Chapter 45:


    It was a young man in a suit, looking terrified. He held arge velvet box with the SkyLine logo embossed on the bag.


    Isolde opened the door but blocked the entrance with her body.


    “Mrs. Lancaster?” the assistant squeaked. “Mr. Lancaster asked me to deliver this.”


    He held out the box.


    Isolde looked at it. She didn’t take it. “Why isn’t he here?”


    “He… he has an urgent meeting. Crisis management.”


    Isolde scoffed. “Of course. He’s too important to visit Brooklyn.”


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    “He said… he said this is a peace offering. And he expects you at dinner at 7:00.”


    Isolde took the box. She opened it.


    Inside sat a pink diamond the size of a quail egg. It was nked by two smaller white diamonds. It was gaudy. It was expensive. It screamed, I have money, please shut up.


    It was a shackle made of carbon.


    Isolde looked at the assistant. “Does he think I left because the jewelry wasn’t big enough?”


    “I… I don’t know, ma’am.”


    Isolde snapped the box shut. She shoved it back into the assistant’s chest. “Take it back.”


    The assistant’s eyes widened. “Ma’am, I can’t. He’ll fire me.”


    “Tell him,” Isolde said, her voice hard, “that some things are broken, and diamonds can’t fix them. Tell him to give it to Belle. It matches her ambition.”


    She mmed the door.


    She leaned against the wood, listening to the assistant’s retreating footsteps.


    At 6:00 PM, Grayson was in his office. The assistant had returned with the ring.


    Grayson stared at the rejected box on his desk. His face was pale.


    “She returned it?” he whispered.


    “She said… she said to give it to Ms. Escobar,” the assistant stammered.


    Daron, lounging on the sofa, whistled. “Damn. She’s ying hardball. She wants more.”


    “It’s a pink diamond, Daron!” Grayson shouted. “What more is there?”


    “Respect?” the assistant whispered, then immediately looked down.


    Grayson ignored him.


    Belle walked in. She looked recovered, her makeup wless. “Gray, honey. Kaiden is burning up. He’s asking for you. He keeps crying for his daddy.”


    Grayson looked at his watch. 6:15 PM.


    If he left now, he could make the dinner. But Isolde had rejected the ring. She probably wouldn’t show up.


    And Kaiden… Kaiden was his son. His responsibility.


    “Is he really sick?” Grayson asked suspiciously.


    “He’s hot to the touch,” Belle said, her eyes wide and innocent. “Please, Gray. He needs you.”


    Grayson looked at the ring. He looked at Belle.


    He felt a wave of exhaustion. Isolde was being difficult. Belle was being needy.


    “Fine,” Grayson said. “I’m not going to sit in a restaurant alone like an idiot. Let’s go to Kaiden.”


    Belle smiled. It was a small, victorious smirk.


    At 6:30 PM, Isolde’s phone buzzed.


    It was a photo from Harper.


    It showed Grayson carrying Kaiden out of the penthouse building, Belle walking closely beside them. They looked like a unit. A family.


    Isolde looked at the timestamp. 6:25 PM.


    He had chosen them. Again.


    Even on their anniversary. Even after the “peace offering.” When push came to shove, he went to Belle.


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