Chapter 606
Chapter 606:
“So,” Isolde continued, her voice dropping to a cold whisper that nonetheless carried across the entire room, “under what legal capacity are you standing in this building, Belle? Are you here as his hired nanny? Or simply as Grayson’s public relations assistant p>
A collective, sharp intake of breath rippled through the observing mothers.
The precision of the strike was devastating. Isolde had used federal law to dismantle Belle’s fantasy, reducing her to the status of the help. Belle’s face turned a sickly shade of white. Her mouth opened, but not a single word came.
Kaiden stepped forward, his face red with anger. “Do not talk to her like that!” he yelled, pointing at Isolde. “Belle is my new mommy! You are just a bad woman who makes Daddy sad p>
The lounge froze. Every eye turned to Isolde, waiting for the explosion—the heartbroken ex-wife crying, or screaming at the ungrateful child she had raised for five years.
Isolde looked down at him.
Her chest did not ache. Her throat did not tighten. The maternal bond she had carefully nurtured for this boy had been completely severed the moment she had learned the truth about his DNA.
“If she is your new mommy,” Isolde said, her voice terrifyingly calm, “then I sincerely hope she is the one sitting beside you when the headmaster hands over your failing math grades. Because I am no longer going to fix your mistakes p>
Kaiden’s angry expression faltered. A flash of sudden, genuine panic replaced it. He was accustomed to Isolde’s strict but protective guidance, and this absolute, freezing indifference terrified him in a way he could not articulate.
𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘯
Before he could speak, the heavy wooden doors of the headmaster’s office swung open. The headmaster himself—a stern man in a tweed jacket—stepped out.
“Ms. Carson,” he said, with a measured nod. “Thank you for coming on such short notice. We can begin now p>
Isolde returned the nod with a polite, professional one of her own. “Of course. I would like to review the security footage from the cafeteria first, and then we can discuss the school’s anti-bullying policy p>
She turned and walked toward the headmaster’s office without casting a single backward glance at Belle or Kaiden. They were entirely irrelevant to her reality.
Belle stood frozen in the center of the lounge. She had Kaiden’s hand, she had the red dress, and she had the morning news. But as the other mothers slowly turned away from her, whispering among themselves, Belle understood with a sickening clarity that she looked exactly like what Isolde had implied—a clown trying to claim a throne she had no legal right to sit on.
Thirty minutes later, Isolde emerged from the headmaster’s office and settled into the back of a new Uber. As the car pulled away from the curb, she dialed the pediatric ward at Mount Sinai.
“This is Isolde Carson, Effie’s mother,” she said, her voice instantly shedding its icy edge and filling with warmth. “I am on my way back. How is she doing p>
She listened. A small, genuine smile touched her lips for the first time all day. She looked out the window at the passing city.