Chapter 265
Belle’s heart skipped a beat. She carefully masked her panic. “Compete? With what funding? With what technology?”
“She has military-grade blueprints,” Grayson muttered, rubbing his temples. “Signed by Sophia. Arland must have stolen them.”
Belle’s hands began to shake. She quickly hid them behind her back.
She had built her entire reputation at InnoTech by implying she was a protégée of the mysterious Sophia. If the real Sophia was feeding technology to Isolde…
“Sophia?” Belle forced a light, dismissive laugh. “That old designer who retired years ago? Gray, it has to be a fake. Isolde is just throwing a tantrum to get your attention.”
Grayson sighed. “I know. It’s pathetic.”
Belle studied the tension in his shoulders. She needed to distract him — to remind him who was taking care of him.
“You’re covered in sweat,” Belle murmured, her voice dropping to a soft, soothing register. “Let me help you clean up. You’ll feel better.”
𝖬𝘰𝘳𝘦 n𝗈𝘷е𝗅ѕ 𝘰n 𝘨𝗮𝘭𝗇𝘰𝗏𝖾𝘭𝘴.со𝘮
Grayson didn’t argue. He was too exhausted. He leaned back against the pillows and closed his eyes.
Belle poured warm water from a thermos into a basin, dipped a soft white towel in, and wrung it out. She stood over Grayson and gently unbuttoned the top of his hospital gown, beginning to slowly, methodically wipe the sweat from his chest, her fingers brushing lightly against his skin.
The heavy oak door of the suite was cracked open about two inches.
Liam came down the hallway with a stack of documents. He nudged the door open slightly and froze. Seeing Belle leaning over Grayson, her hand moving intimately over his chest, he quickly averted his eyes and stepped back into the hallway.
At that exact moment, Isolde stepped out of the elevator.
She was at the hospital to sign the transfer paperwork for her mother. She had moved Ellyn out of the expensive VIP wing and into a standard private room on the fourth floor to conserve funds. She walked down the corridor toward the nurse’s station, and as she passed Grayson’s suite, she glanced through the gap in the door.
Her footsteps stopped instantly.
Through the crack, she saw Belle leaning over Grayson — saw Belle’s manicured hand slowly tracing the line of his abdominal muscles.
A sudden, violent wave of nausea rolled through her. She had told him he was dead to her. She had thrown her ring at his face. But seeing the physical intimacy, seeing him allow Belle to touch him like that while her mother lay fighting for her life downstairs, was a different kind of poison entirely.
Belle, sensing movement in the hallway, glanced up.
She saw Isolde standing there. A wicked, triumphant gleam flashed in her eyes. She deliberately leaned down closer to Grayson and pressed her lips softly against the skin just above his white bandage.
Grayson felt the kiss. His eyes snapped open.
He looked toward the door and saw Isolde staring at him.
Grayson panicked. He shoved Belle backward so hard she stumbled, then scrambled to sit up, ignoring the agonizing tear in his ribs. “Isolde!”
.
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