30 Days of Passion and Revenge-Chapter 306: A Love That Won’t Stay

Lily hesitated for a moment before stepping forward, gently patting Alex’s back.

She didn’t know what to say.

How could she comfort him when she wasn’t even sure what she believed anymore?

"One Ethan Blackwood was already difficult enough to deal with," Alex murmured, his face buried in his hands. "Now his father has stepped in to crush the Carter Group... I don’t stand a chance."

His voice was heavy with exhaustion.

Then, after a long pause, he whispered, "Lily, do you think my father is still alive?"

Lily’s heart clenched.

"He’s alive," she said, her voice firm. "He has to be."

Alex let out a humorless chuckle but said nothing.

"Don’t do this to yourself," she urged.

"I’ll be fine," he replied, though his slumped shoulders told a different story. "Go home and rest. Things are a mess here—I have much to deal with."

Lily hesitated but eventually nodded. "Alright. I won’t bother you."

She left Carter Group and got into a taxi.

"Where to, miss?" the driver asked.

Where to?

She had no idea.

Alex was in crisis. The Carter Group was on the verge of collapse, and his father was still in Ethan’s hands.

She should go to Ethan. Demand answers.

But the thought of facing him again...

She couldn’t do it.

She wasn’t ready.

"Miss?" the driver asked again.

"I..."

Before she could answer, a sleek sports car pulled up nearby.

Alice stepped out, pushing up her oversized sunglasses and striding toward the Carter Group building with urgent determination.

Lily moved before she realized it, pushing open the taxi door and following Alice inside.

The elevator stopped on Alex’s office floor.

Lily trailed after her, stopping just before the breakroom.

Then—

"You’re leaving, aren’t you?!"

Alice’s furious voice rang out, sharp and bitter.

Lily stiffened, peeking around the corner.

Through the glass walls of the breakroom, she saw Alex standing with his back against the glass door. His posture was calm, but something about it felt... defensive.

He let out a quiet, almost amused chuckle. "What are you talking about?"

Lily frowned.

Hadn’t Alex said he would tell Alice?

"Then where’s your passport?" Alice demanded, stepping closer. "It’s missing. Along with all the money from your safe."

Her voice cracked slightly. "Don’t tell me that’s a coincidence."

Alex’s expression darkened.

"You went through my safe?"

Alice let out a bitter laugh. "Do I need to? Your passwords are always the same—either your birthday or hers."

Lily’s breath caught.

Did he use her birthday for his safe’s password?

Alex’s voice was flat when he responded. "I needed the money. That’s all."

His usual warmth was gone.

There was no softness in his tone, no patience.

"I have a lot to deal with right now," he continued dismissively. "Go home."

Alice’s lips curled into a bitter smile. "Do you take me for a fool?"

She took a deep breath, her voice shaking. "You’re planning to leave with Lily, aren’t you?"

A heavy silence filled the space.

Then, finally—

Alex exhaled. "I’m just taking her for treatment."

Alice scoffed. "Does she have to leave the country for that?"

Her voice was laced with disbelief.

"Don’t lie to me, Alex."

She took a shaky step closer. "You plan on leaving with her and never coming back, don’t you?"

Lily’s nails dug into her palms.

Was that true?

Alex had his business here.

His father.

Would he really abandon all of it?

"Are you just going to say it all out loud?" Alex’s voice dropped, cold and sharp.

Alice’s voice trembled, heavy with grief.

"I tried to pretend. To act like I didn’t know. But the truth is..." She looked at Alex, her eyes filled with sorrow. "Even if I ignored it, you never tried to hide it. And now, you’re leaving with her—am I supposed to stand here and watch you both run away?"

Alex’s expression remained unreadable, his features devoid of the warmth Lily had always associated with him.

"So that’s why you’ve been harassing Lily with phone calls?" His voice was cold, so unlike the gentle Alex she had known. "What did you tell her?"

Lily stiffened.

That look on his face...

Dark. Unforgiving.

It didn’t belong to the Alex she thought she knew.

He knew Alice had been calling her?

Had Butler Aston told him? Alice had been careful, using different numbers each time...

Alice’s voice was sharp with frustration. "I don’t understand what Lily is thinking! Why would she still agree to leave with you?!"

Her hands clenched into fists. "She knows you were the one who leaked the scandal about her being Ethan’s mistress! She knows you exposed Ethan’s secret base!"

Lily’s breath caught.

Her pulse pounded in her ears.

Alice had told him everything.

Alex’s gaze turned ice-cold. "You told her that?"

Lily couldn’t tell if his words were a denial or an indirect confession.

She wanted to believe he wasn’t capable of such betrayal—but now...

Now, she wasn’t sure.

Alice stepped closer, gripping Alex’s arm.

"Alex, she doesn’t love you. She never has. She loves Ethan."

The silence stretched unbearably.

Alice’s voice broke. "And now, your company is in ruins. Your father is still missing. How can you even think of leaving?"

Lily watched, her heart pounding.

Alice wasn’t just here to fight.

She was here to stop him.

"I’ve already asked my father to pull every string he can to find yours," Alice continued desperately. "Don’t you want to see him safe?"

Lily’s hands tightened at her sides.

Alice wasn’t lying—she was trying to keep Alex from walking away from everything.

"This attack on your company was Ethan’s doing, wasn’t it?" Alice pressed, her tone turning urgent. "You can’t win against him. His power doesn’t just come from himself. It comes from the entire Blackwood family. How do you plan to fight him?"

Alex’s face remained unreadable.

Then, without a word, he reached out and pushed Alice away.

"Don’t do this, Alice." His voice was cold.

Tears welled in her eyes. "Please, Alex. Stop fighting Ethan over her."

Her voice cracked. "I don’t care why you married me. I don’t care if it was for convenience or politics. But the fact remains—we’re married. You owe this marriage something."

Alex remained silent.

Alice’s voice dropped to a whisper. "I love you. I can’t lose you."

Alex exhaled, his patience wearing thin. "Alice, my company is already in chaos. Could you not add to it? Just go home."

"I am your home!" Alice suddenly yelled, voice raw with emotion. "You’re my husband! You can’t leave with someone else!"

"Alice—"

Before he could finish, she stepped forward and threw her arms around him, pressing her face into his shoulder as she sobbed.

"Alex, I love you," she whispered, her voice shaking. "I’ll pretend I don’t know. I won’t care about Lily, okay? I won’t say a word as long as you stay with me. Do whatever you want with her—don’t leave me."

Lily stood frozen.

Alice’s love had been reduced to this?

Begging.

Lowering herself to the point of willing blindness.

Had she lost herself to love this much?

Alex’s expression didn’t change.

Not even a flicker of emotion.

He reached up and pried Alice off him.

"Calm down, Alice."

"I can’t calm down!" she screamed, tears falling freely. "This is the second time you’ve tried to leave me because of that woman! How am I supposed to stay calm? You’re my husband!"

Lily stood there, watching, her heart twisting.

The scene before her shook her to the core.

The way Alex treated Alice.

The way he lied to her so effortlessly.

The role Alex had played in all of this—who had genuinely been in control, and who had been a pawn?

Lily realized she didn’t know anymore.

Or maybe... she had just been refusing to see the truth.

She looked at Alex and saw how he quickly dismissed Alice’s pain.

This man—was he the same Alex she had once known?

"I’m only taking her for treatment," Alex said, prying Alice’s arms off him. He held her at a distance, gripping her by the arms to keep space between them.

Alice’s voice trembled. "Can’t she get treated here?"

"Alice..."

"Why are you so heartless?" Her tears shimmered in her eyes. "Everything you do is for her. Even marrying me... was that for her too? Did you plan all of this from the start?"

Her voice cracked as she whispered, "Did you ever love me?"

Alex sighed, his patience wearing thin. "Alice, you’re too emotional. Let me take you home."

Then—

"I’m pregnant."

The words sliced through the air like a blade.

Lily’s breath caught.

Alex froze.

His hands stiffened where they held Alice, his deep brown eyes locking onto her face in shock.

"What... did you just say?" His voice was hoarse.

Alice lifted her tear-streaked face to him, her expression an open plea.

"I’m carrying your child, Alex."

His hands slowly fell from her arms. His expression darkened, unreadable.

"You’re serious?"

"You can come with me to the hospital and check for yourself," she whispered, her voice trembling. "I would never lie about something like this."

She breathed before continuing, "Alex... she doesn’t love you. She loves Ethan. Don’t be a fool anymore, please."

Her voice cracked.

"We have a child now. We can be a family. A real family."

A heavy silence fell between them.

Alex lowered his gaze, staring at the floor. His expression was unreadable, his jaw tight, his posture rigid.

Alice took it as a sign of hope.

She clung to it, her tear-streaked face lighting up with fragile relief.

"It doesn’t matter if the Carter Group is gone," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "As long as we have each other, isn’t that enough?"

Her broken hope shone through her words.

Alex said nothing.

"Alex..."

"Let me think," he said, forcing a small, strained smile. "Go home for now, okay?"

Alice hesitated, then nodded.

Then, suddenly, she held out her hand. "Give me your passport and ID."

Alex’s face hardened. "You don’t trust me?"

"I do," she whispered. "But I can’t take that risk."

She wiped at her swollen eyes. "If you leave with Lily... I’ll lose everything. I can’t let that happen. You have to understand."

Alex closed his eyes for a moment, exhaling slowly.

Then, lips barely parting, he repeated, "I’m only taking her for treatment."

The moment he said it, Alice’s face drained of all color.

Her already swollen eyes filled with fresh despair.

"You... you’re still going?"

She knew.

If he left now—

He would never come back.

Lily had always been his dream, his obsession.

He had spent nine years searching for her, pouring everything—time, money, resources—into finding her.

And now that she was finally within reach...

Not even their child could make him stay.