Juliet rolled her eyes. She seemed more annoyed by his attitude than intimidated by it.
Lowering her gaze, she picked up the papers and began reading. The room grew quiet except for the soft rustling of pages. Vincent stood across from her with both hands shoved deep into his pockets, his shoulders tense as he watched her every reaction without blinking.
As she continued reading, the confusion on her face slowly gave way to realization. Her eyes moved more slowly over the last few pages before she finally lowered them.
A few moments later, she lifted her head and looked at him again.
One eyebrow rose.
"Alexa isn't pregnant with your child?"
Her tone sounded more like a question than a statement.
Vincent slipped both hands deeper into his pockets and tilted his head slightly. A smug look slowly spread across his face.
"Yeah."
His eyes remained fixed on her.
"I've never slept with her. She lied to you."
There was a trace of satisfaction in his voice.
As Vincent stared at Juliet, a quiet confidence settled over his expression, and the tension that had been locked in his shoulders for so long finally eased as if everything had fallen into place the moment he spoke.
In his mind, the truth had already done its work, and now there was nothing left to fix or explain. Now she knew he had never been involved with Alexa, and everything she had believed was nothing more than a misunderstanding twisted out of proportion.
He watched her closely, almost expectantly, the faint smugness returning as the silence stretched between them, his gaze lingering on her face as though waiting for the exact moment it would change, waiting for anger to fade and soften into understanding.
He was already certain of what would come next, convinced that once the confusion cleared, she would see things exactly as he did. Now she would come back to him, now she would realize she had been wrong, and now she would want them to get back together.
That thought settled in his mind with quiet certainty, so steady it felt like fact, and he simply stood there watching her, waiting for the outcome he believed was already decided.
But Juliet looked at him with complete indifference. Her gaze remained steady on his face, and then a look of disbelief slowly crossed her features, as though she genuinely couldn't understand why he thought this information should matter to her at all.
"All right. Good for you."
She raised her eyebrows slightly and folded her arms across her chest, leaning one hip against the counter.
"What do you want me to do with it?"
The smug look on Vincent's face disappeared almost immediately.
The confidence that had been sitting so comfortably on his features moments ago faltered. He stared at her for a second, clearly caught off guard by her reaction. He had expected surprise, relief, maybe even happiness.
Certainly not this.
His brows gradually drew together, and a puzzled frown settled on his face as he searched her expression for something—anything—that suggested she cared.
"So you don't remember what you said to me on the day of our engagement?"
His voice was lower this time.
As he spoke, Juliet's fingers drifted to the edge of the counter, lightly resting against the cool surface. His words pulled her back to a memory she hadn't thought about in a long time.
She remembered the day he had slipped the ring onto her finger.
Back then, she had been so excited that she could hardly contain herself. Her heart had been full of hope and anticipation. Afterspending so many years alone, she had been genuinely happy at the thought of finally having someone to share her life with. The idea of coming home to someone every day, eating meals together, talking about ordinary things, and building a future together had filled her with excitement.
