---- Chapter 17 Eliana's heart skipped a beat. Brenden had already coldly kicked Erin away. He accepted the towel from his subordinate and said coldly, "Hand her over to Dean." Eliana's wedding was getting close, and Brenden initially wanted to avoid any bloodshed. But Erin had recklessly provoked him. After finishing everything, he turned around. "Are you okay?" Eliana wanted to say something, and she thought about Erin's words. Then she shook her head in a daze. Brenden cared more than anyone about the truth of the car accident back then. So the first thing he did after gaining a foothold was to have his people investigate the cause of the accident. It was finally confirmed that both his parents had indeed died accidentally. Erin attempted to use such a clumsy lie to attract Brenden's attention. It was obviously a miscalculation. ---- When Dean finished handling the company affairs and returned home, Erin was already unconscious at his villa's entrance. Beside him, Amy was crying so hard she couldn't catch her breath. She clutched Dean's pant leg tightly and pleaded, "Daddy, please save Mommy. Mommy's bleeding a lot..." Dean glanced indifferently at Erin and immediately had someone take her to the hospital. He didn't care whether she was sent to the emergency room or the morgue. Dean already suspected that he was the father of the lost baby, but he didn't care. In fact, he felt a bit relieved. If Erin hadn't forced Eliana into a miscarriage, Dean thought that Eliana might have had the chance to get back together with him. Dean pushed open the door. The house's furnishings remained unchanged, but Eliana's belongings were completely gone. When Eliana carried several bags of things out to throw away, he thought she was making room for Erin and Amy. ---- Suddenly, his foot in slippers was pricked by something. Dean bent down to pick up the clay sculpture fragment under his foot. He suddenly remembered the clay doll that had been broken that day. He frantically rushed upstairs and took out another doll belonging to Eliana from the bedside drawer. It was the doll he and Eliana had made together when they first fell in love. But he had called it just a clay sculpture. Dean felt a sharp pain in his heart as he downed the glass of wine in one gulp. He drank straight from the bottle and tried to drown his sorrows. When he was completely drunk, Richard pushed the door open and was startled by the scene. Those were Dean's treasured wines, but he had drunk all of them today. "Mr. Moore, Mr. and Mrs. Thorpe have brought Erin here." Dean's eyes suddenly widened, and he immediately got up and rushed outside. But when he saw Erin's father's old face, he suddenly sobered up. ---- He laughed at himself. Eliana's parents had died long ago. How could they possibly bring Eliana to see him? He was so drunk that he was mixing up names. Dean staggered and was about to leave, but Erin grabbed Dean's hand angrily. His eyes were wide with rage, and he scolded Dean. "Dean, our families have been close allies for generations. You promised me that you'd take good care of Erin. But look at what you've done now. When Erin was badly injured and lying on the bed, what were you doing? She's carrying your baby." That sentence completely ignited the anger in Dean's heart. He sobered up and instantly pushed Elin's father away. "My baby? Erin brought someone else's daughter and told me that | was the father. She caused me to lose my own baby and forced my fiancée to marry another guy. | haven't killed her because of the years of friendship between our families. Why don't you ask your beloved daughter who she provoked?" Eliana had boldly gotten the doctor to issue a fake paternity test. Her father must have helped her with that. Erin's family used to be influential, but they had declined in the past few years. ---- They naturally hadn't qualified to be invited to attend Eliana's birthday party. Erin's father didn't know that Eliana, who had been an unnoticed orphan, was now the daughter of the Spencer family. Erin's father's face turned blue and then pale. "Anyway, Erin suffered this time because she was pregnant with your baby. | only have one daughter and won't allow you to harm her like this." Dean knew there was no point in talking to Erin's father, who was stubborn, so Dean said directly, "What do you want?" "You marry Erin and give her an explanation. Anyway, you've already held the wedding. You only have to get the marriage certificate." "That's impossible!" Dean said firmly. "Even if | remain single forever, | won't marry her." Dean completely turned down Erin's father. Erin sneered, "Fine. You've got guts. Let's see what happens later." As soon as Erin's father left, Dean received a call from Richard. "Mr. Moore, Mr. Thorpe has withdrawn his investment. The company is in chaos now, and the shareholders are holding a meeting to ask for an explanation from you."