Chapter 4 Is He My Son

With her son's hand in hers, Audrey turned to leave, but Harlan let go of her and walked over to Kyler. He blinked his big, misty eyes at him and spoke in an adult-sounding voice.

"Thank you for helping me find my mom. I'll treat you to dinner some time, okay? May I have your phone number?"

With a gentle smile on his face, Kyler replied, "Of course." Then, he took out a business card and handed it to the boy.

After taking the business card, Harlan walked back to his mom and took her hand. They walked away together and did not look back.

"What are you doing staring after them? If you don't want them to leave, just go stop them," Malcolm teased.

Kyler ignored him and fixed his eyes on Audrey's receding figure. Then, he looked down at the shiny sapphire necklace in his hand.

Malcolm looked in his direction and then at the necklace. After a few moments of careful scrutiny, he finally commented, "Is that the necklace you lost six years ago? When did you get it back?"

Meanwhile, Audrey suddenly stopped walking when she touched her neck and realized that her necklace was gone.

"What is it, Mom?" her son looked up at her and asked. "What's wrong?"

"My necklace is missing." She immediately looked around, hoping to find it on the floor.

Then, she bumped into a wall of firm, strong flesh. A manly scent greeted her nostrils, stirring up memories as well as alarms in her head.

The top of her head felt heavy as she felt the weight of the man's eyes on it. She instinctively stepped back and messed up her balance. The man quickly wrapped his arm around her waist, keeping her from falling back. She immediately straightened up and tried to distance herself, but Kyler didn't let go of her.

He glanced coldly at her. His strangely attractive Adam's apple bobbed as he asked, "Are you looking for this?"

She looked up at him with wide eyes and saw her necklace dangling from his finger.

"Yes." Without thinking, she reached out for it, but he suddenly moved his hand away, keeping it out of her reach.

"Who gave you this necklace?" He looked at her with way more intensity than she found comfortable. 'Is she the woman from that night six years ago?' he wondered.

"It's mine. No one gave it to me," she answered firmly.

"Are you sure?" he snapped in a calm yet menacing tone. It made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

"Yes, I'm sure. Can I have it back, please?" She kept her tone even as her heart started racing. They were too close for comfort.

"Really?" A faint smile slowly spread across his painfully handsome face, but it did not reach his cold, calculating eyes. Her heart just galloped even faster.

"Six years ago, I also had an identical necklace, but it was stolen by a crafty little vixen. She not only stole my mother's priceless family heirloom but also some of my most precious things..."

Hearing this, Audrey stopped dead.

So the man she had sex with six years ago...

She stared at the man in front of her in astonishment. It was such a long time ago. Quite frankly, she could not be sure right now if they were indeed one and the same. Even if they were, she could not confirm it because she did not exactly spend time with the man from six years ago in a well-lit room.

She swallowed and looked into Kyler's dark, enigmatic eyes that flashed with a hint of understanding. He glanced at Harlan and then asked directly, "Is he my son?"

She suddenly froze and averted her gaze. Ignoring the shiver down her spine, she snapped, "No, of course not. He's not yours."

Then, she turned around and grabbed her son's hand. She started towing him away, afraid that the man would take him from her.

Kyler started trotting after them. "Just tell me the truth," he called after them.

"I don't have to tell you anything." Before she could put enough distance between them and Kyler, he was already grabbing her by the wrist.

His palm felt so deliciously warm against her skin, and she hated herself for appreciating it. She tried to shake his hand away and snapped, "Don't touch me!"

Staring at Audrey's flushed face, Kyler raised his eyebrows. He was a neat freak and strictly limited physical contact with other people, but when he touched her, he liked the feeling. It was both strange and beautiful.

He fixed his eyes on her delicate face. Her eyebrows were knitted and her eyes angry, but he found her pursed red lips beckoning, and her unyielding personality piqued his morbid curiosity. He held on to her even tighter.

"If you don't let go of me right now, I will scream." Audrey spoke through gritted teeth. Kyler just stared at her with his gorgeous, scrutinizing eyes that made her uncomfortable. She struggled harder.

But she found that the more she fought him, the tougher to budge he became.

As her desperate grunts slowly built up into full-blown screams in her throat, his grip gradually loosened. When he finally let her go, a painful red band appeared on her wrist.

"You bastard!" She barked at him.

"Woman, tell me, is he my son?"

The impatience in his tone made her look up at him. Still, she decided to stand her ground. "How many times do I have to tell you? He's not your son."

From the way the man dressed and his demeanor, she knew that he was the last person she should provoke.

But when it came to Harlan, she was willing to piss off anybody it took to keep him safe.

"I want a paternity test," Kyler demanded so calmly that it tripped up her anxiety again.

She immediately grabbed Harlan and protectively stood in front of him like a lioness protecting her cub.

"Who are you to compel a DNA test? As far as my son and I are concerned, you're a stranger. You don't have the right."

Watching Audrey step in front of Harlan and assume a protective stance, Kyler felt oddly titillated. With every passing minute, she just became more and more interesting to him. His eyes darted to the confused little guy behind her.

Could this adorable little genius be his son?

As he recalled the scene where the little boy called him his daddy, Kyler's face softened. However, his eyes became cold again as they landed on the boy's mother.

"I wasn't asking, and you can't refuse. Don't forget that you've signed a contract with our company. I don't think you can afford to pay damages if this goes out of hand."

The look on Kyler's eyes lodged a lump in Audrey's windpipe that she swallowed with much effort.

She understood what he meant. Even if she did not go with him now, he still had other ways to get her son's DNA and test it against his own. She could not turn him down because it would cost her dearly if she did.

Deep in her heart, she also wanted to know if Kyler was Harlan's father.

"Mom?" Her son must have sensed her uneasiness and called to her. He looked up at her with worried eyes.

Shaking off all her emotions, she smiled gently at him and said, "I'm fine, honey. Let's go."

Then, she held her son's hand and grabbed their bags. They followed Kyler to his car.

One hour later

A luxury car stopped in front of a commercial building.

The door swung open, and a tall, handsome man stepped out followed by a beautiful young woman in casual clothes holding a delightful, charming little boy of five in her arms.

Standing together, the three of them looked like a perfect, lovely family that inspired both joy and jealousy.

Audrey raised her head and saw the massive golden letters adorning the top of the building. The words "He Group" shone brightly in the noonday sun.