THE MYSTERIOUS HEIR RETURNS

Little Did She Know

Ethan's expression remained calm. “You have called it fake several times, yet you have not proved that it is.”

Celeste's face tightened. “You don't need to teach me anything!”

“I am not teaching you,” Ethan replied. “I am asking you to look at the evidence before you.”

Diana shook her head. “You still don't understand. Whether that document looks real or not doesn't change anything. I don't know you, and I don't want to do anything with you.”

“You don't have to know me,” Ethan replied. “But you should know the truth about the agreement your father made with mine.”

Diana's expression became disgusted again. “I have heard enough.”

Gideon stepped forward, his voice becoming colder. “This contract must have been carefully fabricated and constructed to deceive us. You prepared it, came here, caused a scene, and expected us to believe that you were suddenly part of the Alexander family.”

He looked Ethan directly in the eyes. “But we're not fools. We are not dumb, and we are certainly not gullible enough to be deceived by someone like you.”

Damian Cross laughed loudly. “Exactly! He really thought he could walk into a hall full of powerful people with a piece of paper and suddenly become Diana Alexander's fiancé.”

He looked Ethan up and down. “Maybe you should find another family to fool.”

The laughter around him grew louder, but Ethan remained composed, refusing to allow the pressure to break him. He simply looked at each of them with a calmness that made his silence more noticeable than their laughter.

Celeste folded her arms. “Leave.”

Diana looked at him coldly. “Leave now.”

Gideon added firmly, “This is your final warning.”

Marcus straightened his posture and glanced toward the other security officers while Ethan slowly looked around the hall once more before his eyes settled back on Diana.

“You can insult me, you can mock me, and you can even refuse to believe who I am,” he said in a low, steady voice, “but none of that changes the truth. I came here because my father made a promise, and I intend to understand why he made it. I will not walk away simply because you are uncomfortable with the truth.”

Gideon's face darkened as he turned toward Marcus. “Call the security team.”

Marcus immediately reached for his communication device.

“Wait.”

Diana raised one hand calmly, stopping Gideon and Marcus at the same time. Everyone looked at her as she turned toward Ethan, and the coldness in her eyes softened slightly.

“Ethan,” she said in a surprisingly sweet tone, “if you truly believe that contract is genuine, then give it to me.”

Ethan watched her carefully.

“I want to examine it again,” she continued, her voice gentle. “Perhaps there is something I missed the first time. Give it to me, and we can settle this properly.”

Her tone was so calm that several elite visitors around them relaxed. Ethan studied her face for a moment, noticing the change in her voice and realizing that something was wrong. However, he still reached out and handed the contract to her—not because Diana’s voice had affected him, but because he feared nothing. He was always prepared to face any risk or outcome. Diana quickly accepted it and stared down at the document for one brief moment before Celeste stepped closer.

Diana's fingers tightened around the contract as she looked at her mother, and Celeste gave her a firm nod. Diana suddenly pulled the contract apart with force.

RIP!!

The sound echoed through the hall as she tore it again, reducing the carefully preserved document to several pieces before dropping them onto the marble floor in front of Ethan.

The hall fell silent. Celeste watched with satisfaction, Gideon's expression remained cold, and Damian Cross smiled triumphantly as Diana looked at Ethan, expecting to see anger, humiliation, or desperation.

But Ethan simply stared at the torn pieces on the floor before slowly raising his eyes toward her.

“You’ll regret this later,” he said quietly.

Damian Cross burst into laughter. “Hahaha! Look at him! He still thinks he can threaten the Alexander family after we just tore his precious contract apart!”

His laughter echoed across the hall before suddenly dying in his throat when Ethan looked directly at him. There was nothing wild in Ethan's eyes, no rage and no desperation, only a calm certainty that made Damian's smile disappear.

Diana, Celeste, and Gideon stared angrily at Ethan while the elite visitors watched in silence. Ethan remained where he stood, his appearance still cheap, while the torn pieces of the marriage contract lay scattered at his feet. Seeing the contract destroyed cut deeply into his heart because it represented a promise his late father had made to their patriarch.

He quickly suppressed the unbearable pain, refusing to let it show on his face. Within seconds, he regained his composure, standing calmly as though the destruction of the contract had changed nothing at all.

Then the grand doors suddenly swung open, drawing every eye in the hall toward the entrance.