Chapter 1130

Seeing Mr. Walker looking pale, Autumn reached for his hand and tried to smile. "Hey, babe, don't stress. It was just a fluke, okay? Both me and the baby are perfectly fine. Honestly, it was my fault-I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

Mr. Walker forced out a thin smile. "As long as you're alright. Autumn, just get some rest. The housekeeper will bring you some chicken soup in a bit."

But he couldn't admit to Autumn that maybe it wasn't an accident at all.

He could tell Herman had already figured it out.

Once Autumn was settled, Mr. Walker slipped out, pulled out his phone, and hissed into it, "How did this get out...?"

If Herman caught on, things could get ugly fast.

Herman wasn't the type to let things slide.

Mr. Walker was already regretting ever arranging that "accident." Even before he'd made the call, he'd wrestled with his own conscience.

It stung-being blackmailed at his level.

He'd just wanted to scare Herman, to teach him a lesson, so he'd sent someone after Anastasia. He never expected Herman to retaliate in kind.

If anything had really happened to Anastasia, Autumn's early labor today would be the least of his problems.

He knew Herman only had suspicions no proof.

Now he was stuck: either spend his life as the Salstrom family's fixer, or tear them down himself.

He'd even tried to recruit Joseph, to pit him against Herman, but Joseph had no interest-no matter how much Mr. Walker hinted.

News that Mr. Walker had become a father later in life spread like wildfire. Suddenly, his office was full of coworkers dropping by with gifts, all eager to cozy up.

Everyone smiled and praised how much the baby looked like Mr. Walker, but the second their backs were turned, they started whispering—the kid didn't look like him at all.

This was Herman's second little "gift"-the rumors about Autumn and Devin were everywhere now.

Nothing stays secret for long. Gossip spread from one person to the next, getting wilder every time, until even the tiniest detail had snowballed into a full-blown soap opera.

That day, a group of coworkers swung by the hospital. As they walked out together, the snickering started.

"I just saw the baby-he doesn't look a thing like Mr. Walker."

"Yeah, but doesn't he look a little like Devin?"

“Hah, maybe the rumors are true."

"So you heard, too? Looks like Mr. Walker's wearing a fool's cap.”

"Gotta hand it to Devin, though. Takes guts. Anyone know what happened to him?"

“Haven't seen him around Riverdale in ages. Bet he's too scared to come back."

"Ha! The kid's not his, but the wife is. Mr. Walker's got nerves of steel-guess that's how you make it to the top."

They joked and laughed as they left, just like people do in every office-smiling to your face, talking trash behind your back.

They didn't notice the young guy who'd overheard it all as he passed by.

That was Ross—Mr. Walker's right-hand man, his godson, the one who handled the dirty work when things got tricky.

Ross paused on the steps to glance back at the gossipers.

Later that night.

Ross repeated everything word for word to Mr. Walker.

Rage twisted Mr. Walker's face. He clenched his fists. "They're asking for trouble."

You didn't get to his position without having some cards up your sleeve.

To keep up appearances, Mr. Walker had always played both sides.

Before Autumn had crossed Anastasia and Herman, his "shadow men" were only there to protect himself, to handle things quietly ifit came to that.

He'd always tried to play by the book, do right by people.

But life in Riverdale had shown him what power and money could really buy, and somewhere along the way, he'd started to lose himself. He wanted more more control more everything.

And Autumn and Devin's betrayal? That was the final straw.

"Did you get it done?" he asked Ross quietly.

Ross handed him a folder. “It's done, Dad. Here's the report."

Mr. Walker took one look. The veins

at his temple stood out as he crushed the report in his fist, then suddenly grabbeckat his chest, gasping.

“Dad!” Ross rushed over and popped a heart pill into his mouth.

Mr. Walker steadied his breath and slumped onto the couch. "I'm fine."

The DNA results were crystal clear-Autumn's baby had nothing to do with him.

He really had been made a fool.