Chapter 816

Bianca Langley mechanically swallowed the last spoonful of porridge. Her tongue registered no taste. She needed this energy—the energy to seek justice for Adrian Valentine.

Evelyn Carter studied her pallid complexion and exchanged a glance with Alexander Hamilton.

Alexander gave a slight nod. His people had already begun moving.

"Would you like to see the baby?" Evelyn asked gently. "She misses you."

Bianca's fingers suddenly curled into spasming fists. That tiny life which once filled her heart with tenderness now felt like a thorn piercing her soul.

"Is she...here with you?" Her voice fractured.

"We can video call." Evelyn immediately softened her tone, sensing the distress.

Bianca shut her eyes. She couldn't face those eyes—identical to Vincent Croix's.

"I'm sorry." Her voice scraped raw. "I don't...deserve to be her mother now."

Evelyn's chest tightened, swallowing back her questions. The answers were too cruel to voice.

"I broke my promise to him." Bianca suddenly looked up, dark fire in her gaze. "At least...I must see him off properly."

She began a frenzied pilgrimage. For two days, she visited every relative of Adrian's, enduring their accusations and curses.

"It's all your fault!" Adrian's aunt screamed hysterically. "I always said you were wrong for him!"

Evelyn stood silently behind her, an unspoken shield.

Until they met Adrian's great-aunt.

The silver-haired elder poured tea with trembling hands. "He showed me your photo." Tears welled in her clouded eyes. "You should have been so happy."

Bianca bit her lip until blood welled.

"I want to bury him beside his parents." Her voice feathered away. "He promised...to take me to meet them."

Evelyn noticed the darkening sky and suddenly remembered Alexander needed to return to Hudson City.

"You should go," she told him. "The baby needs you."

Alexander frowned. "But you alone—"

"I'm more self-sufficient than an infant." Evelyn forced a smile.

He hesitated, then handed her a business card. "Call immediately if anything happens."

At the doorway, he suddenly opened his arms. "May I hug you?"

Evelyn froze. This once-dominant man now looked as vulnerable as a child.

Thinking of Bianca and Adrian, she gave a slight nod.

Alexander's embrace was light, yet it made her heart skip.

"Come home soon," he whispered.

She watched his car disappear around the corner, fingertips still warm from his touch. Fate was so unpredictable—no one knew what tomorrow might bring.