Chapter 294
Hayes leaned forward, tapping his pen on the table. “Sign the NDA, Ms. Carson, and you get primary residential custody of Effie today. Refuse, and we withdraw the offer. We will bury you in litigation for years. We will drag your mental health into question. We will make sure Effie spends half her life in that penthouse.”
Isolde looked down at the paper.
It was a deal with the devil.
The air in the conference room was stale, smelling of expensive cologne and bitter coffee.
Isolde held the heavy gold pen Hayes had provided. The nib hovered a millimeter above the signature line of the NDA.
Attorney Davis leaned close to her ear. “Isolde,” he whispered urgently. “This is textbook coercion. We don’t have to accept this. We can fight it in court. We can subpoena the DNA records.”
Isolde didn’t move the pen. “And how long will that take, Davis?”
ոo𝘷el𝗌 iո 𝘁𝘳e𝗇𝗱 𝗈𝗻 𝗀𝘢𝗹ոоv𝗲𝗅s.c𝗈𝗺
“Months,” Davis admitted, his voice low. “Maybe a year or more, given Hayes’s delay tactics. But we would win.”
“And in the meantime?” Isolde asked, her eyes fixed on the paper. “What happens to custody during that year?”
“Status quo,” Davis said. “He gets standard visitation. Every other weekend.”
Isolde closed her eyes.
She imagined Effie spending weekends at the penthouse for a year. Weekends with Belle. Weekends where Grayson was locked in his office, leaving Effie alone with the woman who hated her. Another accident at the park. Another broken bone. A child lost in a crowded mall.
She couldn’t risk it. Not for a year. Not for a single day.
Isolde opened her eyes and looked across the table at Grayson.
“You are trading your own son’s identity for your corporate reputation,” Isolde said, her voice devoid of anger and filled only with pity.
Grayson avoided her gaze, looking instead at the wall. “I am doing what is best for the company. And for Kaiden. He needs stability.”
“Does Kaiden know?” Isolde asked softly. “Does he know his ‘Aunt Belle’ is actually his mother? Does he know his father lied to his face for five years?”
Grayson’s head snapped back to her, his eyes furious. “That is none of your business. Sign the paper, Isolde.”
Isolde pressed the pen to the paper.
The ink flowed smoothly.
Isolde Carson.
She didn’t use Lancaster. She would never use it again.
She pushed the papers back across the table and dropped the pen.
“There,” Isolde said. “Your dirty little secret is safe. Now give me my daughter.”
Hayes quickly snatched up the document, checked the signature, and nodded at Grayson. “We will file the custody agreement with the judge immediately.”
Grayson looked down at her signature on the NDA.
He had won. He had secured his secret and protected SkyLine’s stock. But as he stared at the ink, a strange, hollow sensation opened in his chest — like a sudden loss of cabin pressure.
“Isolde…” Grayson started, his voice losing its corporate edge. “I didn’t want it to be this ugly. I never meant for it to end like this.”
Isolde stood up and smoothed her skirt.
“It was ugly the moment you brought her into our home,” Isolde said. “It was ugly the day you let me hold your bastard son and told me he was an orphan.”
.