Chapter 5 Marriage Only Ends When Life Does

No sooner had Caleb finished speaking than Lilliana clutched his sleeve, her knuckles whitening with desperate resolve.

"I'm not playing games with you," she said evenly, voice calm but firm. "Mr. Reynolds, these children are yours too. Don't you think you should act like a father to them?"

Her delicate features seemed even softer beneath the light, her almond-shaped eyes glistening and lips pale.

Though her figure still carried the innocence of youth, there was a quiet glow of new motherhood about her.

Yet behind that softness was a stubborn glint, a challenge in the set of her brows.

Caleb's gaze contracted slightly, carrying a hint of restrained menace.

He studied her for a long beat, then let out a humorless chuckle, the corner of his mouth curling in disdain. "After all your efforts to climb into my bed, you're demanding not just the title of Mrs. Reynolds-you want me to act like a father to the children you are carrying too?"

The faint blanch of fear touched Lilliana's face, but her chin lifted with unshaken resolve.

Biting her lower lip, she spoke, her voice quiet yet unwavering. "That night wasn't some scheme of mine. I'd been out celebrating with friends and wandered into the wrong room... The children aren't just mine, Mr. Reynolds. They're yours too, and you can't simply pretend they don't exist."

The truth was that night had been the product of someone else's trap-one that had ensnared them both.

She had tried to explain this to Caleb in her previous life, but back then she had lived in constant dread, never daring to put everything into words.

Her blunt honesty now left no room for doubt, and her wide, clear eyes held nothing but sincerity.

After a moment of quiet scrutiny, Caleb pushed to his feet, masking himself in indifference.

"I'll have someone look deeper into what really happened that night." His gaze flicked briefly to her belly, his tone clipped and cold. "Those children inside you mean nothing to me-I couldn't care less."

Caleb let Poseidon crawl up his wrist, his movements calm and unhurried, then turned away as if nothing about the moment needed a second thought.

Lilliana dropped her gaze, her clear eyes betraying not even a flicker of disappointment.

In her previous life, Caleb had kept himself distant, never once taking part in raising the children.

His connection to them had been tenuous at best-he was never cruel, but his warmth toward them had been scarce.

Because of that distance, the two children had always been a little wary around him.

Even so, he was still their father.

This time around, Lilliana wanted her children to grow up with his presence, to know what it felt like to have their father beside them.

Love deepened when one chose to invest in it-and she hoped Caleb would choose to invest in them.

...

After delivering that final remark, Caleb strode off without a backward glance.

The next afternoon, under Mary's firm persuasion, he went to the city hall with Lilliana to get married.

Just before they signed, Lilliana hesitated, her gaze shifting between Caleb and the lawyer standing beside him. Her voice came quiet but steady. "Shouldn't we sign a prenuptial agreement?"

The lawyer assured her, "That won't be needed, Mrs. Reynolds."

Lilliana's lashes swept downward as she cast her gaze to the floor.

In her previous life, she hadn't signed anything like that, either. Even when she'd been the one to ask for a divorce, she'd made no excessive demands.

Back then, she'd been painfully timid, unsure of herself, yet clinging to a fragile sense of principle.

While she mulled over the memory, Caleb-who had been teasing Poseidon-lifted his head and pinned her with a look. His tone was cool, almost challenging. "Do you know why there isn't one?"

Lilliana slowly shook her head.

A teasing curve tugged at his lips, mischief flickering in his eyes.

"In our family," he said smoothly, "marriage only ends when life does-not by divorce."

He stepped closer, tilting her chin up with a single finger, his tone laced with something darker. "And I'm rather eager to see that day come."

Did he mean he was waiting for her death?

Lilliana's heart thudded, but she didn't flinch. Those words echoed in her mind like a bell.

A soft flicker of lashes brushed against her cheeks.

Marriage ended only with death?

Then why had he been willing to divorce her in that other life?

For a moment, she stood frozen, staring at him, until the lawyer's polite cough snapped her back. Swallowing her questions, she buried the turmoil in her chest and followed the lawyer to finish signing the marriage papers.