Chapter 601 Come Back to Me

As they chatted, a server approached with drinks in hand.

Lydia waved her hand dismissively, saying, “I can’t drink; I’m pregnant. Could you please bring me a non-alcoholic beverage instead?”

Her words dropped like a bombshell, and the crowd around them immediately turned their attention to her midsection.

“Didn’t Lydia just have a miscarriage not long ago? Is she… pregnant again? Talk about resilience!”

The most shocked of all was Dalton. He frowned, bewildered, “When did this happen? How come I didn’t know?”

It had been three months since Lydia’s miscarriage, and their intimate encounters could be counted on one hand.

Most of those had occurred during Dalton’s drunken stupors when he was feeling low.

Lydia gently caressed her belly, beaming at Dalton. “I just found out a couple of days ago.

“I’m already over two months along! Maybe I’m just naturally good at this whole baby-making thing. Dalton, we’re going to have a child soon! Isn’t that exciting?”

Dalton remained silent.

The news was too unexpected; it was shock, not joy.

His gaze shifted to Meryl, who wore a blank expression and showed no reaction to Lydia’s announcement.

Dalton’s eyes fell, a shadow of gloom passing over him.

Chandler, ever the jokester, broke the tension with a smirk. “Oh? Lydia, are you about to make me a granduncle?”

Dalton felt a tightness in his chest at those words.

Just then, a commotion erupted at the entrance.

Anne had arrived!

She was at the Paltrow Manor for her daughter’s one-month celebration, and she had brought along her new boyfriend, Yancey, practically throwing down the gauntlet at Dante.

As soon as she walked in, whispers filled the air.

Sure enough, within a minute, Dante stormed in, his expression a mix of fury and disbelief.

His gaze was like a cold blade as he shot a seething glare at Yancey, then grabbed Anne and started to pull her away.

Yancey stepped forward to intervene, but he was quickly outnumbered by the Paltrow family’s security.

Dante, flanked by several bodyguards, glared at Yancey, “Get this guy out of here!”

Anne shot back. “Yancey is my boyfriend! How dare you!”

“This is my house; why should I care? Anne, you’re in my territory now. You should be more worried about yourself!”

With that, Dante yanked Anne away.

She instinctively tried to resist, but Dante’s jaw tightened. “You don’t want to see your daughter?”

At the mention of their child, Anne forced herself to calm down.

Dante’s bodyguards swiftly escorted Yancey out, and Meryl, seeing Anne being taken away, instinctively started to follow.

Chandler caught her arm. “Let them talk it out.”

Inside the room, Dante locked the door, shutting out the world.

Anne assumed he had brought her here to see their daughter, but Bella was nowhere to be found.

“Where’s the baby?” Anne asked, her brow furrowing.

Dante looked at her, his voice cold. “Break up with Yancey, and I’ll give you back our daughter.”

Anne didn’t hesitate, saying, “In your dreams!”

Dante chuckled, a hint of derision in his eyes, “Really, Anne? What’s Yancey to you? You’d throw away your own daughter for him?”

Dante stepped closer, locking eyes with her. “How can you call yourself a mother and be so heartless?”

“Heartless? If I were heartless, I wouldn’t have had this child in the first place!

“Dante, I carried her for nine months. Who do you think you are, taking her away from me and demanding I break up with Yancey?

“Yancey takes care of me, cooks for me every day, and prepares for the baby. He’s more of a father than you ever were!”

Dante’s eyes turned red with rage.

“Everything he’s done, I can do too, Anne. Have you ever thought about how you’ve taken away my right to be a father? That child is mine as much as she is yours. How can you just let her call someone else ‘Dad’ without a second thought?

“How can you be so cruel to me? How can you just stop loving me like that?

“I threw this banquet for Bella for you. Look around; this is our wedding suite.”

Anne froze at his words.

She could see the glimmer of unshed tears in Dante’s eyes, and for a moment, all the anger she felt faded away.

In her heated argument with Dante, she hadn’t noticed the room’s decor.

It was just like the day they had gotten their marriage license years ago–rose petals scattered everywhere, covering the entire bed, filling the air with their sweet fragrance.

But this time, it was different. Those roses had been her idea back then.

Dante gripped Anne’s shoulders, his voice low and pleading. “You can hate me all you want, but please, don’t stop loving me. Don’t abandon me…”

He pulled her into his embrace, holding her tightly. “Anne, are you really in love with Yancey? You’re not, are you? Being with him is just hurting him more.

“You kept this child because, deep down, you still held onto a sliver of hope for us, didn’t you?

“I’ve turned back; can you come back to me?”

His voice trembled, filled with a desperation that made him seem like a lost child, unsure of how to find his way home.

Anne curled her fingers into fists, her mind racing.

She had rarely seen this vulnerable side of Dante, and it left her momentarily speechless.

Just then, before she could collect her thoughts, Dante pressed his lips against the corner of her mouth, a fiery kiss that took her by surprise.

When she finally reacted and tried to push him away, he was already holding her firmly against the door.

Dante pinned her wrists down, his tongue slipping into her mouth, igniting a whirlwind of emotions that made her heart race.

“What are you doing? Let me go!” Anne protested, her words muffled and unclear.

Dante seemed deaf to her pleas.

With his eyes closed, he poured every ounce of his passion into that kiss, as if he were trying to melt her resolve away.

Even as Anne bit down hard, tasting blood, he continued to hold her tightly, breathing heavily, consumed by a desperate need for her.

“Once you’re done making a scene, come back to me, Anne. I can’t live without you.”