Chapter 5 - Chloe’s Desperate Gamble
"You idiot!" Chloe hissed, her voice trembling with venomous rage. "Do you have any idea what you’ve done to my family? The board of Sterling Holdings held an emergency vote at midnight. They forced my father to strip me of my vice presidency! Our brand sponsors are pulling out, and our mansion is surrounded by reporters calling me a homewrecking accomplice to infanticide!"
Flynn rubbed his throbbing cheek, stunned. "Chloe, listen to me... it's a mistake! Claire set me up! She’s the heiress to Hart Enterprises! If we play our cards right, if we use the legal custody battle—"
"Custody?" Chloe laughed bitterly, a hysterical, cracked sound. "Are you out of your mind? You signed a total surrender of parental rights when you believed she was braindead so you wouldn't have to pay NICU medical bills! The hospital gave the certified notarized copy to the district attorney! You aren't their father in the eyes of the law anymore, Flynn. You're a biological donor facing criminal endangerment charges!"
Flynn grabbed her wrists with frantic, bruising force. "Then we fight dirty! Claire is weak, Chloe! I know her! She’s sensitive, she has a bleeding heart! If we threaten her reputation, if we say the babies were born out of wedlock or that she cheated—"
"Shut your mouth!" Chloe ripped her hands away, stepping back in disgust. But behind her panicked eyes, a dark, calculating glint appeared.
Chloe was a socialite raised in the cutthroat corridors of high society. She knew she couldn't outspend Hart Enterprises. But she had something Claire didn't have: complete disregard for human life.
"Your bail is being paid by an anonymous loan shark," Chloe whispered coldly, leaning in close so the guard outside couldn't hear. "Not by me. And not out of mercy. My father gave me one chance to clear the Sterling name. We need leverage. Real leverage."
"What leverage?" Flynn muttered, his eyes darting frantically.
"The twins," Chloe sneered quietly. "The public only knows what the media feeds them. If those two babies suddenly fall ill, or if Claire appears unfit to raise them—if we can create an incident that proves she suffered postpartum psychosis after her flatline—the court will be forced to review guardianship. And under emergency probate, the biological father gets temporary conservatory rights over her estate."
Flynn looked at Chloe, a chill running down his spine. Even in his greed, he hadn't contemplated hurting his own blood. But as he looked down at his trembling, empty hands, the thought of returning to the dirt—to poverty, to public humiliation—burned through his conscience like acid.
"How do we even get near them?" Flynn whispered hoarsely. "She took them to the Hart Crest fortress. A fly can't get past those gates."
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Chloe curled her lips into a cruel, venomous smile. "Every fortress has a crack, Flynn. And you’re forgetting... the chief pediatrician assigned to the Hart estate tonight isn't just an elite doctor. He has an enormous gambling debt to my uncle’s private casino."
***
