Chapter 58: He Missed Me?
The words echo through the car like a firecracker.
Evelyn feels like she was struck by lightning hearing his words, "What?!" She twisted in her seat, turned to look behind her, "Oliver Taylor, when did..."
"Knight...Oliver Taylor-Knight," Axel added calmly, interrupting her to finish her words.
Her mind paused briefly as she turned her gaze to Axel. He didn’t look at her; instead, his focus was on the street ahead.
Silently sighing, she nodded at his words. It was true, their son’s name had already been changed, just like hers.
After clearing her throat slightly, she looked at Oliver again and asked, "Oliver Knight, when did Mommy say that?"
The little man, clearly unbothered by the horror inside her mind, blinked innocently.
"Mom, did you forget? You said it this morning. When you were making waffles. I saw you blushing and talking to yourself. You said, ’Axel, you’re ruining my day, I miss you, why don’t you just show up instead of texting?’"
Evelyn gasped even wider. She is indeed saying that. But she remembered no one in the kitchen. Or is he really there?
She could no longer think about it, as now she feels her face grow hot, and she believes her cheek must be the same shade as the strawberry jam sitting in her fridge.
"O-Oliver, sweetheart... Th-That’s not what I’m saying, darling. Maybe just... uh..." She flailed for words but hurriedly continued, "...just me yelling at the waffle maker. You know, a waffle maker burns things sometimes, right? You misunderstood."
Evelyn tried to change the subject because she didn’t want her three-year-old son to keep exposing her to Axel. While she hoped Axel would ignore their conversation, she wished he were thinking about his million-dollar business deal.
But the universe, of course, is not on her side this time.
From the driver’s seat came a low sound. Not a laugh—Axel Knight didn’t laugh often—but something dangerously close to it, a deep rumble of amusement.
She turned her head toward him while whispering under her breath, "Don’t you dare...try to..."
His lips curved, the faintest smirk tugging at them. His eyes stayed on the road, but his voice carried an infuriating calm.
"So... you miss me?"
Evelyn nearly coughs.
"No! I mean... of course not!" she answered too quickly, and her tone was making it too clear that she had exposed herself. "W-Who would miss you? I just..."
Oliver cheerfully interrupted, "But you did say it, Mommy. And you were smiling too." He added.
Evelyn silently averted her eyes, trying not to roll them.
In her mind, she vented, ’God, remind me to not loudly voice my concern next time...’ She suddenly wondered, ’Oh! Does my son have super hearing? Or can he just read my terrible thoughts right now?’
Axel’s smirk deepened, though he kept his gaze firmly on the road, as if nothing about this conversation bothered him.
But suddenly his voice broke the silence, "Good to know," he said casually, almost teasing. "I’ll keep that in mind."
Evelyn, who had already tried to calm her mind, turned to see him.
"Keep what in mind?"
"That you always talk to yourself when you miss me," Axel answered smoothly, as if it were the most ordinary fact in the world.
She blinked, speechless.
But just as Evelyn thought her silence would finally bring peace to the ride, her clever little boy struck again with his innocent question.
This time, his innocent yet devastating question was not directed at her. It was aimed directly at Axel.
"Daddy, did you miss Mommy too?"
The car became so still that Evelyn felt her entire body freeze. Her pulse surged into her throat, and for a moment she thought she might choke on her own breath.
She braced herself for Axel’s usual response. He would brush it off. He would change the subject. He would sit there with that cold, unreadable expression that made her want to scream. That was the Axel she knew. That was the Axel she expected.
Instead, without even blinking, he answered.
"Of course I did."
The words were simple. Direct. They carried no hesitation at all.
Evelyn gasped, widened, and her heart was pounding so loudly. She turned her head toward him, desperate to see some crack in his features, some faint curve of his lips that would tell her he was joking.
But Axel’s face remained calm. His voice stayed steady. He looked like a man simply speaking the truth. And that was what made it feel unreal to her.
Oliver, oblivious to the chaos he had just unleashed, burst out clapping. His tiny hands slapped together as his laughter filled the car.
"See, Mommy! You both missed each other! I knew it! Yay!"
Evelyn barely heard him. Her mind had frozen around one thing. Axel had said it. He missed her.
Her heart fluttered with a warmth that made no sense. Panicked by the feeling, she snapped her eyes back to the road ahead, pretending to be fascinated by the passing trees. But inside, her thoughts spun like a hurricane.
’He missed me?’
Her chest felt tight, almost painfully so.
’No. Don’t trust it, Evelyn. He was just trying to humor Oliver. He did not mean it. He could not mean it. This is Axel Knight. The man who told you with his own mouth that he feels nothing for you. He didn’t love you. The man who lives in control, discipline, and cold logic. He does not just miss people.’
Yet her heart would not stop pounding.
She risked another glance at him, hoping to catch some clue that would undo the mess in her head.
But his expression remained maddeningly neutral, his eyes on the road, his hands relaxed on the steering wheel. He looked as if he had not just detonated a bomb inside her chest.
Her mind scrambled, trying to make her avoid feeling big-headed and remain rational.
’Maybe he missed Oliver. Men are known to always love their sons. Or, maybe he missed my cooking because he was bored with that haute cuisine. Or he could be missing feeling at home because now I conveniently take care of his house, and not just his butler and maids. That is it. That is all it could be.’
But her body betrayed her. Every time those three words replayed in her mind, her heart jumped higher and higher.
’Of course I did.’
They were not words she had expected. They were not words she had prepared for. And worst of all, they were words she wanted to believe.