Flash Marriage to a Stunning CEO (Alistair and Richard) novel Chapter 147

Chapter 147 Eloise’s Story

“Honey, do you really know who Leo is?”

Caroline’s question dropped out of the blue like that, completely

sideswiping Alistair.

Okay, if I’m not mistaken, he’s her actual cousin, right?

But Alistair knew Caroline well enough to know she wouldn’t ask

something so blindingly obvious.

And he already knew about the musical genius, the mega–star

status.

What else is there?

Caroline’s mood seemed to dip. “I never told you Eloise’s story, did I? Her background?”

It hit Alistair like a jolt of electricity, a shiver running straight through him. “He’s…”

Caroline just nodded with a quiet Mm–hmm.

Alistair fell silent.

Back before he and Caroline had really connected, before they

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were on the same wavelength, he’d occasionally let his mind wander, wondering who Eloise’s biological father might be.

Later, when he found out Caroline had adopted Eloise, his

curiosity about her origins was piqued.

Caroline had told him bits and pieces. Her own mother had died in childbirth, and her father was a world–class scumbag.

But never in a million years would he have guessed that Eloise’s biological father was a household name, a celebrity practically everyone on the planet knew…

Eloise’s birth mother had been a huge fan of Leo’s, not much older

than Caroline herself.

Right before she went into labor, she’d somehow managed to track down Caroline’s email address. Maybe she’d had some kind of premonition, a feeling that she wasn’t going to make it because she’d sent Caroline an email, a desperate plea for Leo to come

and see her one last time.

She’d promised she would never, ever bother him again.

Over a year later, Caroline finally logged into that old email account and stumbled across the message. She’d been stunned. After a ton of digging and dead ends, she finally found Eloise, a tiny, underweight, sickly little girl.

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The very first moment she laid eyes on Eloise, Caroline knew she

had to adopt her.

Alistair’s heart clenched, a wave of pain washing over him for

Eloise, losing her mother the moment she was born, then being. passed around, treated like nothing more than a burden.

Thank God she’d found Caroline.

Hearing the full story of his precious little girl’s beginnings, Alistair

felt a fresh wave of fear, a retroactive chill.

What if Caroline had just blown off that email and dismissed it as

some crazy fan thing? Where would Eloise be right now? What would have happened to her?

Her birth mother had been a smart girl, a college student who’d

managed to escape her small, remote hometown.

But having a baby out of wedlock? In their family, in their town, that was the ultimate disgrace, a massive scandal.

After she died, Eloise was just given away.

Maybe, for a little while, her adoptive parents had genuinely tried. Maybe they’d even loved her as their own. But it didn’t last. Not long after they took Eloise in, the adoptive mother, who’d

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struggled for years with infertility, miraculously got pregnant with her own biological child.

Once Eloise’s adoptive parents had their own flesh and blood, they completely lost interest in raising Eloise. They just dumped

her with an elderly relative, basically forgetting she existed.

Caroline had searched tirelessly for days, following faint trails and rumors, until she finally found Eloise abandoned in a literal dirt pit,

her cries so weak they were barely audible….

Even though Caroline told the story in a low, matter–of–fact voice, just imagining that scene made Alistair’s chest ache with pain so

sharp it almost took his breath away.

He suddenly missed Eloise.

I just want to kiss her little face, hug her tight, swing her up high in

the air, and hear her giggle.

He’d always prided himself on being a good father, a doting father. He truly loved Eloise and had given her every ounce of

paternal affection he possessed, holding nothing back.

But now, hearing this? It feels like it isn’t enough. Not nearly enough.

He’d dropped Eloise off at Mabel’s earlier that day. Mabel adored

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telling her stories while they took the dog for a walk. Yesterday’s story had been a long one, and they hadn’t quite finished it. So, they had made a solemn pact to continue the adventure today.

A question suddenly popped into Alistair’s head. “Does Leo even know? Does he have any idea he has a daughter?”

Caroline let out a short, sharp scoff. “That deadbeat dad? The kind who loves them and leaves them? He doesn’t deserve to be

Eloise’s father.”

My wife. Always with a spot–on moral compass.

Alistair gently reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Is that why you and your cousin don’t get along?”

Caroline shook her head slightly. “Not entirely. I can’t stand his

mother.”

It took Alistair a beat to connect the dots. Leo’s mother was

Caroline’s aunt.

To this day, Alistair hadn’t met a single one of Caroline’s direct

relatives, except for Mabel.

Mabel’s roots were in New York, so she’d chosen to retire there.

She was the main reason Caroline had decided to stay in New

York herself.

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Caroline’s father and her aunt both lived down in Atlanta. From

what Alistair could gather, their relationship with Caroline was

incredibly frosty, practically non–existent. He’d certainly never

seen or heard them make any contact with each other.

In Caroline’s own words, they were all just irrelevant outsiders.

Even her own father and her aunt, people who should have been family, were just irrelevant outsiders to her.

Alistair’s first reaction wasn’t to judge her for being cold or

unfeeling. His first, overwhelming instinct was a pang of deep,

profound sympathy.

So why is she so close to her grandmother but completely cuts off her father and aunt? What happened there?

There has to be some serious, ugly backstory.

Bottom line. My wife must have gone through a hell of a lot of crap

growing up.

Alistair thought about his own relatively ordinary upbringing. His mother had died young, his father had remarried, and even that had brought its own share of challenges and difficulties most people couldn’t even imagine.

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Drama in a super–rich, powerful family? That has to be a whole other level of toxic and messy.

“Aaaah!!”

Eight o’clock at night, in a park nestled near some upscale

condos, a sudden, bloodcurdling scream ripped through the otherwise peaceful evening air.

“What the hell was that?”

“Sounded like someone took a nasty fall.”

“Holy crap! No way! The one who wiped out… Is that Freya?”

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