Chapter 299 Shattered Loyalties
Chapter 299 Shattered Loyalties
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“Yes, I’m suing you,” Trent said, making no attempt to soften the blow. “You lied, told me it was a routine funds verification, then used my phone to transfer fifty million. You knew thepany is strapped for cash, and that money was supposed to douse the fire licking at our feet, yet you wired it to Lindgren.. Because of you, I’m teetering on the brink of copse, and it will take three months to get any of it back. Do you have any idea what your betrayal has cost me?”
“Everything I did was to keep the bond between us from shattering,” Sidonie answered quietly.
“Bond?” He gave a coldugh. “You brushed me aside when I was nobody. The moment sess crowned me, you clung on–not to me, but to the title of Mrs. Grafton.”
Blood drained from Sidonie’s face, yet she lifted her chin. “Regardless of your contempt, I’m pregnant with your child–you can’t do this to us.”
“Ah, the child.” Trent’s gaze darkened as it settled on her abdomen. “So you haven’t gotten rid of it yet?”
“It’s ours, Trent. I would never get rid of it,” Sidonie insisted.
“You’d better do it yourself, or I will see it done,” Trent growled, closing the distance between them.
“Never. I won’t sacrifice this baby,” she shot back.
Fury erupted in Trent’s eyes. He snapped his leg forward, a vicious kick aimed at her womb. Sidonie folded over her stomach, but the blow still hurled her to the glossy parquet, breath knocked from her lungs.
Pain shimmered in her gaze, yet a brittle smile curved her lips. “Trent, every word you just said—and <i>that </i>kick–were recorded and streamed straight to myputer.”
“What?” Trent froze, stunned into silence.
Sidonie drew a ragged breath and pushed herself upright, one hand still cradling her stomach. “Did you truly think I’d walk in defenseless? A micro–camera is sewn into that purse. It caught everything. Withdraw thewsuit, or the video will flood the world and drag your name through mud you can never wash off.”
A sh of panic sent Trent lunging toward the coffee table. He snatched the purse Sidonie had casually set there upon entering. Peeling back a hidden p, he found a pin–sized lens winking up at him. She had been telling the truth.
“So you would even exploit your own unborn child?” Trent spat, disgust and disbelief tangling in his throat.
“And what gives you the right to judge me?” Sidonie shot back. “You forced my hand.”
Trent’s expression flickered between rage and fear before he finally growled, “Fine. I’ll withdraw the suit. But if that footage ever surfaces, I’ll hunt you down.”
Sidonie gave a thin, victorious/hum, clutched her aching belly, and left the office.
Only now did Sidonie grasp the fathomless reach of Trent’s cruelty. <i>If </i><i>he </i><i>could </i><i>erase </i><i>Quinn </i><i>from </i><i>his </i><i>life </i>with a <i>single </i><i>breath</i>, <i>why </i><i>have </i><i>I </i><i>ever </i><i>imagined </i><i>I </i><i>would </i><i>be </i><i>granted </i><i>mercy</i><i>? </i>
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<b>TTF8 </b><b>Aug </b>O
Chapter 299 Shattered Loyalties
When thewsuits mounted and the Stonehurst main branch rushed to sever their ties, the <b>halo </b>of savior slipped from her shoulders, and she became nothing more than a burden in his calcting eyes,
She used to cling to the na?ve conviction that carrying his child would chain him to her. Yet <b>the </b><b>brutal </b>truth was carved in iron. Trent could discard the baby as easily as he had discarded her.
The following morning, Sidonic dragged herself to the hospital for a thorough exam. Though a savage kick had bruised her stomach, the tiny heartbeat inside her still pulsed, stubborn and steady.
When she quietly asked about terminating the pregnancy, the doctor’s answer iced over every vein <b>in </b>her body. “Ms. Stonehurst, your uterus is alreadypromised. If you lose this child, you may never conceive again.”
“What?” Sidonie stared at him, disbelief and dread colliding in her eyes.
Before the shock could settle, her phone shrilled to life. She answered, and her mother’s panicked <b>voice </b>tumbled through the line, “Sidonie, the court officers just came. They have seized the jewels Trent once gave you!”
Sidonie’s fingers went numb. The phone slipped from her hand and skittered across the linoleum.
Those jewels were her final lifeline–the very assets she meant to sell in order to hire awyer capable of rescuing her from the legal quicksand.
And now, they were gone.