten.

"Yesterday, he was accidentally left behind by his aunt, Ms. Sophia Reed, the lady standing right in front of you.

"Word is, the kid cried all night at the kindergarten, and his grandma came to get him first thing this morning."

James's voice came through the phone loud and clear. I heard every word.

I let out a dramatic sigh of relief. Finally. The truth had come out. He had to believe I was innocent now.

After listening to the report, he hung up.

His eyes weren't as cold as before, but he was still giving me the once-over, like he was trying to figure out what kind of person I was.

"So, you took my son home just because he's cuter than your nephew?" he scoffed.

His summary did seem a bit hasty, but it also appeared to be true.

Honestly, I was totally mesmerized by how adorable Alex was.

"No, that's not it." I waved my hands, panicking. "I'm just really bad with faces, and I hadn't seen my nephew in ages, so my memory was super fuzzy.

"My mom only told me he'd be wearing blue, and your son was in blue too. When I picked him up, he just went along with me, no questions asked, so I didn't even realize."

The more I tried to explain, the more awkward I felt.

Honestly, aside from the fact that they were both boys, about the same age, and wearing blue, Alex and my nephew Ryan couldn't have been more different.

Ryan, in my memory, was the chubby, bouncy, rough-and-tumble kind of cute.

But Alex was refined, beautiful, and quiet. The kind of kid talent scouts would fight over the moment he walked in.

My face blindness had gotten so bad that I couldn't have possibly mistaken them for each other otherwise.

He must've been thinking the same thing, because his gaze grew even more suspicious.

"Honey, are you not going to want him anymore?" Just when I was at a total loss for words, Alex suddenly looked up at me.

His eyes were brimming with tears, and his baby voice trembled with hurt and worry.

He was talking about his own dad.

I was speechless. I couldn't understand how his mind worked. It was clearly his dad who came looking for him, yet the whole situation felt like I had abandoned him.

"I'm not abandoning him," I tried to explain, laughing helplessly.

"Then you're just gonna go with him and leave me behind. You don't want me anymore." Alex's lips quivered, and the tears started rolling down his cheeks. He looked absolutely heartbroken.

He kept crying as he grabbed my leg tight, like he was terrified I'd run off.

"I'm not going. I just want my honey. I don't want my dad anymore. Dad's a big meanie," he cried.

I was totally lost

I shot a desperate look at the guy by the door, hoping he'd bail me out of this mess.

His handsome face looked like a thundercloud had parked itself there, and the veins at his temples were practically throbbing.

If looks could kill, I'd be chopped into a million pieces by now.

He'd probably never been hated like this in his whole life, especially by his own kid.

And I was the one to blame for this whole mess.

The whole room fell into an awkward deadlock.

Andrew wanted to take his son, but Alex was glued to my leg, sobbing and shouting that I was his honey and his dad was a big bad guy.

Caught in the middle, I was so mortified I could've just dropped dead on the spot.

Right then, his cold voice broke the deadlock.

"You have two options," he said, his tone flat and unyielding. "One, make him leave with me. Two, you go with him."