Chapter 3

Damian stared icily at Farrah as she slumped over the desk, her face pale. Noticing that, Robert helped her up and turned to Damian, saying anxiously, "Damian, I need to take Farrah to the hospital first. I promise that if the baby really isn't yours, I won't let her keep it."

A low, humorless laugh slipped from Damian's lips. He fixed his gaze on Robert, his tone dripping with contempt. "You think a whore carrying some bastard still has a place in my family? What goes on in that mind of yours, Mr. Sutherland?"

As he spoke, he turned and yanked the office door open. He told Vincent, who was waiting outside, to give him the divorce papers. After taking them, he closed the door again and swung back to face Robert. "Make your daughter sign this. The Halston family is pulling every penny we ever put into your company.

"As for that bastard she's carrying, I'll leave you to deal with it. If she actually has the nerve to give birth to it and drag my family's name through the mud, don't blame me when I stop playing nice."

"No, I won't get a divorce! I won't!" Farrah screamed.

Then her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed against Robert in a dead faint.

Damian scowled and thrust the divorce agreement toward Robert. "I've already signed it. I don't care what you have to do—I want her signature on this by tomorrow. And if that bastard is still in her womb by the time these divorce papers are filed, I guarantee your company won't make it to the end of this year."

Robert scooped Farrah into his arms and shouted in a panic, "I'll take Farrah to the hospital first. We'll talk when she wakes up!"

Damian snorted and flung the divorce papers at his chest. Then he strode to the office door, yanking it open.

Vincent walked up to him and leaned in, saying in a low voice, "The doctors are waiting in the parking lot downstairs. The test results will take about three hours. Dr. Gosling will be here in five minutes."

"Take her to see Donald. Leave someone here to wait for the test results."

Vincent nodded, then added, "Donald's been taken to the abandoned Jaxford development that the company acquired earlier this year as part of a distressed asset portfolio."

Damian glanced at Robert, who had run out of the office with the unconscious Farrah in his arms and was shouting for the security guards to escort her to the hospital.

He turned to Vincent and said in a small voice, "Send someone to tail him. I want to know how exactly he handles that bastard in her womb. You're coming with me to Jaxford. I want to see for myself if Donald's balls are made of steel. Why else would he have an affair with my wife?"

By the time they reached the elevators, Robert had already handed Farrah to the security guards. He hurried back to Damian, looking anxious as he spoke fast. "Damian, there must be some misunderstanding. Farrah would never—"

"Don't make me sick," Damian snapped, cutting him off. He shoved Robert out of his way and glared at him, his expression dark. "I brought the doctor who did your promiscuous daughter's procedure here, and the hospital's records spell it out clearly—your precious daughter and her lover went in together for IVF.

"I want her name on the divorce agreement by tomorrow morning. You have one week to return all the betrothal and wedding gifts my family gave you. If you dare go public with this, I'll make sure the Sutherlands disappear from this city entirely."

After steadying himself against the wall, Robert tried to come over to keep arguing. Damian flicked a hand, signaling the bodyguards behind him to hold him back, then stepped straight into the open elevator.

On the drive toward the Jaxford district, Damian abruptly said to Vincent, "Pack up all of Farrah's things in Bayview Manor and send them back to her family. Sell that place and move my things back to Lakecrest Estate."

Vincent silently pulled out his phone, lowered his head, and started making calls in a hushed voice. Damian leaned back in his seat and shut his eyes, clenching his jaw so hard that his teeth ground audibly.

…

Robert stormed into Farrah's hospital room at Lumen Hospital, slamming the door behind him. He strode up to the bed, waving the IVF payment receipts in his hand. He glared at Farrah, who was propped up on the pillow. "Farrah, what the hell is going on? Is Donald really the father of your baby?"

Farrah shook her head frantically and asked in a panic, "Dad, did Damian have Donald taken away? You have to save him!"

Robert only grew angrier. He stepped closer to the bed and threw the invoices in her face. "Do you even know what you're doing, Farrah? How could you end up pregnant with Donald's child? How is that loser better than Damian in any way?"

Farrah kept crying urgently, "Dad, you have to hurry and save Donald. We can't let anything happen to him!"

Robert finally snapped. He slapped her hard across the face, then jabbed a finger at her baby bump. He barked, "Get rid of that baby, then beg Damian to forgive you. Otherwise, our family's done for! The Halstons have already pulled their investment. Our cash flow is about to dry up!"

Farrah struggled to push herself upright and yelled, "No! I can't abort the baby. If you won't save Donald, then call Jeremy Halston! Tell him that Damian's taken Donald!"

Robert froze in astonishment. His brows drew together as his gaze sharpened on Farrah's anxious face. After a moment's hesitation, he leaned in close and asked in a hushed voice, "What do you mean? Jeremy knows Donald?"

She nodded quickly, her words tumbling out. "Dad, if you're too scared to cross Damian by saving Donald, then call Jeremy. It's been over two years since Damian and I got engaged and married, yet all the Halstons have ever done is throw money at us.

"They've never given us any real resources or backing. If they keep letting Damian run things, our family is never getting any of the Halston family's actual support."

…

After a while, Damian's car rolled to a stop in front of a half-finished, abandoned development on Golden Avenue, in the Jaxford district. When the bodyguard opened the door, he stepped out.

Vincent jogged up beside him, pointing to the second floor of one of the abandoned buildings. "Mr. Halston, Donald's being held up there."

Damian turned to look toward a woman in her early 40s getting out of the MPV behind them. She was Shirley Gosling, the doctor from the IVF clinic at the Westbridge Fertility Center.

As she walked over, Damian's jaw tightened. He asked, "A man was with Farrah Sutherland when she went in for IVF back in March. Do you remember what he looks like?"

She darted a nervous look around, swallowed, and pointed at one of the bodyguards behind her. "He showed me photos of Ms. Sutherland with the man. The man slipped me some money then, so I remember him."

Damian snorted, knowing full well that Donald had to have given her a rather handsome sum.

Grinding his teeth and secretly cursing Donald and Farrah out, he turned without another word and headed straight toward the derelict building.

When he heard Vincent catch up to him and remind him that Donald was on the second floor, Damian quickened his pace and hurried up the stairs. He walked straight into the room on the right, which Vincent pointed at.