Chapter 222
Chapter 222:
“What is it, Lee p>
Secretary Lee cleared his throat. The sound was tentative, fearful. Everyone walked on eggshells around Liam these days. The pending indictment, the restraining orders, the public humiliations—it had turned the office into a mausoleum.
“We received confirmation from the Department of Corrections,” Lee said. “Ms. Miller has been granted medical parole. Our lawyers managed to find a judge who owed your grandmother a significant favor. The official reason cited is ‘high-risk pregnancy complications’ and overcrowding, though we had to suppress the prison doctor’s initial report p>
Liam closed his eyes. He felt a headache blooming behind his temples, a sharp, rhythmic thumping that matched his heartbeat.
Seraphina.
He had almost forgotten about her in the chaos of the last forty-eight hours. She was supposed to be in a cell, rotting away until the baby was born. That was the deal. He kept her safe; she kept her mouth shut.
But Seraphina Miller was like a stain on a silk shirt—impossible to remove without ruining the fabric entirely.
“Where is she going?” Liam asked, his voice low.
“Your grandmother,” Lee said. “Matriarch Beatrice petitioned for her release into her custody. She’s at the Manor. Beatrice believes presenting a ‘vulnerable mother’ to the press is the only way to counter the narrative of your arrest p>
Liam laughed. It was a dry, humorless sound that scraped against his throat.
Of course. Beatrice.
The old woman had been stripped of her CEO title, humiliated by Skye, and cast aside. Now she was gathering the rejects, the broken toys, trying to build an army out of trash.
“Let her rot there,” Liam said.
He turned away from the window, the shadow of the dismantling crane casting a long line across the carpet.
“Get the car ready. We have a crisis management meeting with the PR firm. I need to spin this before the stock market opens p>
у𝘰𝗎𝘳 ոext 𝘳𝗲𝗮𝘥 𝗶𝘀 𝗈𝗇 𝗯е.𝘤𝘰𝗆
Across the city, in the sleek, glass-walled office of Oracle Holdings, Skye Sterling watched the same news alert scroll across her tablet screen.
Seraphina Miller Released on Medical Parole.
She didn’t throw the tablet. She didn’t scream. She simply picked up her fountain pen and tapped the nib against the desk.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
It was a rhythm of calculation.
“She’s out,” Ms. Davies said, standing by the door with a fresh cup of coffee. “Beatrice burned her last political bridge for this. It cost her the favor with Senator Halloway, and likely a significant bribe to the parole board p>
“Good,” Skye said.
She took the coffee, the ceramic warm against her cold fingers.
“Let Beatrice spend her political capital on a liability. It makes them both weaker. Seraphina isn’t a victim; she’s a loose cannon. And Beatrice just handed me the match p>
Skye swiveled her chair to face the whiteboard on the wall. It was covered in a complex web of names, companies, and stock prices. In the center, circled in red, was Kensington Pictures.