Chapter 531

Chapter 531:

She had kicked off her blanket again. One leg dangled over the edge, her small foot twitching in a dream. Grayson picked up the cashmere throw and moved slowly, terrified of waking her. He covered her gently, tucking the edges around her shoulders.

He stood there and looked at her face. She looked so much like Isolde it hurt. But she had his chin. His stubborn set of the mouth.

He turned away, unable to look any longer.

He walked to the large bed.

Isolde was restless. Her brow was furrowed, her lips moving in a silent conversation with her nightmares.

“Don’t,” she mumbled. “Don’t take her… she’s mine p>

A sharp pain drove through Grayson’s chest as though something had been forced between his ribs.

She wasn’t dreaming of monsters. She was dreaming of him. Of him taking Effie.

A soft knock broke the stillness — not the aggressive pounding of his mother, but something polite and measured.

Grayson crossed the room and opened the door.

The family butler, Thomas, stood with his hands clasped behind his back. Behind him, Beatrice Lancaster leaned lightly on a polished mahogany cane, wrapped in a heavy wool shawl, her silver hair braided for the night. Her eyes, however, were sharp, alert, and entirely unforgiving.

𝗗ownlо𝖺𝘥𝗮𝗯𝗅𝘦 𝘗D𝖥𝗌 o𝘯

She waved a hand at Thomas. He bowed and retreated into the shadows of the hallway.

Beatrice walked into the room. The soft tap of her cane against the hardwood was the only sound.

She stopped at the foot of the bed and looked at Isolde sleeping fitfully, then turned her gaze to Grayson.

“You look like a guard dog,” Beatrice said, her voice a dry rasp. “Sitting over a bone you already buried p>

Grayson crossed his arms. “Grandmother. If you came to lecture me, save it for breakfast p>

Beatrice exhaled — a sound of genuine, bone-deep fatigue. “You are just like your father. Blind. And stubborn p>

She gestured with one gnarled hand toward the bed. “That woman threw herself into a pile of broken porcelain to protect that child. Without a moment’s hesitation. Belle?” A pause. “Belle would have checked her manicure first p>

Grayson said nothing. His jaw was set.

“You see it,” Beatrice said. “I know you see it. And yet you chose Belle. You chose the merger. You chose the easy path p>

“I have my reasons,” Grayson said. “There are things you don’t know p>

He thought of the paternity test locked in his safe in the city. A document that had cost him his marriage.

Beatrice scoffed. “Reasons. Excuses. They are the same thing in the dark.” She turned to go. “Don’t let yourself live with regret, Grayson. It is a cold bedfellow. Some people — once they leave, they don’t come back. No matter how much money you throw after them p>

She paused at the door.

“Watch her,” Beatrice said over her shoulder. “Fevers like that tend to spike before dawn p>

The door clicked shut behind her. Her cane tapped a diminishing rhythm down the hall, and then there was silence.

Grayson stood alone in the room.

He walked to the side of the bed and sat carefully on the edge of the mattress, making sure not to disturb her.