Upon hearing Mrs. Rocco’s words, Kayden sighed helplessly. He had no choice but to lead her upstairs.
Soon, the two of them entered the room. As they stepped inside, they saw Wood Faulkner standing on the balcony.
The moment Mrs. Rocco saw Wood Faulkner in the room, her expression froze. Similarly, when Wood Faulkner saw Mrs. Rocco at the door, a look of surprise flashed across her face.
Their eyes locked for a few seconds before Mrs. Rocco broke the silence. “Ah, I knew it! I said you must be hiding someone here, and it turns out I was right! Mr. Scott, this is a little dishonest of you, don’t you think?”
Wood Faulkner frowned, clearly displeased, and shot back, “Mrs. Rocco, please mind your words! Whatever I have with Mr. Scott is none of your concern. But you, a widowed woman, bringing a child about the same age as Mr. Scott here-aren’t you worried about what people might say?”
Mrs. Rocco chuckled lightly. “Gossip? What gossip? Why should I live my life in the shadow of others’ opinions? Can’t I live the way I want? Trying to fit into others’ expectations-that’s the real foolishness, isn’t it?”
She then turned to Kayden. “Mr. Scott, don’t you think I’m right?”
Kayden was at a loss for words and decided not to answer.
Wood Faulkner let out a cold snort and said to Kayden, “I’ll leave now, Mr. Scott.”
With that, her expression shifted, and she walked out the door without another word.
As Wood Faulkner left, Mrs. Rocco watched her retreating figure and remarked with a faint smile, “That young lady is quite amusing. She seems jealous.”
Kayden was taken aback but quickly retorted, “She’s just my subordinate. I’ve been helping her recover from her injuries while she’s staying here.”
“Who says a subordinate can’t have feelings for you? What’s next, are you going to forbid your bodyguards, drivers, or even passersby from liking you? You really don’t understand women, do you?”
With that, Mrs. Rocco rolled her eyes at him and strode over to the hotel’s sofa, sitting down comfortably.
She looked up at Kayden with a teasing smile. “You’ve got quite the nerve, haven’t you? Having me is one thing, but you’re still living with such a pretty little thing. Are your nights as exciting as they seem?”
Kayden couldn’t even begin to argue with her. Who knew what went on in her mind all day?
Was she wild? Yes, undeniably so. But it wasn’t the kind of wild most people could witness.
Was she proper? Yes, when it came to the Rocco family’s crises, she handled everything with meticulous care.
In the end, Kayden decided not to engage further.
He sighed. “What’s your business here?”
Mrs. Rocco feigned surprise and leaned closer. “What’s this? Are you so eager to dismiss me already? Are all men like this? After having me, you just want to pretend it never happened? Did you know I’m pregnant? You’re about to become a father.”
Kayden froze, his heart skipping a beat. His face turned blank with shock.
Pregnant. A father.
The news hit him like a bolt from the blue. He wasn’t prepared for this at all.
First, the woman in question was a widow-one with a son nearly his age. She wasn’t the kind of woman he had ever imagined himself with. If it had been Georgia, he could have accepted it.
Second, the timing was all wrong. This news was a complete upheaval, an unexpected blow.
Seeing the stunned expression on Kayden’s face, Mrs. Rocco couldn’t hold back her laughter. “Relax, I’m just messing with you! How could you be so gullible? You do know it takes at least a month to confirm a pregnancy, right?”
Kayden nearly collapsed with relief. Of all the things in his life, pregnancy was something he couldn’t handle. He was ruthless, decisive, and emotionally detached on the battlefield, but this? This was too much.
Mrs. Rocco’s tone shifted as she explained, “My father sent me to talk to you. He wants to know if you’ve figured out who’s behind Elowen Trevino’s schemes. This doesn’t seem like something the Trevino family could pull off alone. There must be someone else targeting the Rocco family.”
“You know how proud my father is. He wouldn’t ask you directly, so he sent me instead. Maybe he also wanted to give us some alone time together.”
Finally, the conversation turned serious. Kayden leaned back on the sofa beside Mrs. Rocco and replied, “It’s the work of Cedar Ridge’s dark factions. They specialize in malicious, self-destructive schemes like this. Cedar Ridge has both righteous and rogue sects-this is definitely the latter.”
“Cedar Ridge’s rogue sects?” Mrs. Rocco frowned in thought. “Elowen Trevino is truly cunning, isn’t she? To even connect with such people! It’s a good thing she didn’t take the overseer position. Who knows what she would’ve done if she had.”
She continued, “By the way, when Elowen Trevino died, it was a suicide. She had already escaped but strangely turned back. The people chasing her were confused because she was smiling-an eerie, unsettling smile.”
“Then, in front of everyone, she suddenly pulled out a knife and stabbed herself in the stomach eleven times. Does that sound like something a normal person would do? Clearly, she wasn’t herself anymore. By that point, Elowen Trevino was already under someone’s control.”
Kayden nodded. “Exactly. At that moment, Elowen Trevino wasn’t acting of her own will. She was being controlled using Cedar Ridge’s soul-manipulation techniques.”
“But,” he added, “the person who used this soul-manipulation wasn’t the same one who cursed your family ten years ago.”
Mrs. Rocco raised her eyebrows. “What do you mean?”
“The one who cursed your family died the moment I broke the curse by digging up your family’s graves. That curse was a deadly spell-it required the caster to sacrifice their own life to harm your family.”
“So, the person who controlled Elowen Trevino wasn’t him. It was someone else. Maybe two people worked together, or it could’ve been a group. This might have something to do with an old grudge against the Rocco family. Think carefully-did your family offend anyone ten years ago? Perhaps during a hunt, or through some internal conflict?”
“You’re asking me, but I don’t know who it could be. Unless that person foolishly reveals themselves, it’s impossible to say.”
Mrs. Rocco nodded thoughtfully. “My father suspects that whoever’s behind this is trying to spark a war between major families. If that’s true, the implications go far beyond personal revenge. Someone who could orchestrate a conflict between two powerful families must be…”