Chapter 3 - The Threat
The silence in the hospital room felt suffocating.
Elena looked down at her sleeping son.
She had only ever been with Julian.
She had remained fiercely, flawlessly loyal to him until the day he threw her out.
“What do you mean, everything will shatter?” Elena asked, her voice trembling.
Silas walked back to the window, watching the snow fall over Manhattan.
“Julian is a dangerous man when his legacy is threatened.”
“He will hire the best lawyers money can buy to take custody.”
“He doesn't even want a child,” Elena argued.
“He called me a parasite for even suggesting IVF.”
“He doesn't want a child, Elena, he wants a possession.”
Silas turned to face her.
“If the boy is a Sterling, Julian will use him to secure his majority shareholder status.”
Elena hugged her baby closer to her chest.
“He can't just take him.”
“With the right judge on his payroll, he can.”
A sharp knock interrupted the conversation.
A nurse pushed a silver cart into the room.
She was accompanied by a man in a gray suit holding a thick manila envelope.
“Mrs. Sterling?” the man asked.
“It's Ms. Hayes now,” Elena corrected coldly.
“I am a court-appointed courier.”
The man handed her the envelope.
“You have been served.”
Elena tore open the envelope with shaking fingers.
It was an emergency petition for a mandatory paternity test.
Julian had not wasted a single second.
He had filed the paperwork while sitting in the back of his limousine.
“He wants a buccal swab from the baby by tomorrow morning,” Elena read, tears stinging her eyes.
“If I refuse, he will get a court order to seize the child for testing.”
She looked up at Silas in sheer panic.
“What do I do?” she asked.
“If the test proves he is the father, the custody battle will drain me completely.”
Silas did not look worried at all.
He actually smiled.
It was a dark, calculated expression that made a shiver run down her spine.
“Let him test the child,” Silas said smoothly.
“Are you insane?” Elena gasped.
“We will provide the swab tomorrow morning,” Silas instructed the courier.
The courier nodded and quickly left the room.
Elena stared at Silas, feeling utterly betrayed.
“You promised to protect us!” she yelled.
“I am protecting you,” Silas replied softly.
“By handing my son over to the Sterling legal team?”
“By letting Julian dig his own grave.”
Silas walked over to the bed and leaned down until he was eye level with her.
May you like
“I told you to let him test the baby, Elena.”
“I never said the baby belonged to Julian.”
