Chapter 193
Kieran stood near the sideboard, frozen, his eyes fixed on the empty doorway. The quiet, compliant woman he had once discarded was gone. In her place had stood a stranger in a trench coat, hair wild from the wind, chest heaving with a rage so pure it felt radioactive. He had seen the danger in her — the lethal balance of someone still deciding whether to strike again. For the first time in years, he felt a flicker of genuine fear.
The memory of her posture was burned into his mind. Defending me, Kieran? Or are you just afraid of a lawsuit? He could almost hear her ask it.
His jaw tightened. A muscle jumped in his cheek. “I was keeping you from going to prison, Jocelyn,” he whispered to the empty space.
In the corner, Robert Schneider stood trembling, his face a mask of purple rage. He had his phone in his hand, thumb hovering over the screen.
“I need the police,” he muttered, his voice shaking. “She assaulted my daughter. She broke into my house.”
𝘞𝘩at e𝘷𝗲𝗿𝘺𝗈ne 𝘪𝘀 𝗿e𝘢𝗱𝘪𝗇𝘨 𝗼n 𝗴𝗮𝗹nо𝘷e𝘭𝘀.𝘤om
Kieran turned on him — sharp, aggressive. “Put the phone down, Robert.”
Robert blinked. “She just whipped Aspen! Look at her leg!”
“And if the police come, the press comes,” Kieran said, his voice cutting through the hysteria like a blade. “Do you want the world to know what Aspen whispered to a dying woman?” He gestured toward the floor. “Do you want the headlines tomorrow to say that the Schneider heiress bullied an elderly woman into a heart attack? Because Jocelyn has a witness. She has a nurse ready to talk.”
Aspen’s sobbing stopped for a fraction of a second. Her eyes snapped up to Kieran, wide and wet. The fear in them was real now.
“It’s a lie! She’s lying!” Aspen shrieked, her voice shrill. She buried her face in her hands and resumed her tears, but the timing was off.
“True or not, the scandal will tank your stock price by morning,” Kieran said. He kept his eyes on Robert, not on Aspen. “The merger is fragile. Do you want to explain to your board why the police are investigating your daughter for manslaughter — if Grandma Wolfe dies?”
The purple drained from Robert’s face, leaving him old and grey. He looked at his phone. He looked at his weeping daughter. Then he looked at the invisible ticker running through his head.
Money always talked louder than paternal instinct in this house.
He lowered the phone and shoved it into his pocket. “Get her out,” he whispered, as though Jocelyn were still standing in the room. “Get her out before I change my mind.”
Kieran crossed the room and lifted Aspen into his arms. She was light, fragile.
“I’m taking her to the ER,” he announced. He did not wait for permission.
“My poor baby,” Elouise wept, reaching out to touch Aspen’s arm as they passed.
Kieran stopped. He looked at Elouise. His expression held nothing but unvarnished disgust.
“You should have protected both of them,” he said.
Elouise’s hand dropped to her side.
Kieran carried Aspen out the front door. The taillights of the black SUV were just disappearing down the long driveway. He walked to his car, each step heavy.
Aspen buried her face in his neck. She smelled of expensive perfume and sweat.
“She’s a monster, Kieran,” Aspen whispered. “Promise you won’t let her near me again. Promise me.”