n of her word, in

t you to hear this for yourself," she said, her voice

r, playing the part of the grat

med her that while her employment was terminated, she would be permi

Mrs. Carlisle,"

"There," she sa

," Chloe murmured,

lway, tapping her pearl earring. It wasn't a pearl. It was a military-grade audio receiver. The

her number. Her mother-in-law's voice, st

the Lumina penthouse. Keep her on a short

g the mistress was just theater. Eleanor was sim

r end. "Madam, why not ju

n holding Aidan. Until that boy is devoted to the C

ooled. So, tha

me at the Lumina. Enjoy the empty house, Mrs. Carlisle. It won't be yours for long." A

econd thought. The mistress was a noisy distra

laced by the family's lead attorn

l is getting worse. If Chloe ever finds o

sdain. "She's been on a steady diet of psychotropics for five years.

Still, the legal risk of

lisle heir without triggering her ironclad pre-nup. A little something extra in her daily soup fro

birth to a child who carries the Carlisle name. His heart does not belong to our family. He is not the controlled h

loe didn't gasp. S

ng, absolute stilln

st stolen her money or her husband's loyalty; they had hijacked her womb. The

rate asset. And because he carried his mother's blood, and because his bloodline still held the poten

The urge to kick the oak door off its hinges, wrap her hands around Eleanor's throat, and

ow tantrums. The Ghost d

ost ex

to a diamond-cold core of pure tactical malice. She lo

pulsating red waveform-every syllable of Eleano

it Target_Eleanor_Biological_Theft, and scattered i

ng into the heavy oak door. She could picture Eleano

rom the polished brass knob.

ty air, her voice a soft, razor-thin hiss. "Because whe

clack of her stilettos echoed down the marble corr