a stared at the frozen frame of the video on the table
ue grandfather clock standing against t
smoothly, "you need to s
vision blurred with un
eps echoed on the marb
t her ribs. She turned her h
ked into
eached up with one hand and unbuttoned his suit jacket as he walked. The move
topped b
She saw it on the news channels playing in the campus
Hilbert
n boy of the Wilkinson political dynasty. And he was
ted. Her fingers dug
was
k. But here, in the cold, clear light of the mansion, she saw they weren't black at all. They were the color of slate-gray, like a stormy sky
thout even glancing at her. H
he said, givi
or the first time, his slat
her the way a mechanic looks at a broken engine. He was asses
re. She instinctively crossed her arms ove
sounded on television. It was a low, gravell
his is
est. This is her. She wasn't a person. Sh
floor. "Hilbert, sit down. Now that everyo
his long legs. He looked entirely relaxed, yet his p
unced. "The two of you will go to City
hat? No! Absolutely not! Yo
ept his eyes on his grandmother. He a
Hilbert said, his tone flat. "There are m
this si
again. Did he mean paying her off? Or
ith her cane again. The sha
g she disappears? And then waiting for the media to discover that the
rt. "This is the first heir of the Wilkins
truly believe a single mother, working at a coffee shop, can provide a saf
ned the paparazzi. She imagined the cameras shoved i
She fell back
randmother was right. A scandal of this magnitude, right befor
inal blow. Her voice lef
She looked at the butler. "Pembroke, call City
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