Chapter 105
Chapter 105:
“I am a free woman, Anson. I go where I please. I’ll be there in two minutes.” She hung up.
Dallas smiled — a small, sharp thing. “You’re getting better at that p>
He has no power over me anymore. She realized it was true. The fear was gone, replaced by something closer to annoyance.
Dallas stopped the car just out of sight of the main gates of Hyde Manor and turned to her.
“The Sterling party. Seven o’clock. I’ll send a glam team at four,” he said.
“Here? To Hyde Manor?” Eliza laughed, a little nervously. “Anson will flip p>
𝖱o𝗆аnс𝘦 𝗇o𝘷e𝗹ѕ о𝗇 gа𝘭ո𝗼𝘃𝖾lѕ.𝖼𝗼m
“Let him.” Dallas’s tone was absolute. “You are Mrs. Koch. You require a team. If he has a problem with it, he can take it up with my lawyers p>
He leaned over. His hand cupped her jaw, his thumb brushing her cheekbone, and he kissed her cheek — dangerously close to the corner of her mouth.
“Wear the blue dress,” he murmured. “The one with the back p>
Eliza stepped out of the car feeling armored, as though she had a legion walking behind her.
She passed through the gates and entered the manor. Anson was waiting in the grand hall, pacing. He stopped the moment he saw her, his eyes raking over her fresh clothes and the expensive fabric of the dress Dallas had provided.
“You were with him,” he said. It wasn’t a question.
“Yes. He is my husband,” Eliza replied evenly.
Anson laughed — a hollow, bitter sound. “He’s using you, Eliza. You’re so naive. He’s trying to get to the Solomon restoration patents. You know that, don’t you p>
Eliza paused, frowning. “My father’s old formulas? Anson, that’s a desperate reach, even for you. The chemical compounds were unstable. He always said that research was a dead end p>
“Was it?” Anson stepped closer, lowering his voice. “Or does he know something you don’t? Why else would he marry a bankrupt art restorer — for your personality p>
Eliza shook her head. “Nice try, Anson.” She walked past him toward Victoria’s room.
But the doubt lingered for just a second. A flicker. Why did Dallas prepare that room so long ago? Why was he so obsessed?
She pushed the thought away.
Victoria was propped against her pillows, a tissue box at her side. She broke into a series of wet, heavy coughs as Eliza entered. Eliza watched her, a sliver of suspicion coiling in her gut. The cough sounded real — but after the lies about Victoria’s heart, every symptom felt like a performance. Still, she couldn’t risk being wrong, and she needed an excuse to get out of the house.
“Eliza,” Victoria rasped, reaching for a tissue. “Can you go to the pharmacy? I need the new prescription. And perhaps take me for a drive? I need fresh air p>
“Of course,” Eliza agreed.
She didn’t notice the black sedan parked down the street as they left. She didn’t see Claudine Chapman watching from behind sunglasses, tracking Anson’s location on her phone — the signal pinging steadily from Eliza’s car.