Chapter 400

Chapter 400:

“I… I thought that was her favorite,” he stammered.

“Kaiden’s favorite is almond,” Isolde corrected, twisting the knife. “Effie’s is chocolate. You confused your children, Grayson. You brought your other child’s favorite food to my daughter. The one who could have died from it p>

Effie stepped forward and buried her face in the fabric of Isolde’s trench coat, hiding from him.

The silence on the sidewalk was deafening. The other parents were openly staring now, whispering behind their hands.

“Go back to your other family, Grayson,” Isolde said, her voice dropping to a lethal whisper. “Leave us alone p>

A surge of desperate humiliation rose in his chest. He reached out toward Effie’s shoulder. “Isolde, wait. It was a mistake p>

Isolde’s palm came down sharply across his knuckles. The smack was loud and clean.

“Know your place, Mr. Lancaster,” she said, her eyes blazing with protective fury. “You are just a donor. And a terrible one at that p>

𝗥𝘰𝗆𝗮n𝗰𝖾 𝘢n𝗱 𝘱𝖺sѕіo𝘯 o𝘯

She placed her hand firmly on Effie’s back and guided her daughter through the wrought-iron gates of the school.

Grayson stood alone on the sidewalk beside the overturned garbage can, feeling the burning stares of every parent around him. He saw the judgment in their eyes clearly. And he realized, with a sickening jolt, that he looked exactly like the villain in the story.

A violent, suffocating anger boiled up in his chest — directed not at Isolde, but at his own humiliating ignorance.

He pulled back his right leg and kicked the heavy plastic bin. It tipped over, spilling the white paper bag onto the concrete.

He pulled his phone from his pocket, hands shaking, and dialed his assistant.

“Sir?” Arthur answered.

“Get me Effie’s medical files,” Grayson snarled, his voice vibrating with rage. “Every single page. Right now p>

Monday afternoon. The Carson Dynamics headquarters stood in stark contrast to the plush, silent carpets of the Lancaster empire. Here, the air hummed with the frantic energy of a company at war.

Arland walked into Isolde’s office and slammed a thick manila folder onto her glass desk. The loud smack sent pens jumping.

“We are blocked,” he announced, his face flushed with frustration, dropping into the chair opposite her. “First the titanium, and now this. Every major aluminum supplier on the Eastern seaboard just told us no. They won’t even return my calls p>

Isolde looked up from her monitors. She didn’t look surprised. She studied the supply chain map pinned to her digital whiteboard.

“Grayson is meticulous,” she murmured. “He is using his leverage to choke our production lines before we even start p>

“He is suffocating us,” Arland said, rubbing his face. “He thinks you are going to come crawling back to him to beg for materials p>

Isolde leaned back in her chair. “He is predictable p>