Chapter 51:


    “Harper,” Isolde said, her voice steady. “I’m sending you the security logs from the penthouse fromst night. And an audio file. I want to use them to file for an emergency motion. Not just for adultery—I want to argue that he is creating an unstable and inappropriate environment for a child, one where the new partner actively ns to erase Effie’s presence. I want to challenge his visitation rights.”


    “Yes!” Harper shouted on the other end. “Finally! We can go for the jugr. This is exactly the leverage we need.”


    “I don’t want his money,” Isolde said. “I want the truth on public record. I want everyone to know what he is.”


    “Consider it done,” Harper said.


    Isolde hung up. She looked at her apartment door.


    She called a locksmith.


    “I need my locks changed,” she told the dispatcher. “High security. Today.”


    “Did you have a break-in, ma’am?”


    “No,” Isolde said. “I’m just closing a door.”


    Back at the penthouse, Belle stretched in bed. She had no idea she had been discovered.


    Grayson walked out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist. Steam billowed out behind him.


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    “I have to go,” he said, looking at his watch. “The board meeting is at 9.”


    “Kaiden wants to go to Disney World,” Belle said, watching him dress.


    “I can’t go to Disney,” Grayson snapped. “Thepany is on fire.”


    “I’ll take him,” Belle offered. “You just pay for the VIP tour. It’ll get him out of your hair.”


    Grayson looked at her. It felt… cold. Transactional. Like she was offering a service for a fee.


    But he needed peace.


    “Fine,” he said. “Use the ck card.”


    Belle’s smile widened. “You’re the best, Gray.”


    She didn’t say I love you. She said You’re the best provider.


    Grayson felt a pang of emptiness, but he pushed it down. He buttoned his shirt and left for work, unaware that the locks on his past life were being changed forever.


    The morning of the St. Jude’s entrance interviews was bright and crisp.


    Isolde dressed Effie in a smart navy dress. She wore a tailored zer and trousers herself—professional, formidable.


    “Remember,” Isolde told Effie in the car. “You are smart. You are capable. You belong there.”


    “I belong there,” Effie repeated.


    They arrived at the school. It was a castle of red brick and ivy, screaming old money.


    It was also Parent-Teacher Conference day for the current students. The parking lot was full.


    Isolde walked Effie to the admissions office. “Go get ’em, tiger.”


    Effie marched in, clutching her pencil case.


    Isolde waited in the courtyard near the yground. She checked her emails. A message from Sterling: Contract ready. Wee aboard, Sophia.


    She smiled.


    “Well, look who it is.”


    Isolde looked up. Belle was walking toward her, wearing a pastel sundress and holding a designer coffee cup. Kaiden was running circles around her.


    “Stalking us?” Belle asked, taking a sip of hertte.


    “My daughter is interviewing,” Isolde said calmly.


    “Effie?” Belleughed. “Here? Honey, this is an academic school. Maybe try a vocational center.”


    Isolde didn’t take the bait. “She’ll be fine.”


    Just then, the doors opened. Effie walked out, a sticker from the examiner on her cor. She looked tired but relieved.


    She saw Isolde and started to run toward her.


    Kaiden saw her too.


    He sprinted across the grass. “Hey! Weirdo!”


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