meet Eleanor in her private study, a room on the third floo

high-backed chair. The only light came from a green-shaded ba

d, gesturing to the

ned standing

cross the polished surface of the desk. "I have a proposition

said

l maintain the public facade. In return for your cooperation, you will re

ed to the file. It wa

devoid of sentiment. "The girl wants money to disappear. I want the bloodline secured

er. It wasn't anger. It was disgust. The sheer, transactiona

rned t

" Eleanor's voice cut through the silence. "I can have them f

. He had clearly been listening from the hallway. For the first time, Jazmin

out, staring at

tearing it to shreds. Pieces of the birth certi

I have than let her raise that chi

ac

Adrian's cheek echoed in the silent room.

k, resentful fire ignited in his eyes, the look

inst the doorframe watching the

she said, her voice cutting through their argument. "B

sy, the hurt, the brokenness he was so used to seeing the

r violence. It was the look of someone wh

mouth. "But you sign a non-disclosure agreement. Yo

aid without a mo

n? The moment you walk out that door, you're on your own. Th

. "I'd rather dance alone in he

y, her footsteps echoing d

after her, grabbi

pered, his voice desperate. "What happened to the Jazmin

arm. She pried his fingers off, one by

lose, her lips

d her," sh

allway, a chill creeping up his spine that h

in opened her laptop and rep

liste

as almost i

ner of 5th Avenue and 59th

ion blinked at the

VIATION DETECTED. HIDDEN CH

sea of city lights, her hand tightening on t