---- Chapter 19 Lucas gave a sly smile. "Alina, your daughter, is pregnant, and | am the father. You can kill me now if you want. Although Alina is just your illegitimate daughter, you won't want her baby to be born without a father, will you?" Alina was stunned. The room fell into a dead silence. Alina collapsed onto the floor, and her face was ashen. She wanted to say something, but Robert silenced her with a glance. "Take him downstairs." Robert suddenly put away his gun and said to the guards at the door, "Lock him in the basement. I'll think it over." As Lucas was escorted past Alina, he winked at her and silently mouthed, "Thanks for playing along." Alina watched Lucas being taken away, and her fingers unconsciously touched her belly. Robert returned to the sofa and lit a cigar. "Now," he blew a smoke ring and said coldly, "tell me the truth. Are you really pregnant?" ---- Alina bit her lip, and tears silently ran down her cheeks. "I don't know." "How could you not know?" Robert slammed the table and yelled at her. "You can't even know your own body." He stood up and turned his back to Alina, his troublesome daughter. He walked to the window. "Get out. | want to see the physical examination report by tomorrow morning." Alina trembled as she got up. She stumbled toward the door. Just as she was about to leave, Robert suddenly said, "You'd better give me an explanation about what you have done to Eve. Do you think | spared your life after you hurt her? It was your mother's plea." Alina nodded hastily. She finally understood that Robert always saw her as his illegitimate daughter and that she was never as important as Eve in his eyes, no matter how hard she tried. Thinking of her mother, the stripper from the nightclub, Alina clenched her fists. After giving some orders to his subordinates, Robert returned to the manor. It was the day Eve and Samuel returned to the Costa family for a visit. ---- Robert had just sat down when the newlyweds were respectfully ushered in by the butler. "Dad." Eve greeted Robert with a bright and graceful smile, while Samuel stood by her side. Robert immediately rose from the sofa, and his wrinkles smoothed out. "My dear daughter," he said, embracing Eve and kissing her cheek. "You look more like your mother." A flash of pain flickered in Eve's eyes but was quickly masked by a perfect smile. Ten years ago, a car accident took away her mother's life. Because of Robert's guilt, Eve became the family's sole legitimate heir. At that moment, the door was gently pushed open. A sweet fragrance of perfume wafted in, followed by the sound of delicate high heels. "Robert." An alluring voice was heard. Everyone turned to look. Vickie Moreno stood at the door. She seems ageless. She wore a form-fitting burgundy velvet dress, highlighting her figure, which was still graceful. ---- She was unlike her youthful flamboyance. Her gaze now carried mature charm. Alina followed behind her mother and looked more like a servant girl at the moment. Robert's expression instantly hardened. "Who let you in?" His voice was cold, but Eve sharply noticed Robert's fingers tremble slightly. Robert had countless women and numerous illegitimate children, but only Alina could enter and be referred to as "Miss" by Robert's men simply because she was Vickie's daughter. Eve's lips pressed into a thin line. She discreetly sized up the legendary woman. She was the stripper who seduced Robert while Eve's mother was pregnant. Vickie seemed to only then notice Eve. She slightly widened her eyes and then offered a smile so gentle that it bordered on pleading. "This must be Eve. Right?" She stepped forward a few paces but wisely stopped at a safe distance. "My goodness, you're even more beautiful than in the newspapers!" "Keep your distance." Robert stood up and shielded Eve. ---- Vickie's eyes instantly reddened, but she quickly lowered her head, and her thick lashes cast a shadow. "| just wanted to see her," Vickie said. She looked up at Robert with teary eyes and said in a gentle and soft voice, "Alina has always been lonely and insecure, but she's a good girl. The doctor says my heart..." Vickie laughed bitterly while pressing her chest. "l might not last through this winter." She looked up at Robert, and tears slid down her cheeks. "Before | die, | want Alina to properly recognize her father. | plead with you not to make things difficult for her for my sake." Alina timely let out a sob. Her shoulders trembled slightly, and she looked like a pitiful little thing. She carefully stepped forward and took out a brown paper bag from her handbag. "Dad," she said in a voice as low as a mosquito's buzz. She respectfully handed over the document to Robert and continued, "This is the examination report | just did at St. Mary's Hospital." Robert frowned, taking it and opening it. "Eight weeks pregnant. Are you really pregnant?" Vickie covered her mouth, perfectly feigning surprise. "Oh my! Alina, why didn't you tell me earlier?" She turned to Robert and said with her eyes glistening with tears. "Alina has always ---- struggled to voice her feelings. She didn't even dare tell you she was pregnant." Alina kept her head down, and tears fell onto the floor. "| just found out, too. Lucas was afraid you'd be angry." She sobbed, and her fingers nervously twisted the hem of her clothes. "After all, Lucas was Eve's fiancé back then." Eve watched the show coldly, and her lips pressed into a straight line. Alina used to flaunt before Eve, but the former was now a pitiful sight. It was a stark contrast. Samuel chuckled lightly and leisurely took out a checkbook. "How touching." He raised an eyebrow at Alina and said, "How much for compensation for silence?" Alina seemed frightened and retreated half a step to hide behind Vickie. "I'm not...asking for money." She timidly looked at Robert and said, "| just... want to give the baby an identity, Dad. Let me marry Lucas." Robert's expression was incredibly complex. In the eerie silence, Vickie suddenly clutched her chest and bent over in pain. "Mom!" Alina screamed and supported her. ---- Vickie weakly waved her hand and looked up at Robert. "I'm sorry. | shouldn't have come here." She gasped, and her lips turned pale. "But please promise me to take care of Alina. Spare Lucas's life. Alina has only ever truly loved him." Eve watched the performance coldly. When Vickie fainted, Eve noticed a fleeting smile at the corner of her lips. Robert siad, "Call an ambulance." Eve walked up to Alina and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "Nice acting skills. But you picked the wrong audience." Alina stiffened almost imperceptibly but quickly returned to her pitiful demeanor. The ambulance took away Alina and Vickie. Robert looked exhausted as he sat on the sofa. He suddenly seemed much older. "Eve." He began, hesitating. "Dad, don't explain. | understand. I've completely let go of Lucas. If Alina wants to marry him, | have no objections." Robert affectionately patted Eve's hair. "| have only one daughter, and that's you, forever."