Chapter 106:


    Isolde looked at And, her eyes zing. “I want to see his face when he realizes the jet he’s trying to sell the Air Force is legally yours.”


    And’s grin was slow and wolfish.


    “Deal,” he said. “Let’s get you discharged.”


    Isolde didn’t go straight to Nelson. She went to the Tribeca apartment first.


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    She stood in the bathroom, trying to button a fresh white shirt with one hand. It was maddeningly difficult. Her fingers fumbled and slipped.


    Effie walked in. She didn’t say a word. She simply reached up and buttoned the shirt for her mother, one small button at a time.


    “Thank you, baby,” Isolde whispered, kissing her forehead.


    The inte buzzed — harsh and insistent. The doorman’s voice came through, apologetic. “Ms. Carson, I’m sorry to disturb you, but Mr. Lancaster’s attorney is on the line. He says it’s an emergency and is demanding to be put through.”


    Isolde stared at the console. Grayson couldn’t reach her cell, so he was usingwyers as a battering ram.


    She pressed the button. “Hello?”


    “Isolde? It’s Grayson.” His voice was ice. “What the hell did you do?”


    “I’m busy, Grayson.”


    “Busy? Doing what? ying nurse to your bruised ego?” Grayson sneered. “I froze your mother’s ounts. Did you get the alert? Come home, Isolde. Bring Effie. Apologize to Belle. And I’ll unlock the money.”


    “Keep it frozen,” Isolde said calmly. “I’m buying thepany back anyway.”


    “With what money?” Graysonughed. “You’re destitute.”


    “Grayson,” Isolde said. “I have filed a new motion with the court. Stone is delivering it now.”


    “More alimony demands?”


    “No. I’m petitioning the court to invalidate the NDA regarding Kaiden’s parentage, citing child endangerment and criminal negligence.”


    Silence.


    “You can’t,” Grayson said, his voice dropping low and dangerous. “That’s sealed.”


    “Is it? An NDA doesn’t protect you from a criminal investigation. I have the video of you leaving me bleeding on the ground. I have the medical report documenting my severed tendons. I have proof that you knowingly ced a dangerous, unregistered device in the hands of a minor who then used it as a weapon. How do you think a judge will respond to an NDA designed to conceal the origins of a child you have now endangered?”


    “You… you wouldn’t dare,” Grayson’s voice cracked.


    “Am I not? See you in court.”


    “Isolde, wait! We can talk! Don’t do this!”


    She cut the connection.


    She walked into the kitchen and stood over the counter, staring at her cell phone. It wasn’t just amunication device. It was a leash — a record of her old life, a potential backdoor for him.


    She popped the SIM tray open, removed the card, and dropped the chip into the garbage disposal.


    Then she sealed the phone in a Ziploc bag, walked to the service elevator, and dropped it down the building’s trash chute.


    A final, decisive break.


    An hourter, she sat across from Stone in his office. He pushed the papers across the mahogany desk.


    intiff: Isolde Carson. Defendant: Grayson Lancaster.


    Isolde picked up the pen with her right hand. It felt awkward. She was left-handed.


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