Chapter 32

Evelyn's hands trembled as she pressed them against the hospital window. The thought that her actions might have triggered Margaret's stroke made her stomach churn.

What if the worst happened?

Then it hit her like lightning. If Margaret didn't survive, the legal bond between Liam and Evelyn would dissolve naturally. No more forced marriage. No more pretending.

The realization sent an unexpected wave of calm through her veins.

The private hospital corridor stretched endlessly, illuminated only by flickering fluorescent lights. An eerie silence blanketed the VIP wing where Margaret lay unconscious.

Evelyn sat vigil at the bedside, clutching Margaret's paper-thin hand between both of hers. Silent tears traced paths down her hollow cheeks as she studied the older woman's peaceful face.

Each beep of the heart monitor sent a fresh stab of guilt through Evelyn's chest. She prayed desperately for those eyelids to flutter open.

Memories flooded back of her own hospital awakening three years prior. The sterile white walls. The pounding headache. The terrifying blankness where her past should have been.

Strangers had crowded her bedside claiming to be family, friends, creditors. Their greedy eyes had betrayed their true intentions before they even spoke.

The police report said she'd stolen millions from a dead ex-husband. That she'd been beaten within an inch of her life for it. The official records painted her as a con artist, a thief, a woman without morals.

Private investigators confirmed her childhood had been a nightmare. Abusive parents. A brother who sold her out. Years spent surviving through questionable means.

Then came Margaret.

The first person to show her unconditional kindness. The woman who treated her like family when she had none. Three years of caregiving had forged a bond deeper than blood.

Now that bond might be severed forever.

A sudden commotion outside the room shattered Evelyn's thoughts. The clock read 3:17 AM when Liam burst into Victoria's bedroom at Blackwood Manor.

Victoria barely had time to gasp before Liam hauled her from the silk sheets, her bare feet scraping against the hardwood as he dragged her down the hallway.

"Liam! Have you lost your mind?" Victoria shrieked, struggling against his iron grip. "It's the middle of the night!"

Liam's jaw remained locked, his stormy eyes fixed ahead as he propelled her toward the grand staircase.

The cold night air hit Victoria's exposed skin as Liam shoved her into the passenger seat of his Aston Martin. He buckled her in with clinical precision before slamming the door.

Tears streamed down Victoria's face as the car peeled away from the manor. "Where are you taking me like this? I'm in my nightgown for God's sake!"

Liam's knuckles whitened on the steering wheel. His silence was more terrifying than any outburst.

Thirty minutes later, the car screeched to a halt outside Wright Manor. Liam yanked Victoria from the vehicle and deposited her on the marble steps like unwanted luggage.

"Why are you doing this?" Victoria sobbed, clutching her thin nightdress against the chill.

Liam loomed over her, his voice dangerously quiet. "Let me make something crystal clear, Victoria. I have never loved you. Not then. Not now."

Victoria recoiled as if struck.

"This marriage between Evelyn and me is legally binding. She owns half of everything I have. Blackwood Manor is her home, not yours. Stay in your lane."

The slam of his car door echoed through the estate like a gunshot.