my blood running cold. The conversation continued, e

e tied up in a trust that's contingent on my 'stable family life.' My father was an old-fashioned bastard. A happy marriage, a child

in. The words didn't ju

her voice sharp. "The one you paid to keep

e signed an iron-clad NDA. She knows what would happen if she vi

too. It was all a transaction. A cold, calculated business deal to manufacture a famil

calls her 'Mama.' It makes my skin crawl." Then her voice changed, softening into a theat

d for his sympathy. I waited for Liam to show so

or a reason. No family left, desperate for a child... she was perfect. A blank canvas. Think

deceived me. It was that they felt justified. They saw my love,

Yeah? ... The transfer went through? Good. Make sure there's no paper tra

t got his final payment," Liam explained to Chloe. "The one that made Amelia so par

tten a small scratch and a rash. We'd been so scared. It was all planne

king, found the voice memo app. I pressed record, my mind a blank slate of p

ding down the hallway. I counted to sixty, my heart pounding i

llow, a smug little smile on h

ade of lead. I didn't look back. I just kept walking, past the nurses' station, past the waiting room, out the automatic doors and into the cold night air. I