Chapter 8
Victoria’s mind searched for escape.
A lab error.
A forged report.
A desperate widow.
A manipulative attorney.
Anything except the possibility that she had slapped her husband’s sister beside a coffin.
“You expect us to believe this?” she demanded.
Margaret’s expression did not change.
“No. I expect the preserved evidence to be reviewed through proper channels.”
Proper channels.
The phrase made several reporters lift their heads.
Adrian heard it too.
Proper channels meant this was not a cemetery stunt.
Not a gossip trap.
Not grief made theatrical.
It meant records existed elsewhere.
Copies.
Custody logs.
Attorneys.
Labs.
People Victoria could not intimidate with a glare.
Elena lowered the vial slightly but did not put it away.
Her hand was steady now.
The blood at her lip had dried.
The baby shifted inside her, and she pressed her palm against her stomach, grounding herself in the one truth that belonged only to her.
Michael’s child.
Her child.
Not Hale property.
Not political scandal.
Not evidence for strangers to own.
Adrian stepped closer, stopping before Elena could retreat.
“Elena,” he said softly.
She looked at him.
“No.”
He froze.
“You don’t get to say my name like you found me.”
The sentence cut through him.
Victoria looked from Adrian to Elena, horror deepening as she understood the report had not only exposed a relationship.
It had exposed abandonment.
Whether Adrian had known or not, the Hale family had left Grace and Elena outside the gates for decades.
Now those gates had opened in front of cameras.
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And no one was ready for what stood on the other side.
Read the full story 👉 Victoria tried to deny the report, but Margaret made clear the evidence existed beyond the cemetery.
