Chapter 7 - A BABY BORN UNDER GUARD
The baby came early.
Evelyn woke before dawn with pain rippling through her body.
She tried to stand.
Her water broke.
“Marcus!”
The house exploded into motion.
Grant called the hospital.
Marcus called the police.
But before they could leave, headlights appeared outside.
Vivian had found them.
Three vehicles blocked the driveway.
Grant looked through the window.
“My mother.”
Evelyn gripped the table.
Another contraction hit.
She screamed.
Marcus turned to Grant.
“Get her out through the back.”
Grant nodded.
They moved Evelyn toward the rear door.
But the back gate was already blocked.
A man stepped from the darkness.
“Mrs. Whitmore.”
Evelyn backed away.
Grant stepped in front of her.
“Touch her and I swear—”
The man smiled.
“You swear what?”
A siren sounded.
Then another.
Marcus had called the police.
The security team scattered.
Grant helped Evelyn into the car.
They drove through the storm.
At the hospital, doctors rushed her into surgery.
Grant stood in the hallway.
Blood covered his sleeve.
Marcus stood beside him.
“You have one chance,” Marcus said.
Grant looked at him.
“For what?”
“To become the man Evelyn thought she married.”
Hours later, a baby's cry filled the hospital.
A nurse stepped into the hallway.
“It's a girl.”
Grant covered his face.
Evelyn was unconscious.
The nurse placed the baby in his arms.
Grant looked down.
The tiny girl opened her eyes.
He began to cry.
Then his phone rang.
Vivian.
Grant answered.
Her voice was calm.
“Congratulations.”
Grant's blood ran cold.
“How do you know?”
“I know everything.”
“What do you want?”
“The baby.”
Grant tightened his arms around his daughter.
“No.”
Vivian laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
“What?”
“The trust activates at birth.”
Grant froze.
Vivian continued.
“And if that child is legally declared unfit to inherit…”
Grant looked toward Evelyn's hospital room.
“No.”
“Then everything returns to me.”
Grant hung up.
For the first time in his life, he understood the truth.
His mother did not want his daughter.
She wanted what his daughter represented.
Power.
Control.
The Whitmore empire.
May you like
And now Grant had to decide whether he would protect his mother…
Or protect his family.
