"Are you threatening me with a child?"
Sebastian''s dark eyes were stormy with anger.
Reese''s lips curled in the faintest, almost mocking smile. She wanted to say no. The truth was, she''d ended the pregnancy a long time ago. All she had now was evidence that the baby had never been hers by blood.
Before she could say a word, a sharp p echoed through the room. Her head jerked to the side, her cheek suddenly on fire and throbbing with pain.
Reese staggered but managed to steady herself, lifting her eyes to Sebastian. He clenched his fists. "Reese, you did this to yourself."
He couldn''t believe she''d use a child to threaten him. That was why he''d lost control.
"If you chose to use a child to force me to marry you, you should''ve known this day woulde."
From the corner of her eye, Reese noticed Sofia standing a little ways off. Reese hadn''t missed that sh of panic in Sofia''s eyes when she''d spoken, but now Sofia looked smug, like she''d already won.
Reese suddenlyughed, sharp and bitter. The sound caught in her throat and, as sheughed, tears spilled down her burning cheek.
Sebastian couldn''t stand the idea of Sofia suffering through a pregnancy, so he''d wanted Reese to carry the child instead. Reese just wanted out-to have a life and career of her own, not be trapped at home. But in his eyes, that was some kind of unforgivable crime.
Clearly, ending the pregnancy and leaving him had been the right call.
"Which one of us is really the victim here, Sebastian?" Her voice trembled. "Do you actually think you get to control my life?"
The hatred in her eyes was impossible to miss. Sebastian almost reached for her to drag her back home.
But then a ck car rolled up to the curb. The window came down, and n looked out, his face puzzled.
Sebastian scowled. Thest thing he wanted was for someone else to see this mess. He shot Reese a warning look.
"Reese, you''d better leave ckOak and go home to rest. If you don''t, ckOak will be my next target."
With that, he turned away and headed back to Sofia.
Grace hurried to Reese''s side and gently patted her swollen cheek.
"You''ve always been stubborn, you know that? Listen to me. Don''t make things uglier than they need to be. No one''s going to stick their neck out for you if this blows up."
Reese just stared at her, cold and silent.
Grace dropped her hand, gave an awkward smile, and quickly followed after Sebastian and Sofia.
n had already gotten out of the car. When he saw Reese''s red, swollen cheek, he looked shocked.
"What happened? How did it get like this?"
He steadied her with a hand on her arm. “Come on, let me take you to the hospital."
Reese shook her head, her voice rough. "n, I''m fine."
"Sebastian wants everything to go smoothly for Sofia. He told me to leave ckOak or he''ll go after thepany."
n''s face darkened. "Don''t worry about it. ckOak might not be as big as Ratcliff Global, but we''re not about to roll over for anyone."
"Just focus on the AI traffic managementunch. We''ll deal with the rest after the event."
Honestly, Reese hadn''t been too bothered by Sebastian''s threats. If he really nned oe after ckOak, she''d go public with everything he''d done about the baby, about Sofia. If she was going down, she''d make sure they all went down together.
George was already working on verifying the evidence. Just a few more weeks. "Okay."
Maybe it was n''s quiet anger or just the hype, but the AI trafficunch was getting all kinds of attention. The hall was packed.
Sofia walked in with Sebastian on her arm, the Shaw brothers right behind them.
With all eyes on her, Sofia put on a perfect smile and nced up at Sebastian. "Sebastian, remember what we agreed-if Ms. Meyer shows up today, you can''t get mad or embarrass her in front of everyone."
He gave a short nod, but he couldn''t shake the memory of Reese''s cold, distant stare. The hint of hate in her eyes unsettled him more than he wanted to admit.
Neal snorted. "You''re giving Reese way too much credit."