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Chapter Twenty-Six – Shattered Trust

Author: Dreamyy
last update Last Updated: 2025-10-02 14:34:06

For a long, terrifying heartbeat, Maya couldn’t breathe.

Adrian’s words hung in the air like a guillotine suspended above her neck.

I made sure the surrogate they picked… would be you.

Her knees nearly gave out. She grabbed the armrest of the chair, her chest rising and falling in shallow, frantic breaths.

“You… you planned this,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “All of it. Every step. Every clause in that contract… Adrian, you manipulated everything.”

Adrian’s eyes never left hers. They were cold, sharp, but beneath the ice was something molten—something she had once loved and now couldn’t bear to look at.

“I couldn’t risk losing you,” he said simply.

Maya let out a choked laugh, tears spilling down her cheeks. “Losing me? Adrian, you never had me to begin with—not like this. You didn’t win me. You trapped me!”

He stepped closer, his voice lowering into something dark and intimate. “Do you really think I would allow another man’s child, another woman’s influence, to be tied to me
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  • Surrogate for My Cold-Hearted Ex   Chapter Thirty Three – The Bloodline Lie

    Eleanor’s shadow stretched across the polished floor like something out of a nightmare. The storm outside rumbled again, as though the sky itself knew this confrontation would break something that could never be fixed.Maya’s heart was racing so fast she thought it might burst. Adrian stood frozen, clutching the papers she’d handed him, his jaw tight, his knuckles white.“Say something,” he finally whispered, his voice hoarse.Eleanor stepped into the light, her face calm and eerily collected. “There’s nothing to say that you haven’t already read.”Adrian’s voice broke into a shout. “You changed the donor? You replaced my DNA—my child—and you think there’s nothing to say?!”Eleanor didn’t flinch. “I did what was necessary.”Maya’s voice cracked. “Necessary? You manipulated science, Adrian’s life, and my body—how could you possibly justify that?”Eleanor’s eyes flicked toward her, cold but composed. “Because this family needed protecting. Adrian’s bloodline—our legacy—could not afford

  • Surrogate for My Cold-Hearted Ex   Chapter Thirty Two – The Cost of Protection

    The silence after Eleanor’s voice faded was thick enough to choke on.Maya and Adrian sat frozen in front of the monitor, the glow from the screen flickering across their pale faces.“I warned you, Adrian,” his mother had said, her calm tone cutting deeper than any shout.“Some things are better left buried.”Adrian’s jaw clenched, his eyes narrowing. “She knew.”Maya’s voice trembled. “She planned for you to see this.”He stood abruptly, the chair scraping against the hardwood floor. “I’m done with her games.”Maya reached for him. “Adrian—wait—”But he was already gone, his long strides echoing through the marble hallway.Maya hesitated for only a moment before following.Eleanor’s private suite was dimly lit, candles burning low on the mantel despite the late hour. She sat in her high-backed armchair, calm as a queen expecting her subjects.When Adrian burst in, she didn’t flinch. She simply lifted her gaze from her teacup, her silver eyes as sharp as glass.“Adrian,” she said smoo

  • Surrogate for My Cold-Hearted Ex   Chapter Thirty-One – Storms Don’t Ask Permission

    The elevator doors slid shut with a metallic thud, and the silence that followed was deafening.Maya stood frozen beside Adrian, her pulse hammering in her ears. She could still hear Lila’s mocking voice echoing down the hallway — Tell your mother I said hello.Adrian’s hands were clenched so tightly his knuckles had gone white. His jaw worked as he stared at the elevator panel, his reflection pale and tense in the mirror-lined walls.“She’s bluffing,” Maya said, though her voice trembled. “She has to be.”Adrian didn’t answer.The elevator reached the ground floor with a chime, and as the doors opened, chaos greeted them like a slap.Reporters crowded the lobby, cameras flashing, voices shouting questions over one another.“Adrian! Did Knight Industries break surrogacy laws?”“Maya Rivers, were you paid to carry your ex-husband’s child?”“Is this an illegal arrangement or a love story gone wrong?”Maya’s stomach dropped. Adrian moved instantly, putting an arm around her shoulders and

  • Surrogate for My Cold-Hearted Ex   Chapter Thirty – The Woman in Red

    Maya’s breath caught in her throat.“Lila?” she whispered, as if saying the name out loud might make it less real.Adrian’s eyes darkened, his jaw tightening like steel. “It can’t be,” he muttered, though his voice wavered slightly. “She wouldn’t dare—”But the signature glared up at them, bold, elegant, unmistakable: Lila Harrington.Maya’s fingers trembled as she took the folder from his hand. “She was the one who leaked the story about me and your rival, wasn’t she? She set it all up.”Adrian said nothing for a long time. His silence was the answer she didn’t want but already knew.He ran a hand through his hair, pacing in front of the desk like a storm barely contained. “She had motive,” he said quietly. “She always did. When I ended our engagement, she swore I’d regret it.”Maya blinked. “Engagement?”Adrian froze. His head snapped up to meet her stunned gaze. “You didn’t know?”She laughed, but there was no humor in it. “No, Adrian, I didn’t. Funny how that never came up between

  • Surrogate for My Cold-Hearted Ex   Chapter Twenty-Nine – Shattered Silence

    Maya’s scream tore from her throat before she could stop it. It was raw, primal, the kind of sound that rattled the walls and left her chest heaving.Adrian jolted toward her instantly. “Maya—”“Don’t!” she snapped, clutching the photograph in shaking hands. Her whole body trembled as she stared at the timestamp, the sterile hospital waiting room, her own broken silhouette frozen forever in grainy black-and-white.Her stomach churned. Her throat felt like sandpaper. “How… how did she—how did you—”Adrian’s gaze dropped to the picture. His face drained of color. He looked as if someone had punched the breath out of him.“Maya…” His voice cracked. “What is this?”She barked out a bitter laugh that dissolved into tears. “Don’t you dare play dumb. You can read the date. You can see the place. You know exactly what this is.”His brow furrowed, his voice hoarse. “No, I don’t. I don’t—please, tell me.”Her chest caved in, and the words slipped out before she could stop them. “It was our baby

  • Surrogate for My Cold-Hearted Ex   Chapter Twenty-Eight – Strings in the Shadows

    Maya’s heart hammered as Eleanor’s words echoed in the silence.Long before you thought you’d escaped Adrian Knight, I was making sure you never truly could.The sentence pressed down on her chest like a weight, crushing, suffocating. She clutched her belly as if shielding the twins from a truth too poisonous to breathe in.“What… what are you talking about?” Maya demanded, her voice trembling. “What do you mean I’ve been watched?”Eleanor’s expression remained maddeningly calm, like a queen surveying pawns on a chessboard. “Exactly what I said. Do you think it was chance that brought you here? Fate?” She gave a delicate, disdainful laugh. “No, my dear. Chance is for fools. I prefer control.”Maya’s skin prickled. “Control? You mean you’ve been stalking me?”“Such an ugly word,” Eleanor sighed. “I prefer overseeing. Ensuring the right pieces fall into place.”Maya’s throat went dry. “Overseeing what?”Eleanor’s smile thinned. “Everything.”Adrian stepped forward sharply, his face pale

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