Chapter 483:
She vividly imagined the announcement: “Attention, Mrs. Riley! Your husband, Collin Riley, is waiting in the first-floor banquet hall. Please come immediately!”
The embarrassment of such a public message made her shudder.
“Collin, don’t you dare! If you embarrass me like that, I won’t speak to you again!” Linsey warned, frustration clear in her voice.
Hearing her tone, Collin could easily picture her slightly annoyed yet endearing expression. “Okay, I’ll behave. Just hurry,” he said softly, a smile lingering on his face.
Jeffery, standing nearby, noticed Collin’s amused expression. After Collin ended the call, Jeffery teased, “Wow, seeing you like this… I’d almost suspect there’s another Mr. Riley in town.”
Unperturbed, Collin laughed softly. “There’s no mystery here—you’ll meet my wife soon enough.”
Jeffery, intrigued, raised an eyebrow. “That, I have to see.”
Meanwhile, Linsey was still wandering around the hotel’s first floor, searching for the banquet hall.
Eventually, she spotted a cleaning lady in a nearby corner. Feeling relieved, Linsey gathered her gown and quickly approached. “Excuse me, could you tell me where the Lawson family banquet is?”
Alexa straightened and turned to reply but froze instantly when she saw Linsey’s face. Shock filled her expression.
“It’s you again!” she exclaimed, staring at Linsey in disbelief.
“Huh?” Linsey replied, startled.
Alexa continued to stare, overwhelmed. She hadn’t expected to encounter Linsey again, especially not here.
Linsey bore an uncanny resemblance to Myla Lawson—and remarkably, she seemed about the same age as Alexa’s daughter, Carol.
In an instant, Alexa realized Linsey was the true daughter of the Lawson family—the child she had secretly switched all those years ago.
Alexa’s pulse quickened. Drawing a shaky breath, she asked sharply, “Who are you?”
Linsey noticed a flicker of emotions crossing Alexa’s face—shock, fear, and something even darker. It unsettled her deeply.
Frowning, she instinctively stepped back. “I’m just a guest attending the Lawson family banquet. Is there a problem?”
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she studied the middle-aged woman. “Just now… you said, ‘It’s you again.’ What did you mean by that? Have we met before?”
Linsey examined Alexa carefully, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t recall ever seeing her. Why, then, did this woman look at her as though she’d encountered a ghost?
Alexa, however, remembered Linsey clearly—even though Linsey had no idea who Alexa was.
Not long ago, Alexa had been diagnosed with cancer. On the day she received her test results, she’d unexpectedly run into Linsey. Now here she was again, attending a banquet where the entire Lawson family was present.
Alexa’s expression darkened further. She couldn’t allow Linsey to meet them.
If the Lawson family saw Linsey’s face, everything Alexa had hidden would unravel.
With her time running out, Alexa was determined to take her secret to the grave. No one—especially not Linsey—could threaten her daughter’s position as a Lawson.
