Chapter 613 Everything Under Control

Anne was groggy when she answered the call, but she immediately recognized Yancey’s voice.

Too sleepy to open her eyes, she muttered, “What is it?”

Yancey clenched his fist briefly before relaxing it again. “I’m downstairs.”

“Huh?” Anne didn’t catch on immediately.

Yancey’s words seemed to drain every ounce of strength from his body. His voice was hoarse, tinged with a faint sadness. “I’m outside Paltrow Manor.”

That woke her up. She blurted out without thinking, “What are you doing outside Paltrow Manor?”

“What is he doing?” she thought.

Yancey closed his eyes, bitterness flashing through them. “You’re my girlfriend. You didn’t come home last night. As your boyfriend, can’t I at least ask why?”

What he didn’t tell Anne was that he had waited outside all night.

Anne felt a headache coming on. She fought off the drowsiness, sat up, and walked downstairs.

The moment she stepped outside, Yancey rushed up to her and hugged her tightly. “Why are you staying at Paltrow Manor? Why didn’t you come back to our home? Have you rekindled things with your ex-husband? Anne, you spent the night here. Did you two sleep together?”

The string of accusations made Anne’s head pound even more. Rubbing her temples, she tried to explain, “I came here to take Bella home.”

“Then why didn’t you come back?”

“Bella won’t leave her father. And, honestly, I underestimated how hard it would be to care for her.” Last night had been a harsh lesson for Anne. Before bringing Bella home, she realized she needed to hire an experienced nanny.

Yancey’s voice cracked as he pressed on, “Is it Bella who can’t leave her father, or you who can’t leave Dante?”

Anne froze, anger rising within her. “Why would you even think that?”

“Do you even consider me your boyfriend? Anne, do I mean anything to you at all? Or do you think that just because I’m younger, you don’t have to take me seriously?”

These questions had haunted Yancey all night. He couldn’t be sure what Anne’s feelings were – whether she loved him or not.

“Anne, as my girlfriend, how could you spend the night at Paltrow Manor? Have you even thought about how I feel?”

Anne’s head was splitting. She was still recovering from childbirth and the accident during labor. Her body was weak and needed rest. After a sleepless night, her eyes could barely stay open.

Faced with Yancey’s barrage of questions, her mind went numb. “Of course you’re my boyfriend.” But last night, all she could think about was Bella. Seeing her daughter had awakened a deep maternal instinct. She hadn’t had time to think about anything else; she just wanted to be with her child.

Yancey was not Bella’s biological father, and he himself was still an immature child. Of course, he couldn’t understand such feelings. Anne wanted to explain but didn’t know where to start. After all, no one could fully understand someone else’s feelings.

“You didn’t come here to pick a fight, did you?” Anne said with a sigh. “This isn’t the place to talk. Let’s go home and discuss this, okay?”

Yancey shook his head.

Anne frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“You seem comfortable living here. Do you even care about our home?” He stepped back.

For the first time, Yancey let his temper flare in front of Anne. He had always been gentle with her, but now his voice rose, cracking with frustration. “Fine! Stay here then. Why bother coming back?”

With that, he turned and ran off without looking back.

Anne instinctively moved to chase him, but after a few steps, she remembered her leg had only recently healed from the fracture. Running wasn’t an option.

She knew Yancey was upset, but what could she do? As a mother, how could she abandon her child? This time, Dante had finally agreed to let her see Bella. If she hadn’t stayed last night, who knew what tricks he might have pulled to hide her daughter again?

Upstairs, Dante had been watching the scene unfold from the window.

Watching Yancey’s receding figure, Anne picked up her phone and tried calling him several times, but the calls never went through. Feeling a little dejected, she returned to Paltrow Manor.

Dante was sitting in the dining room, having breakfast. As she walked past him, she said firmly, “I’m taking Bella with me.”

Dante paused mid-bite, then leaned back in his chair and nodded. “Fine.”

His quick agreement caught Anne off guard. She was surprised that Dante actually agreed so easily.

“I saw your argument with that little boyfriend of yours.” Dante’s tone was casual, almost teasing. “Dating a younger guy must be exhausting. So childish, always throwing tantrums.”

Anne detected the sarcasm in Dante’s words. She gave him a glare and retorted, “How do you know I’m not enjoying it?”

Dante chuckled. “Enjoying it? Anne, let’s be honest. That kid isn’t your type. You’re with him because he was there for you, especially when he gave you blood during childbirth. You’re grateful, but gratitude isn’t love. You’ve always loved me.”

“You’re so full of yourself!” Anne snapped, not wanting to engage further. She went upstairs, picked up Bella, and prepared to leave.

“You can take Bella,” Dante said suddenly, “but on three conditions.”

“First, my daughter is never to be left alone with your boy toy. You must be present. Second, if my daughter suffers any harm or mistreatment, I’ll take her back immediately. Third, and most importantly, no intimacy with your man, no kissing, no sleeping together, while Bella is in the same space.”

The third condition made Anne explode. “You’re insane, Dante!”

“What does my private life have to do with you?” she fumed. “I won’t allow you to act indecently in front of my daughter.”

Dante looked at Anne and smiled. “Can’t do it? If you can’t, leave your daughter to me. You may not be able to do it, but the three things, I can do all of them.”

Anne rolled her eyes at Dante. She thought, “Is he trying to indirectly show me how devoted he is? But we’re divorced now, so how does his devotion have anything to do with me?”

“Fine! I’ll follow your rules. But since I’m taking Bella, don’t expect to get her back!”

As Anne walked out, Dante’s lips curled into a knowing smile. He watched her leave, the expression on his face calm and confident, as if everything was under his control.