Chapter 7 - The True Heir
I stared at the glossy photograph until the edges of my vision began to completely blur.
Vanessa was visibly pregnant with Luke’s much-desired child.
The beloved childhood sweetheart, the woman his mother absolutely adored, was carrying the true Morgan heir.
Julian’s cruel, mocking voice cut sharply through the heavy silence of the empty docks.
He explained that Luke had known about Vanessa’s pregnancy for an entire month.
He also knew about my pregnancy, because his highly paid private doctor had secretly forwarded him my early blood tests.
Luke hadn't sent his fixers to bring me back home today to save our failing marriage.
He sent them to ensure I never made it out of the city alive with a competing heir.
In the twisted Morgan family, there could only ever be one legitimate heir to the vast criminal empire.
A messy divorce would mean splitting his assets and leaving a highly vulnerable child in the hands of an ex-wife.
Luke was going to erase me entirely so he could marry Vanessa and legitimize her baby without any messy legal battles.
The horrific realization hit me like a massive physical blow to the chest.
The hospital appointment this morning hadn't just been monitored by Luke's security team.
It had been a carefully orchestrated trap designed to keep me in one place until his men could quietly dispose of me.
My profound sadness instantly evaporated, completely replaced by a burning, blinding rage.
I had spent three agonizing years trying to be the perfect, invisible wife to a total monster.
I looked Julian directly in the eye and firmly accepted his incredibly dangerous offer.
I promised to get him the master ledger by dawn if he absolutely guaranteed my safe passage out of Chicago.
Julian smiled a terrifying predatory grin and handed me a set of keys to an unmarked vehicle.
He warned me that the estate's elite security shift changed exactly at two in the morning, giving me a tiny four-minute window.
I drove quickly back into the wealthy suburbs, parking two dark blocks away from the massive iron gates of my own home.
I slipped quietly through the manicured hedges, using the hidden garden path I had personally designed myself.
The massive house was completely dark, save for the faint glow of a security monitor in the distant guard shack.
I bypassed the complex alarm system using a backdoor code Luke arrogantly thought I didn't know.
I crept completely silently up the grand staircase, carefully avoiding the third step that always creaked.
I reached the master bedroom and pushed the heavy oak door open with a gentle push.
I fell to my knees and pried up the loose floorboard hidden under the expensive Persian rug.
I pressed my thumb against the hidden biometric scanner, praying Luke hadn't deleted my access yet.
The heavy safe clicked open perfectly with a soft mechanical whir.
I grabbed the heavy black ledger, my ultimate ticket to freedom resting heavily in my hands.
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Suddenly, the bedroom lights flared on brightly, blinding me entirely for a second.
Standing calmly in the doorway, holding a silver revolver aimed directly at my head, was Isabella.
