Chapter 102:


    She hit the ground hard, using her good hand to shield Effie’s head.


    Silence fell over the yground.


    For a moment, there was no sound but the spinning of a broken rotor on the grass.


    Isoldey in the dirt. Her vision swam. Her left arm felt as though it were on fire and yet, strangely,pletely numb. She could feel a wet warmth spreading rapidly down her sleeve.


    “Mommy?” Effie whispered from beneath her. “Mommy, you’re heavy.”


    “I’m… I’m okay,” Isolde gasped, trying to roll over. She couldn’t. Her arm wouldn’t hold her.


    Five yards away, Belle was sitting on the grass, clutching her hand.


    “Ow! Gray!” Belle screamed, her voice piercing the air. “My hand! I think I broke a nail! It hurts so much!”


    Grayson turned. He saw two women on the ground.


    He saw Isolde, lying still.


    He saw Belle, crying hysterically.


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    He ran.


    He ran past Isolde. He stepped directly over her legs.


    He dropped to his knees beside Belle. “Belle! Are you okay? Let me see.”


    “It hurts!” Belle sobbed, holding up a finger with a tiny, superficial scratch. “I tried to save them! I tried to stop it!”


    “You’re brave,” Grayson said, cradling her hand as though it were made of ss. “You’re so brave.”


    He nced over his shoulder at Isolde. From his angle, her dark navy zer concealed the rapidly spreading bloodstain against the dark mulch beneath her. He saw only her stillness — a stark contrast to Belle’s noisy hysterics. His mind, conditioned by years of what he hade to see as Isolde’s quiet maniptions, processed the scene through a lens of cynical fury.


    “Isolde, get up!” Grayson barked. “Stop being dramatic. Belle is actually hurt.”


    Isolde lifted her head. Her face was the color of ash. She tried to speak, but her teeth were chattering with shock.


    “My… arm…” she whispered.


    “Save it,” Grayson snapped. He rose, pulling Belle up with him. “We’re going to the ER. Belle needs an X-ray.” He looked at Kaiden, who was staring at the broken drone, looking frightened for the first time. “Kaiden, get in the car. Isolde, take Effie and go home. And deal with this mess you let happen.”


    “Hey!” The father of the injured boy stepped forward. “Are you blind? Your wife is bleeding! Look at the ground!”


    Grayson nced down. He saw a dark patch spreading through the mulch. Internally, he dismissed it. It looked like spilled coffee. Another prop in her little stage y.


    “She’s fine,” Grayson said.


    He ushered Belle and Kaiden into the Maybach. The door mmed. The engine roared, and the car sped away, leaving dust swirling in the still air.


    Isolde watched the taillights disappear.


    A tear slid down her cheek. Not from the pain. From the finality of it. He had stepped over her bleeding body tofort a liar with a broken nail.


    “Ma’am?” The police officer was crouching beside her now. “Don’t move. The ambnce is right here.”


    “Effie,” Isolde managed. “Is she…?”


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