Chapter 8 - The Mother's Web
Isabella Morgan looked completely different from the highly polished matriarch who frequently hosted charity galas.
Her dark eyes were completely cold, and her hand did not tremble at all as she held the heavy gun.
She calmly told me to place the black ledger right back into the hidden floor safe.
I stayed frozen on my knees, my mind racing desperately for a way out of this deadly trap.
I asked her if she really planned to violently murder her own daughter-in-law in the master bedroom.
Isabella let out a harsh, humorless laugh that echoed loudly off the high ceilings.
She coldly said she didn't want to kill me, but her son had completely lost his mind over Vanessa.
Isabella stepped fully into the large room, kicking the heavy wooden door shut behind her.
She revealed a shocking truth that completely shattered everything Julian had just told me at the docks.
Vanessa wasn't actually pregnant with Luke's child at all.
Vanessa was completely barren, a sad medical fact Isabella had known since the girl was twenty years old.
The ultrasound picture Julian had shown me was a clever, highly manipulated fake designed to make me angry enough to steal the ledger.
Isabella sneered aggressively, stating that Julian Rossi was just using my emotional pain to destroy the Morgan empire from the inside.
I stared at her in absolute shock, realizing I was a disposable pawn in a massive war between two criminal syndicates.
Isabella lowered the gun slightly, her harsh expression turning surprisingly soft and maternal.
She told me that she knew all about my pregnancy from the very beginning.
She explained that the pure Morgan bloodline was the most sacred thing in their dark, violent world.
Luke was definitely planning to divorce me, but he would never, ever let me leave with his precious child.
He was going to lock me away in a remote, heavily guarded compound until the baby was born, and then I would simply disappear.
Isabella said she couldn't possibly let a child be raised by a weak, emotionally unstable woman like Vanessa.
She desperately wanted my child to inherit the entire empire, and she was entirely willing to help me escape to protect the bloodline.
She tossed a thick manila envelope onto the bed, claiming it contained fake passports and untraceable cash.
She forcefully ordered me to leave the ledger and take the money before Luke returned from the city.
I slowly stood up, my heart pounding violently in my throat as I reached for the envelope.
Isabella smiled warmly, acting perfectly like the loving savior she had never been to me.
I grabbed the envelope, but instead of walking toward the door, I violently kicked the heavy bedside lamp directly at her face.
The heavy ceramic base shattered loudly against her shoulder, causing her to drop the gun with a shocked shriek.
I aggressively grabbed the ledger from the floor and sprinted wildly out of the bedroom.
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I didn't believe a single word she said, because I instantly recognized the thick envelope she had thrown on the bed.
It was the exact same envelope Maya had used to hold my withdrawn divorce papers this morning.
