Chapter 170
Chapter 170:
Gigi studied her with the unhurried precision of someone who had spent a lifetime reading people. “He sounds adequate. A pity — I was considering offering you my grandson as a project. He’s obscenely wealthy.” She paused, then dropped the name like a gauntlet. “Koch Industries p>
Eliza went very still.
The name landed like a physical blow. This was the woman from Dallas’s stories — the one who had sent a ten-year-old boy to Siberia. A sudden, cold fury coiled in her stomach, and she had to consciously relax her hands in her lap. This elegant, composed woman sitting beside her was the source of his deepest scars. She couldn’t reveal she was the secret wife. It would look like a calculated scheme.
“Oh,” Eliza said, keeping her expression carefully neutral. “I’ve heard of them p>
“Well, should your ‘adequate’ boyfriend prove insufficient, you have my card,” Gigi said, producing an embossed piece of heavy cardstock and placing it in Eliza’s hand.
The car pulled up to The Aurelia.
“Thank you, Gigi,” Eliza said, climbing out.
Gigi watched her cross the sidewalk toward the entrance. “Driver,” she said quietly. “Find out everything you can about that young woman’s boyfriend. I want a full dossier. Let’s see if he measures up p>
The 𝗆𝘰ѕ𝘁 𝗉oр𝗎𝗅a𝗿 ո𝗈𝘃е𝗅𝘀 𝘰𝘯
“Yes, Madame p>
Eliza stepped into the lobby, exhausted down to her bones. She needed to tell Dallas about Anson. And now, about his grandmother.
She was moving toward the elevator when a shadow detached itself from behind one of the large marble pillars.
Anson. He looked worse than he had at the manor — hair disheveled from driving with the windows down, a smudge of grease on his cuff. He had driven like a madman to get here before her.
“We need to talk,” he said. “Without the screaming p>
“Get out, Anson.” Eliza gestured toward the concierge desk. “Or I call security p>
“Just five minutes,” he said. “Then I’ll leave you alone forever. I promise p>
Eliza held his gaze. She wanted “forever.” She wanted him gone permanently and completely.
“Five minutes,” she said. “Here. In the lobby p>
They sat in the lobby seating area, near a large potted fern — public enough to be safe, private enough to talk. Two of Dallas’s security guards stood at a discreet distance by the elevators, their eyes fixed on Anson, ready to move at the first signal.
“I left Claudine,” Anson began, smoothing his wrinkled jacket.
“You choked her, Anson,” Eliza said, her voice tight. “You didn’t leave her. You assaulted her p>
“She lied! There is no baby!” His eyes went wide. “She tried to trap me p>
“It doesn’t matter. You are toxic,” Eliza said. “You destroy everything you touch p>
“I built you!” Anson snapped, his composure fracturing. “I saved you from the foster system! I gave you a home! You owe me p>
“I paid you back,” Eliza said, rising to her feet. “With years of obedience. With my silence. The debt is paid p>
“It’s not paid until I say it is!” He grabbed her wrist, pulling her toward him.
The security guards stepped forward immediately, hands moving to their earpieces. Anson ignored them.
“Come back to the Manor,” he whispered, his tone shifting into something unsettlingly soft. “We can start over. I’ll forgive you p>
“Forgive me? For what p>