Rebirth: The New Bride Wants A Divorce-Chapter 504: Where did you go...

"That’s what we need to find out," Daniel replied.

There was no visible anger in him, no impulsive reaction. Just calculation.

Anna looked at him carefully. "You don’t seem surprised."

"I’m not," he admitted.

Her eyes widened slightly.

"You expected this?"

Daniel stood and walked toward the window, drawing the curtains slightly aside.

"Collin doesn’t move without reason," he said. "If he’s out and keeping quiet, it means he’s planning something. Meeting Roseline was inevitable."

Anna’s chest tightened.

"Do you think he threatened her?" she asked.

"Most likely."

She swallowed.

"And Mom agreed to meet him?"

Daniel turned back to face her.

"Whether she agreed or was forced is something we don’t know yet."

Anna fell silent.

For a moment, the earlier softness between them felt distant.

"Daniel..." she hesitated. "If he’s reaching out to Mom, does that mean he’s trying to use her again?"

"That’s exactly what it means."

His voice was calm, but there was steel beneath it.

Anna’s fingers curled slightly into the bedsheet.

"I thought we had time," she said quietly.

Daniel crossed the room and sat beside her again.

"We still do," he said firmly. "He hasn’t made a public move. That means he’s testing the waters."

"And Mom?" she asked.

Daniel’s expression softened slightly when he looked at her.

"Your mother made choices to protect you once," he said. "She may be doing the same again. Who knows"

Anna wasn’t sure if that comforted her or frightened her more. Because every time Roseline tried to protect someone, something dangerous followed.

Daniel reached for her hand.

"Don’t worry," he said gently. "We don’t act on assumptions. We gather information."

Anna nodded slowly. She trusted him.

He had never taken Collin lightly. And if Daniel said he was watching, then he was watching carefully.

But deep down, she knew one thing.

If Collin had started moving again—the peace they had just enjoyed that morning was already slipping away.

"By the way, I forgot to tell you something," Anna said as she walked toward Daniel, her steps slower now.

He looked up at her immediately. "What is it?"

"Dad tried contacting me yesterday."

Daniel’s expression shifted almost imperceptibly.

"But I ignored it," she added quickly.

She folded her arms, not defensively, but as if bracing herself.

"I wasn’t ready," she admitted quietly. "Not after everything."

Daniel didn’t interrupt.

Anna exhaled slowly. "Seeing them again... it brings back things I don’t want to relive. The lies. The distance. The way everything fell apart."

She lowered her gaze.

"I know they made choices for themselves. But that doesn’t erase what it felt like growing up around it."

Daniel stepped closer, his voice softer now. "You don’t have to face anyone before you’re ready."

She nodded faintly.

"But now that Dad is trying to reach me..." she hesitated. "What if it’s because of Collin?"

That possibility made her stomach twist.

If Hugo had found out about Roseline meeting Collin, it would explain the sudden attempt to contact her.

Daniel considered it.

"It’s possible," he said. "If Collin reached out to your mom, your father might already know something is off."

Anna’s fingers curled slightly.

"Or maybe he just wants to talk," she murmured. "Maybe he knows I’ve been avoiding them."

Daniel tilted his head slightly. "Do you think he would contact you without a reason?"

She paused.

"No," she admitted.

Hugo was not a man who acted impulsively. If he reached out, it meant something had shifted.

Anna looked up at Daniel.

"Do you think I should call him back?"

Daniel didn’t answer immediately. He studied her face carefully.

"What do you want?" he asked instead.

She frowned slightly. "That’s not helpful."

"It is," he replied calmly. "Are you afraid of what he’ll say, or afraid of what you’ll feel?"

That hit deeper than she expected.

Anna turned away slightly, thinking.

"I don’t want to hear him apologize," she said quietly. "And I don’t want to hear him justify anything either."

Daniel stepped closer behind her, his hands resting gently on her shoulders.

"Then call him when you’re ready to speak, not to listen," he said.

She leaned back slightly into him.

"You really think it’s about Collin?" she asked again.

Daniel’s voice grew firm. "If Collin is moving, everyone connected to him will feel the ripple."

Anna closed her eyes briefly.

If Hugo was reaching out now, it likely wasn’t coincidence.

And if her parents were being pulled back into Collin’s orbit—

Then whatever had just begun this morning was about to grow much bigger.

***

Meanwhile, the air inside the Bennett mansion felt heavier than usual.

Not loud. Not explosive.

Just dense.

Roseline could feel it in her bones the moment she stepped into the living room.

Hugo was already there.

He wasn’t working. He wasn’t on a call. He wasn’t reading the papers he usually kept stacked neatly on the glass table. He was simply sitting, his posture straight, fingers loosely intertwined, gaze steady.

Waiting.

Roseline forced herself to remain composed as she sat across him.

Usually, Hugo would be resting in his room at this hour.

After the heart attack, he had grown more disciplined about his recovery. The doctors had insisted on it. Meetings were shortened. Calls were limited. Stress was to be avoided.

So seeing him sitting in the living room, alert, waiting— made Roseline’s steps falter for just a second.

"You should be resting, Hugo," she said gently, forcing her tone to remain normal. "What are you doing here?"

But her composure slipped the moment she met his eyes.

They were sharp.

Too sharp for a man supposedly recovering.

He did not answer her question.

Instead, he asked one of his own.

"Where did you go yesterday, Roseline?"

After Hugo asked her to leave the room, Roseline did not dare step back inside.

She knew that look in his eyes. It wasn’t anger. It was disappointment. And that cut far deeper.

So she gave him space.

She stayed out of his sight. Kept her movements quiet. Avoided lingering near his study or bedroom, afraid that even her presence would irritate him further.

When she finally left the house to meet Collin, she convinced herself Hugo would not notice.

He was resting.

Recovering.

Too focused on his health to pay attention to where she went.

That was what she told herself.

But she was wrong.

Hugo had noticed.