---- Chapter 6 Charlotte Jennings POV: The antiseptic smell of the hospital filled my lungs, a scent | would forever associate with terror. They shoved me through the pristine lobby, ignoring the curious stares of the late-night staff. This was a place where money bought silence and discretion. "What is this?" | demanded, trying to wrench my arm from my adoptive father' s grasp. "This is you cleaning up your mess," he snarled, his face contorted with an ugly mix of anger and greed. "Do you have any idea the damage you' ve done? The Sullivans were ready to cut ties with us! Because of you! Because of your stubbornness!" Eleanor Sullivan walked beside me, her posture ramrod straight, her expression victorious. "You were given a choice, Charlotte. You chose poorly." They forced me into a private room. It was cold and white, furnished with nothing but a bed and a menacing-looking medical chair. A doctor and two nurses were waiting. None of them would meet my eye. "I'm not doing this | said, my voice shaking but firm. | ---- planted my feet, refusing to move another inch. "You can't make me." Eleanor laughed, a dry, brittle sound. "Oh, my dear. We absolutely can. You see, Harper' s mother has provided us with a sworn affidavit. A story about your... promiscuity. It paints a very clear picture of a troubled young woman who cheated on her husband and is now trying to pass off another man's child as a Sullivan heir. It' s tragic, really." "That's a lie!" | screamed, lunging toward her, but the two large men grabbed my arms, holding me fast. "Is it?" Eleanor purred, stepping closer until her face was inches from mine. Her perfume was cloying, suffocating. "Who do you think a judge will believe? A grieving, pregnant childhood friend and her heartbroken mother? Or you?" 4 She produced a set of papers from her purse. Divorce papers. And another document, a consent form for the medical procedure. "Sign them," she ordered. "Sign them, and we end this quietly. You walk away with a generous settlement, and we all forget this unfortunate chapter ever happened." "And my baby?" | choked out, tears blurring my vision. "Your problem," she corrected me coldly, "will be taken care of." | looked at my adoptive father, my last, desperate appeal. ---- "Dad, please. Don' t let them do this." For a moment, a flicker of something-shame? regret?-crossed his face. But it was gone as quickly as it came, replaced by the cold calculation that had always ruled him. "Sign the papers, Charlotte," he said, his voice flat. "It's for the best." The last ember of hope died inside me. | was utterly and completely abandoned. They were all in on it. The Sullivans, the Nicholsons, my own family. They had conspired to destroy me, to erase my child, all for the sake of an IPO. My signature on the divorce papers was a jagged, broken thing. But when they pushed the medical consent form in front of me, my hand froze. "No," | whispered. A final, futile act of defiance. "I won't." Eleanor' s patience snapped. Her mask of civility fell away, revealing the ugly, vicious woman beneath. She slapped me across the face, the force of it snapping my head to the side. "You foolish girl' she spat, her eyes blazing with hatred. "You think you have a say in this? You are nothing. A temporary placeholder that my son was foolish enough to marry. Harper is the one who belongs by his side. Her child is the only grandchild | will ever acknowledge." The doctor stepped forward, holding a syringe. "Mrs. Sullivan, perhaps a sedative..." ---- "No," Eleanor commanded. "| want her to be awake for this. | want her to understand the consequences of defying me." She nodded to the two men holding me. They began to drag me toward the chair. | fought. | kicked and screamed and clawed, fighting with the ferocity of a mother protecting her young. But | was no match for them. They strapped me into the cold leather chair, binding my arms and legs. The doctor approached with another instrument, a long, thin needle. My blood ran cold. "Please," | begged, my voice dissolving into sobs. "Please don't. Please." Eleanor watched, her face a mask of cold satisfaction. "You brought this on yourself." The nurse swabbed my arm with alcohol. The doctor brought the needle closer. | closed my eyes, a silent scream trapped in my throat. This was it. They were going to do it. They were going to take my baby from me. And then, the door to the room burst open with such force that it slammed against the wall, splintering the frame. Antony Dean stood in the doorway. He was flanked by a dozen men in dark suits, all of them exuding an aura of quiet, lethal competence. My father was not a large man, but his presence filled the room, crackling with an authority so immense it seemed to suck the very air from the lungs of everyone ---- present. His eyes, a startlingly familiar shade of blue, swept the room, taking in the scene in an instant: me, strapped to the chair, the terrified doctor, the cowering nurses, my treacherous adoptive father, and the stunned, furious face of Eleanor Sullivan. His gaze finally landed on me. The icy fury in his expression melted away, replaced by a look of such profound pain and love that it broke my heart all over again. "Get your hands off my daughter," he said. His voice was not loud, but it carried a weight that made the room tremble. It was the most beautiful sound | had ever heard.