Agatha fell silent, pondering over Andrea's words. After a moment of consideration, she asked tentatively, "Andrea, do you want to marry him?"
Andrea remained silent for a full minute, seriously contemplating the question. Finally, she shook her head resolutely. "I don't want to."
Agatha nodded seriously and began to advise, "If you don't—"
Just then, Andrea's secretary opened the door, interrupting their conversation. Both women turned their heads toward her.
Realizing her mistake, the secretary quickly spoke up. "Ma'am Andrea, your husband is here to see you, and he sounded very urgent."
Andrea was surprised to hear that Valentine had come to the company, as Lucas had never visited while they were living together as husband and wife.
Agatha urged Andrea, "Go ahead, I'll finalize what we discussed."
Andrea nodded, stood up, and followed her secretary. She saw Valentine sitting in the waiting lounge, his palms covered in bandages. When he saw her, he sprang to his feet, smiling sweetly.
"Honey," Valentine called out softly, striding toward Andrea with the intention of embracing her.
Not wanting to embarrass him, Andrea half-heartedly accepted the hug before pulling back and asking, "What are you doing here?"
Valentine's smile vanished, replaced by an expression of hurt. With eyes brimming with tears, he responded in grievance, "Andrea, don't I have the right to come and see you at your office? As your husband, if you say so, I'll turn around and leave and never come here again, since I'm not presentable."
Andrea felt a headache coming on, not expecting Valentine to create such a scene out of a harmless question. Waving her hand in frustration, she said, "That's not what I meant. I just thought you'd be at home after coming back from the hospital."
Valentine's face fell, and he said dejectedly, "I was at home, but I was bored. I'm not used to staying idle, so I decided to come to your office and see you, Andrea."
Hearing this, Andrea gestured for Valentine to sit and instructed her secretary to bring him a cup of coffee, as it was a cold winter noon.
After taking a sip of coffee, Valentine looked at Andrea helplessly and requested, "Andrea, I want to return to the business scene. Staying at home all day doing nothing is driving me crazy."
Andrea considered his request. She didn't want him coming to her office every day to pester her, so she agreed immediately. "Val. Corp is still intact. I'll dissolve the merger right away, and you can continue to expand it."
Valentine's eyes lit up with joy. "Is it true?" he asked excitedly.
"Yes," Andrea replied.
Valentine stretched out his arms and clasped Andrea's hands, staring at her lovingly. Smiling widely, he inquired, "Andrea, have you thought about us remarrying and taking our wedding vows again?"
"You should return to the mansion," Andrea said, sidestepping the question. "I still have something to discuss with Agatha. Also, go with my secretary to handle the dissolution of the merger."
She retracted her hands and quickly got up, walking away without looking back.
Valentine clenched his fists in dissatisfaction but forced a smile. He then followed Andrea's secretary out.
When Andrea returned to the room, she found Agatha busy signing some documents. Suddenly, her phone began to ring.
Whipping out her phone, she saw it was an incoming call from Tony. She picked up, and Tony's urgent voice came through the speaker. "Andrea, I'll send you an address. Meet me there. It's urgent."
Before Andrea could ask for a reason, Tony hung up abruptly. Surprised by his urgency, Andrea stared at her phone screen thoughtfully. She considered calling him back, but a text message from Tony arrived instead.
Clicking on the text message, she read it quickly before glancing at Agatha. "I won't be coming back. I need to meet with Tony before heading home."
"Go ahead," Agatha replied, briefly looking up before returning to her documents.
Andrea decided to drive to the Presidential Hotel herself, opting not to take her security aides to avoid drawing attention. Alighting from her car, she entered the hotel and presented her platinum membership card, which granted her access to the exclusive elevator leading to the top floor.
Entering the luxurious room where Tony awaited, Andrea said, "Tony, this better be important. I hope you're not raising a useless alarm."
Tony waited for her to sit before speaking. "Andrea, do you think Valentine is acting suspiciously?"
Andrea noticed Tony's cautious demeanor and urged, "If you have something to say, just say it. There's no need to be long-winded."
Taking a deep breath, Tony continued, "When Valentine came back from Cardiff, he went straight to the hospital and then to the bar. When I dragged him out of the bar, he kept muttering that Pete isn't his son."
Andrea stiffened in shock, her expression changing to anger. "Nonsense! How can that be possible? Pete looks just like him. Valentine must have been fed lies by Margaret Willow. They’re both despicable."
Remaining rational, Tony replied, "Have you forgotten? Lucas looks exactly like Pete too."
Andrea fell silent, dazed by the realization. She had forgotten the striking resemblance between Pete and Lucas. It seemed undeniable.
"How could that be possible?" Andrea muttered in shock and disbelief. She had only met Lucas a year ago, and Pete was already six years old. How could Lucas be Pete's father?
Shaking her head, she insisted, "That is impossible."
"Andrea, you should carry out a DNA test to be sure. I don't trust Valentine. He might hurt Pete," Tony said with concern, recalling how Valentine had almost upended the entire Singers Group and Andrea's life due to jealousy over her relationship with Lucas.
Andrea's thoughts raced as she considered Valentine's recent behavior, especially his lack of interaction with Pete over the past few days. Her heart skipped a beat, knowing how unreasonable Valentine could get when jealous.
"I've already done a DNA test for Pete and Lucas. I'll call my doctor to email the results immediately," Andrea said, fishing out her phone.