Chapter 149

No.1

Elisa didn't go far. She couldn't. Her legs were trembling, and the sheer weight of what had just happened was pressing down on her, making it hard to breathe. She found a quiet corridor that led to a terrace, the cool air a relief after the stifling atmosphere of the ballroom.

She leaned against the wall, closing her eyes. The image of August's face, cold and indifferent, flashed in her mind. The word "fiancée" echoed in her ears.

The sound of running footsteps broke the silence.

"Elisa! Elisa,wait!"

Maeve came skidding around the corner, her heels in her hand. She was panting, her face flushed with anger. "I am so sorry. That was... that was obscene.August Chambers is a mnonster."

Elisa opened her eyes. "It's not your fault, Maeve."

No.2

"It is my fault! I brought you here!" Maeve exclaimed,pacing in front of her. "And that bitch! Standing

there, acting like she's the queen of the world. And he just let her! He let that old bat treat you like a servant!"

Elisa let out a hollow laugh. "That's what I am to him now, Maeve. A servant. A nuisance. A ghost."

"No," Maeve said, stopping her pacing. She looked at Elisa, her eyes fierce. "No. You are his wife. You are still his legal wife. And you have power. You just have to use it."

"What power?" Elisa asked, her voice bitter. "He just announced his engagement to another woman in front of half of New York. He has all the power."

Maeve glanced nervously down the empty corridor,pulling Elisa further into the alcove. She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, one that wouldn't carry. "There is one thing he can't buy, Elisa. One thing his money can't protect him from."

No.3

Elisa looked at her, confused. "What?"

"A baby," Maeve said, the words dropping like

stones. "You need to get pregnant, Elisa. You need to have a Chambers heir."①

Elisa stared at her, stunned. "Are you insane?"

"Just listen!" Maeve urged, grabbing her hands."You're still married. The divorce isn't finalized. Ifyou get pregnant nowN, with his child, Germaine will have to acknowledge it. The trust will have to acknowledge it. Allena will be out in the cold. A baby is the only thing that can secure your position and give you leverage over that woman."

Elisa pulled her hands away, shaking her head. "I can't do that, Maeve. I won't bring a child into this mess."

No.4

"It's not a mess, it's a strategy!" Maeve argued,her voice rising. "It's the oldest strategy in the book, but it works! Stop taking the pill. Seduce him if you have to. Just get pregnant! It's your only way out!"③

Elisa opened her mouth to refuse, to tell Maeve that she already had a child, that she would never use a baby as a weapon.

But before she could speak, a shadow detached itself from the far end of the corridor.

August stepped into the light.

He hadn't left. He'd started to, his jaw tight with a cold, possessive anger at seeing her there, but his phone had buzzed with an urgent text from his London office. He had stepped backinto the relative quiet of the corridor to read it, his back turned. The message was trivial, a distraction, but it had kept him there just long enough. As he was about to turn and leave for good, Maeve's voice, sharp and conspiratorial, snagged his attention like a fishhook.He froze, melting back into the shadows, compelled to hear the rest of the venomous plot. His face was a .mask of cold, hard fury. His eyes, fixed on Elisa, were filled with a disgust so profound it was like a physical blow.

Maeve saw him and gasped, stepping back."August...I didn't see you there."

No.5

August ignored her. He walked slowly toward Elisa,his footsteps echoing in the quiet hall. He stopped a few feet away, his gaze sweeping over her like a searchlight.

"A baby," he said, his voice low and dangerous. "So that's your grand plan. You want to trap me with a

bastard child to get your hands on the trust."

Elisa felt the blood drain from her face. "No, August,that's not-"

"Don't," he cut her off, his voice like a whip. "Don't insult my intelligence. I heard every word. You think I don't know what kind of woman you are? You're desperate. You're cheap. And you think a pregnancy test is a winning lottery ticket."①

He leaned in, his face inches from hers. "Let me make one thing perfectly clear, Elisa. You will never have my child. I will make sure of it. And if you try to pull a stunt like this, I will destroy youso thoroughly,you'll wish you'd never been born."

No.6

He straightened up, his lip curling in a sneer. He turned to Maeve, who was trembling with fear.

"And you, Kearney. If I hear one more word of this 'strategy' from you or your firm, Chambers Group wil pull every contract, every sponsorship, every piece of business we have with you.Do you understand?"

Maeve nodded frantically. "Yes. Yes, Mr. Chambers.I understand."

August didn't look at Elisa again. He simply turned on his heel and walked away, his footsteps fading into the distance.

The silence he left behind was deafening.

Elisa stood there, frozen. The misunderstanding was a chasm, wide and unbridgeable. He thought she was a schemer. He thought she was trying to trap him. He didn't know the truth-that she already had his child, a child he had just called a "bastard" and a "stunt."

No.7

The irony was a knife in her heart.

Maeve let out a shaky breath. "Elisa... I'm so sorry.I shouldn't have-"

"It doesn't matter," Elisa said, her voice hollow."None of it matters."

She turned and walked away,leaving Maeve standing alone in the corridor. She walked past the ballroom,past the laughter and the music, and out into the cold New York night.