The Comments Said My Baby Was Worth A Billion-Dollar Empire Chapter 06

The Comments Said My Baby Was Worth A Billion-Dollar Empire Chapter 06

I stared at the milk. Ice slid up my spine.

The maid placed the glass in front of me. “Here you go, Miss Sterling. Best to drink it warm.”

I looked up at her. She wouldn’t meet my eyes, and her fingers were shaking.

Victor’s uncle sat across from me, sipping his tea like nothing in the world could hurry him. “A woman in your condition should be careful about what she puts in her body.”

I picked up the glass with a smile and held it out to him. “You’re so concerned about my health. Why don’t you take the first sip?”

His uncle’s mask cracked. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

I let go. The glass hit the carpet and shattered, milk spreading across the rug.

The maid dropped to her knees. “Miss Sterling, I didn’t. I swear I didn’t.”

Victor’s eyes went to the bodyguard. “Find out what was in it.”

His uncle shoved back from the table. “What exactly are you implying?”

Victor’s face gave away nothing. “You don’t get to put your people in my home.”

They took the maid away. It didn’t take long for the bodyguard to return with the lab results.

The milk had been dosed with a blood-thinning compound. In early pregnancy, it could cause a miscarriage.

Mom’s hand flew to her mouth, tears already falling. Dad looked like he was ready to kill someone.

His uncle opened his mouth to argue. Victor stood and kicked the heavy coffee table, sending it skidding across the room.

The room went dead silent. Victor grabbed his uncle by the collar and slammed him into the wall.

“Touch her again. I dare you.”

His uncle’s face was turning purple, his feet barely touching the floor. “You’d assault your own family over some woman?”

Something dangerous lived behind Victor’s eyes. “Be grateful she didn’t drink it.”

I’d never seen him like this. The composure he wore like armor had split open, and what lived underneath was savage.

My heart was hammering. Part of me was afraid of him, too.

“Victor.”

He stopped. My voice came out small.

“My stomach hurts.”

He released his uncle and was beside me in a heartbeat, lifting me off the couch. The room shifted.

Julian moved to follow. Victor looked back once.

“Get lost.”

The doctor arrived in record time. After the exam, he told us it was mostly shock. The baby was fine.

I lay in bed and couldn’t stop crying. Victor sat beside me, wiping my face without a word.

“All I did was get pregnant. Why does everyone want to hurt me?”

His hand stilled against my cheek. “It won’t happen again.”

I sniffled. “Your guarantee doesn’t mean much when your family tree is crawling with vultures.”

He looked down at me. “We’re going to the courthouse tomorrow.”

I blinked. “What?”

“Once you’re Mrs. Vance, people will think twice before coming after you.”

“Is this a proposal?”

Victor paused. “Close enough.”

I threw a pillow at him. “Where’s the ring? Where are the flowers? Where’s the part where you get down on one knee?”

He didn’t dodge. He caught my hand instead. “License first. I’ll make it up to you.”

I was about to push it when Mom’s voice came through the door.

“Chloe. I want to talk to you. Just us.”

The comments drifted across my vision, slow and heavy.

[Don’t go.]

[The Sterling family is about to ship her out of the country.]