Semua Bab Divorced With His Heir In My Belly: Bab 21 - Bab 30

[Tyler’s POV]"She doesn’t look like a Rider, Tyler. Not even a little bit."Chloe’s voice cut through the sterile quiet of the recovery room. She was standing at the foot of Lucy’s bed, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. She didn't even look at the pink bundle in the cot with affection. She looked at it like she was inspecting a counterfeit handbag."Chloe, for God's sake, give it a rest," I snapped, though my heart wasn't in it.I was standing by the window, my eyes still scanning the hallway every time the door creaked. I couldn't stop thinking about the man with the muddy boots. "I’m serious," Chloe continued, her voice rising in that annoying, high-pitched way it did when she was about to start a fight. "Look at the chin. Look at the eyes. Every Rider child for four generations has been born with that distinctive sharp jawline and the sapphire-blue eyes. But this baby... she’s just different.""She’s three hours old!" Lucy shrieked from the bed.She looked exhausted, her f

【Sarah’s POV]The Maybach pulled up to the curb of the Metropolitan Plaza. Dex, my head of security, stepped out first. He adjusted his jacket, his eyes scanning the perimeter."Ready, Miss Hale?" Dex asked, opening my door.I took a deep breath, I looked down at my dress—a custom-made, emerald silk gown that complimented my brown skin. I had lost the lingering weight from my pregnancy with Caleb."Ready," I said.As my foot hit the red carpet, the camera flashes were blinding, but I didn't blink"Is that... Sarah Rider?""No way, look at the face! That’s her!""Sarah! Over here! Who are you wearing?"I didn't stop for them. I walked with grace into the building. I was no longer the woman who stood three steps behind a powerful man; I was the power.As I moved through the foyer, conversations died mid-sentence. I saw faces I recognized—women who had snubbed me at charity fair, men who had looked through me at board dinners. Their eyes widened, scanning my transformed silhouette and th

[Tyler’s POV] My father had fled the event like a wounded animal, refusing to meet my eyes. The "Great Byron Rider" had been reduced to a shaking old man by a woman he’d called a "nobody." Every accusation she’d hurled—the embezzlement, the mistress, the letters to Maggie—was ringing in my ears like a funeral bell. The silence in the penthouse was louder than the camera flashes at the gala. It was a heavy, suffocating silence that smelled of expensive scotch and the rot of a dying legacy. I stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows, staring out at the Manhattan skyline, but all I could see was Sarah. That emerald dress. That glow. She hadn't aged a single day in the year since I’d thrown her out; if anything, she looked like she had finally started living. She was radiant, powerful, and—most galling of all—utterly indifferent to I’d been married to her for seven years, and I never knew she had a billionaire aunt. I never knew her family had a history that could dismantle mine. I real

[Sarah’s POV]“It’s the alcohol, Sarah. We’re both high on the win. You’ll regret this in the morning.”That had been Norman’s excuse when he had tucked me into bed, and retreated to the adjoining room where Dex was sleeping. He hadn't just rejected the moment; he had fled from it.Now, as I applied a sharp, mahogany lip stick, I wondered if I was a fool. Was I misreading his protection for affection? Was the Hale Vineyard Queen just a lonely woman projecting her needs onto the only man who had been kind to her?A sharp knock at the door broke into my thoughts."Miss Hale? We’re packed. Ready when you are," Dex’s voice rumbled through the wood.I stood up, adjusting the collar of my tailored blazer. I paired it with high-waisted suit pants and heels that added extra three inches to my height. I looked like the boss I was.I stepped into the hallway, expecting to find Norman waiting with that steady, silent gaze. But only Dex stood there, holding my briefcase."Where’s Norman?" I asked

[Sarah’s POV]Norman drove the Maybach like a madman. The tires screamed as we tore up the gravel driveway of the Hale Estate. My heart was in my throat, pounding against my ribs with pure terror.As the car came to a halt in front of the main house, I didn't wait for Norman to open the door. I jumped out and ran.Inside the grand waiting room, the air was thick with the scent of gunpowder and old wood. Big Elijah, the estate’s head of security, was standing like in the center of the room. He was pointing a double-barreled shotgun directly at the sofa where Tyler sat.Tyler was sitting there. He looked comfortable, his legs crossed, a smirking arrogance on his face. He didn't feel any bit threatened the barrel of a gun. He looked unmoved, as if he were waiting for a business meeting rather than staring down a bullet.The moment he saw me and Norman burst through the doors, his face twisted into something dark and ugly. But I didn't care what he was feeling. I didn't even stop to look