Chapter 298
He opened his briefcase and handed her a sleek, high-end tablet. “Sterling Stone sent over the Phase 2 prototype specs for the Phoenix engine. His engineers are stuck on the fuel injection timing.”
Isolde took the tablet. She hesitated for just a moment — a flicker of her old caution warring with the intense pull of the challenge. Then she took a decisive breath and looked at the complex three-dimensional blueprints glowing on the screen.
Instantly, her eyes cleared. The grieving mother vanished. The brilliant engineer — Sophia — woke up.
Her posture straightened. Her breathing slowed.
“The thrust vector is off by point-zero-two degrees,” Isolde said immediately, her eyes moving rapidly across the math. “It’s causing a micro-cavitation in the fuel line.”
She grabbed a stylus and began drawing directly on the screen, rewriting the equations with terrifying speed.
In the doorway, Effie appeared. She stopped and watched.
She was fascinated by the intense, laser-like focus on her mother’s face. It was a look of pure power.
A week later, the initial filing for the divorce had been processed and a mandatory cooling-off period had officially begun. While the legal battle for asset division was still ahead, Isolde had secured primary residential custody.
T𝗁𝗲 𝗆𝘰𝘴𝘁 𝗽𝗼𝘱u𝗹а𝘳 ո𝘰𝗏𝖾𝗅s o𝗻 g𝘢𝘭𝘯𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗅𝘴.𝖼𝘰𝗺
She was standing at the heavy iron gates of the Carson Estate, waiting for a courier to deliver the physical hard drives from Orbital Systems, when a long black limousine pulled up to the curb.
The driver got out and opened the rear door. Victoria Lancaster stepped onto the wet pavement, holding a silver thermos and a large, ostentatious gift bag from a high-end toy store.
“Isolde,” Victoria said, her voice stiff, her smile barely touching her lips. “Your father-in-law insisted I come. He had the chef make some chicken soup for… the child. And I brought her a gift.”
Isolde stood behind the iron gate. She didn’t reach for the keypad. She simply looked at the older woman through the black metal bars.
“She doesn’t need soup made by your chef, Victoria,” Isolde said. Her voice was polite, but completely cold.
Victoria’s practiced smile faltered. “Please, Isolde, don’t make this difficult. I’m just doing what’s asked of me. She is a Lancaster, after all. We have a certain image to maintain.”
Isolde gripped the iron bars.
“You love the idea of family, Victoria,” Isolde said. “You love the portrait. But when Belle broke her arm, you defended Grayson. When he abandoned her in the hospital, you made excuses for him.”
“This is ridiculous,” Victoria snapped, her composure cracking. “Grayson’s father believes we must maintain a semblance of family for the public. For the Lancaster name. This is about our duty, not your feelings.”
“Peace at the expense of justice is just submission,” Isolde said, quoting her grandfather. “Effie is healing. She is finally feeling safe. She doesn’t need token gestures from people who have never truly cared for her — only for the name she carries.”
Victoria’s eyes widened with a mix of shock and anger. “So you’re going to defy him? Defy the family? After everything we’ve given you?”
.