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Chapter 52: The Hollow Cradle
Last Updated:
2025-10-10 20:02:36
Latest chapter
She died a wife, Returned a flame Chapter 55: The Double Game
Sheila’s POVIt started with a whisper in the kitchen.The maids were gossiping again, their voices low, cautious, full of the kind of fear that only Adrian Drake’s name could stir. I didn’t pay attention at first until I heard the one name that didn’t belong in this house.“Kyle,” someone said. “Mr. Drake had a visitor. Tall man, sharp suit. Looked important.”I froze where I stood, hands halfway through scrubbing the silver tray. Kyle. The name alone made my pulse skip. I hadn’t seen him since the night Vanessa’s panic sent her storming into the guest wing, whispering furiously into her phone.Now he was here.And if Kyle was here, that meant something was unraveling.I rinsed the tray, dried my hands, and slipped quietly toward the west corridor where Adrian held his private meetings. The door to his office was closed, but I could hear faint voices through the wood.Vanessa’s, sweet and persuasive.Adrian’s, cold and measured.And a third, Kyle’s. Smooth, oily, confident.I crouche
She died a wife, Returned a flame Chapter 54: The Board and the Blackmailer
Vanessa’s POVThe moment I saw Kyle’s name flash across my phone, my throat tightened. I hadn’t heard from him in weeks, not since he’d hinted at “keeping a souvenir” from the hospital months ago. I should have known silence was just the calm before his next strike.The message was short, sharp, and cruelly familiar.Still keeping secrets, sweetheart?Then, attached beneath it, a grainy photo of a folded envelope.I didn’t have to open it to know what it was.The DNA report.The same one I had begged him to destroy.The same one that could burn everything I’d built to ash.I could almost hear his voice through the words mocking, patient, waiting. Kyle never did anything without reason. And if he was reaching out now, it meant he was ready to make me pay.My hands trembled as I deleted the message, but the panic clung to me like smoke. Adrian was already distant, colder than before. I had noticed the way his gaze lingered on the baby, too long, too careful. He didn’t coo like he used t
She died a wife, Returned a flame Chapter 53: Poison in his Ears
Sheila’s POVAdrian moved differently now. Slower. Gentler. His footsteps were softer, his voice lower. He was no longer the man who used to command the house like a god. Now, he walked as though afraid to wake something precious.And he had.Vanessa’s child had become the sun in his orbit.I saw it every day, the way he leaned over the crib with awe, the way his eyes softened when the baby wrapped a tiny fist around his finger. The way he looked at Vanessa, as though she were the Madonna herself, glowing with virtue.It made me sick.He barely spoke to me anymore. The attention I had stolen piece by piece was slipping through my fingers. He still noticed me, of course—how could he not? His gaze sometimes lingered too long, tracing my movements when he thought I wasn’t watching. But now, it wasn't an obsession. It was a distraction. A ghost of what it had been.That wouldn’t do.I couldn’t afford to be forgotten. Not after everything I had done to get here.So I decided to whisper poi
She died a wife, Returned a flame Chapter 52: The Hollow Cradle
Sheila’s POV The mansion was filled with light when Vanessa returned. Every servant lined up at the entrance, pretending to smile, pretending to care. I stood among them, hands clasped, face calm.Adrian stepped out of the car first, carrying a small bundle wrapped in white. The sight hit me harder than I expected. A baby. Tiny. Fragile. Sleeping against his chest like it belonged there.Vanessa followed, slow and delicate, her movements rehearsed to show weakness. Everyone rushed to help her, offering support and sympathy. She soaked it in like perfume. Adrian hovered around her, his arm always at her back, his eyes fixed on her face as if she were made of glass.The moment they entered, the mansion changed.This was no longer the cold house where I’d played my game. It had become their home. Their kingdom.And I was just a shadow in the background.Adrian hadn’t looked at me once. Not when I took their coats, not when I prepared the nursery, not even when I quietly congratulated th
She died a wife, Returned a flame Chapter 51: Vanessa's Labor
Sheila's POVI was in the kitchen, polishing silver trays I didn’t care about, pretending not to notice that Adrian hadn’t spoken a word to me since dinner.Then came the sound that shattered the quiet, Vanessa’s scream.It tore through the hallway like a knife. The tray slipped from my hands, crashing to the floor. For a moment, I froze, my heart slamming against my ribs. Then I ran.The noise came from the east wing, her suite. By the time I reached the door, Adrian was already there, half-dressed, panic blazing in his eyes as he shoved it open.“Vanessa!” he shouted.She was on the floor beside the bed, clutching her stomach, her silk nightgown soaked in sweat and tears. Her face was ghostly pale, her breathing ragged.“It hurts Adrian, it’s too soon!” she cried, gasping.Adrian dropped to his knees beside her. “Call the doctor!” he barked without looking up.“I’ll call!” I said, already reaching for the phone on the dresser.My hands shook as I dialed the emergency line. The opera
She died a wife, Returned a flame Chapter 50: House of Knives
(Multiple POVs: Adrian, Sheila, Vanessa, Kyle)Adrian’s POVThe house had grown quieter lately, but it was the kind of silence that followed after a scream; heavy, suspicious, waiting for someone to break it.I sat in my study with the lights dimmed, swirling the last of my scotch, staring at the flicker of the fireplace. The flames danced, licking the edges of the logs like restless tongues.Something was wrong.Vanessa was keeping secrets. Rachel was acting too perfect. Sebastian was showing up too often with too little reason.For a man who built his empire by reading faces and sniffing lies, I had somehow managed to fill my home with both.The cameras had been my eyes. They told me what people tried to hide. But then Rachel, sweet, obedient Rachel, had made me tear them all down. She’d looked at me with those trembling eyes, whispered that my obsession made her feel trapped, and I’d given in.I’d told myself it was because I didn’t need cameras when I could read people’s movements
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