Chapter 5

A sleek black Bugatti slowly lowered its rear window, revealing a face with sharp, austere features.

Alexander Russell narrowed his eyes, his deep, complex gaze fixed on Catherine.

The vibrant, confident woman he remembered from the past overlapped with the fragile figure before him, but he could no longer find any trace of her once spirited demeanor.

His assistant noticed the enigmatic darkness in Alexander's eyes and followed his line of sight, puzzled to see only a thin, frail woman.

The assistant's eyes widened in disbelief. The normally unapproachable, cold CEO was intensely watching a woman—and an utterly ordinary one at that.

"Mr. Russell, would you like me to invite that lady over?" the assistant ventured carefully, studying his boss's reaction through the rearview mirror.

"No need," Alexander replied, his voice cool and sharp, though his gaze remained fixed on the slender figure outside.

After a long moment, he finally tore his eyes away with seeming indifference. "Let's go."

The assistant immediately raised the window.

At that same moment, Catherine felt a burning gaze on her back. She turned around but saw nothing unusual.

Frowning slightly, she dismissed the feeling.

Directly ahead, Juniper was leading Ethan off the Ferris wheel.

The boy's excited face was flushed, his arms wrapped around Juniper's neck as he begged to ride again.

Juniper lovingly wiped the light perspiration from his forehead and happily agreed.

Ethan kissed her cheek in gratitude, but as he pulled away, he caught sight of Catherine watching him from a distance.

That strange woman again!

Catherine noticed his glance and felt both nervous and excited. She awkwardly adjusted her windblown hair and offered her brightest smile, waving to Ethan.

Seeing her eager expression, Ethan remembered what she had said to him. His small brow furrowed in confusion. "Mom, who is she really?"

Could she actually be his mother as she claimed? But why had he never seen her before?

Ethan's eyes were filled with bewilderment.

Hearing this, Juniper's brow tightened as she glanced toward Catherine, her gaze momentarily turning cold and venomous before quickly vanishing.

When she looked back at Ethan, her expression returned to its usual warmth and kindness. "The Ferris wheel is starting again."

At these words, Ethan immediately forgot his question, happily hugging Juniper as they walked away.

Catherine stared intently at their retreating figures. The brightness in her eyes instantly dimmed as she bit her lower lip until she tasted blood. Only then did she snap back to reality, hurriedly following their steps to sit in the car behind them.

From a distance, she could see Ethan saying something to Juniper in the opposite car, making her laugh uncontrollably.

For the first time, Catherine felt the bitter sting of jealousy, along with growing resentment toward both Juniper and Richard.

If not for their cruel scheming, she wouldn't have missed her son's childhood, and Ethan wouldn't reject her now.

Each time she witnessed the intimate interactions between Ethan and Juniper, a sour feeling swelled in her chest.

Her fingers curled into tight fists, nails digging into her palms. Sharp pain radiated through her body, making it difficult to breathe.

With the howling wind outside the Ferris wheel, Catherine could almost hear her heart bleeding.

When they finally disembarked, Juniper's phone rang incessantly. She glanced at Ethan, who was captivated by a nearby clown, and bent down to speak to him patiently. "I need to take a call over there. Stay right here and don't move."

Ethan, his eyes fixed on the clown's constantly changing balloons, nodded absently.

Juniper confidently pulled out her phone and walked a short distance away.

Catherine saw her opportunity and approached Ethan.

"Ethan..." she began, but before she could finish, she noticed two small boys in her peripheral vision—one clutching a pinwheel while the other chased him.

The two children were playing boisterously, and in the blink of an eye, they reached Ethan. One accidentally bumped into Ethan's shoulder, knocking him off balance.

The ground was covered with small, sharp pebbles that would injure even an adult in a fall, let alone a child with delicate skin.

Without thinking, Catherine lunged forward, using her body as a cushion to protect Ethan.

The jagged stones immediately cut into her skin. Blood seeped from the wounds, causing her to gasp in pain, but her first concern was for Ethan.

"Are you hurt? Let me check you over," she said anxiously, examining him from head to toe.

Only when she confirmed that not even a speck of dust had touched him did she breathe a sigh of relief.

The boy who had caused the accident was terrified. His pinwheel fell to the ground as he burst into tears.

Catherine, ignoring her pain, picked up the pinwheel and handed it to the small boy. "We're both fine," she said soothingly. "Don't be afraid. Go find your parents now."

Then she turned her attention back to Ethan, who remained silent.

Thinking he might be frightened, she raised her hand to comfort him, only to notice his gaze fixed on her bleeding arm.

"You're bleeding," Ethan said, biting his lip, a strange feeling rising within him.

Though he found this woman's sudden appearance in their home annoying, her embrace just now had given him an unfamiliar warmth that somehow felt deeply familiar, as if he had been held in those arms countless times before.

Especially when he thought about how she had protected him without hesitation, despite knowing she would be hurt.

Conflicted inside, he finally managed to ask awkwardly, "Does it hurt?"

The concern in her son's eyes brought tears to Catherine's eyes. This was progress.

She held back her tears and shook her head repeatedly. "It doesn't hurt at all."

She tentatively reached out to Ethan, her voice filled with humble pleading, "Ethan, may I hold you for a moment?"

Ethan pressed his lips together, shifting his gaze from her face to her still-bleeding arm.

Just as he was about to nod in agreement, Juniper returned from her call, holding a Mickey Mouse ice cream cone.

"Ethan, look what I got for you!" Juniper called, waving to him.

Ethan turned his head, his face lighting up with excitement when he saw the ice cream. "It's Mickey!"

Under Catherine's hopeful, yearning gaze, Ethan ran straight into Juniper's arms.

Juniper handed the ice cream to Ethan and took his hand. Before leaving, she shot Catherine a challenging, pitying look.

'Catherine, what good does it do you to come back now? Not only is your husband mine, but even your son only recognizes me as his mother. The position of Mrs. Rivers will ultimately be mine alone!' Juniper thought with satisfaction.

Catherine understood the challenge in Juniper's eyes. She clenched her teeth and fists, silently vowing that someday she would make this treacherous pair pay for what they had done!