Vanessa chose her moment to sound aggrieved. "But there are uses in the contract about this, Walden. What if I get pregnant andn tries to force me to donate blood? It would be terrible for the baby. I don''t want to lose our child."


    Walden Wells had chosen Vanessa to have his child precisely for her intelligence and talent; she was, in his eyes, worthy. To him, an ambitious woman wasn''t necessarily a bad thing.


    After weighing his options for a few seconds, Walden pulled Vanessa into his arms. "Don''t be afraid. Leave this to me. No matter how powerfuln is, he can''t just do whatever he wants. I''ll have the best legal team review that contract, and no matter what, I''ll get you out of it."


    A flicker of panic crossed Vanessa''s eyes as she recalled the supplementary uses in the contract. But she reasoned that Walden must have already assumed she''d slept withn, so he probably wouldn''t care about her past.


    Let his legal team go head-to-head withn''s, then!


    She knew she had to get pregnant with Walden''s child as soon as possible to solidify hismitment to helping her.


    "Okay. I''ll work hard to give you a strong, healthy son," Vanessa said, lifting her head. Tears of gratitude welled in her eyes as she looked at him withplete dependence. "Walden, you''re so good to me. I''ll listen to you from now on."


    Walden was also aware that with Yeaton Holdings'' copse, Vanessa had no other options; she had to rely on him.


    The calcted gleam that shed in Vanessa''s eyes had finally pushed Walden to confrontn. She had sessfully stirred the pot.


    Creating an enemy forn was what she enjoyed most.


    After all, the resentment and bitterness she felt would likely haunt her for the rest of her life.


    At 8:30 PM, Eleanor was still in her office discussing data with Ryan when her phone rang. She nced at the screen and was surprised to see it was Joslyn. Her heart skipped a beat; Joslyn rarely called her untess something was wrong at home.


    Eleanor grabbed her phone and said to Ryan, "I need to take this."


    She hurried into the hallway and answered the call. "Hello, Joslyn? Is something wrong?"


    Joslyn''s frantic, breathless voice came from the other end. "Ma''am, it''s terrible! Princess Princess ran away!"


    Eleanor''s heart tightened, and she clutched the phone, trying to remain calm. "What happened? Tell me slowly."


    "Princess had been inside all day, so I decided to take her for a walk downstairs. We had just reached the park across from ourplex when a big, off-leash ck dog appeared out of nowhere. It was vicious and charged right at Princess, trying to attack her. Princess got so scared she slipped out of her leash and just took off running chased her for a I while, but couldn''t catch up. She didn''t respond when I called her, and now I have no idea where she is." Joslyn''s voice was filled with self-me and panic. "Ma''am, I''m so sorry. It''s all my fault for not holding on tighter-"


    Of course, Eleanor couldn''t me Joslyn. Princess wasn''t just a pet; she was a member of the family and, more importantly, her daughter Evelyn Goodwin''s bestpanion.


    She forced herself to stay calm.


    "Joslyn, don''t panic. Princess is very


    smart and knows her way around.


    She mighte home on her own.


    You can start by checking the nearby bushes, and I''ll be right back."


    "Okay, Ma''am. I''ll keep looking and ask around the neighborhood," Joslyn replied, clearly distraught. She knew how important Princess was to this family.


    Eleanor returned to her office and said to Ryan, "Dr. Lyman, I''ll sync up with you on the rest of the data from home. I have to go now."


    "Of course. Go take care of things. I''ll send you the data chartster," Ryan said, noticing her urgency.