All Chapters of She Wanted My Baby Gone: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

8 Chapters

Chapter 1

My suitcase caught Chloe Hartwell squarely in the shin. She cried out and dropped to the floor, the color draining from her face.“You’re insane! You’re an outsider here — how dare you put a hand on me?”I stopped, turned, and looked down at her. “I’m the outsider?“You came into this house when your mother married my father. What gives you the right to call me anything — or to stand in my own front door?”Before I came back, my biological father, Victor Hartwell, had warned me about the stepsister waiting at home. Chloe was spoiled, he said, but not cruel. He asked me to be patient with her.Apparently he’d mistaken stupidity for innocence.Elaine Hartwell finally shook off her shock and rushed to help Chloe up, glaring at me over her daughter’s shoulder.“Of course a girl raised on the streets has no manners. Until Victor acknowledges you publicly and puts your name in the family trust, you are not a Hartwell.”Murmurs rose around us.Only then did I remember that Victor had

Chapter 2

“What?” Chloe blinked.A furious voice cut in from the front steps before anyone could answer.“What father? Don’t tell me you expect Mercer Group to raise some other man’s kid for free.”Every head turned.Blake Mercer strode through the door, wrapped an arm around Chloe’s waist, and pulled her against him.“Don’t worry, Chloe. I’m not marrying her just because the Hartwells found their biological daughter.” He looked at me with open contempt. “If Sophie’s that desperate to marry money, my driver’s available. He’s been divorced twice, but that’s about her level.”Chloe’s eyes filled instantly. She pressed herself into his chest. “Our families have expected their heirs to marry for almost thirty years. I know it never would have been me if Sophie hadn’t disappeared. I was only worried Dad would bring her back and force you to leave me. That’s why I told her to deal with the baby first.”Blake frowned at me and cut her off. “Even if she got rid of it, I wouldn’t marry her. A woma

Chapter 3

Chloe lunged at the phone. “Dad, what do you mean, keep it quiet? Everyone already knows.“Sophie came home on day one with a belly out to here. Don’t worry — Mom and I are taking her to a clinic right now. Once it’s gone, none of this touches Hartwell Group at all.”Victor’s voice exploded out of the speaker.“What did you say? She’s six months—”He broke off, breathing hard.“Don’t touch her. Nobody moves until I get back.”The call ended.I knew Adrian had asked him to keep it quiet.Sterling Holdings sat at the top of an enormous empire, and too many people watched Adrian for a weak point. We’d hidden the marriage and the baby to keep me out of reach.Chloe assumed her father was furious with me. She shoved my shoulder.“Quit the act. A bar and a nightclub are the same thing, and everyone in this city knows the Ember Room is the biggest bar in Northbridge. You expect us to believe you own it?“And Mercer Group is a nine-figure company. You think you’re going to bring it

Chapter 4

Nobody moved.Chloe recovered first. She threw the suitcase aside, hurried over, and tipped her face up.“Dad, you’re finally back.”Then she noticed the man beside him, and her mouth fell open.“You’re Adrian Sterling. The CEO of Sterling Holdings.”The foyer erupted.“Why is the richest man in Northbridge walking in with Victor Hartwell?”“Hartwell Group must have landed a deal with Sterling Holdings.”“It has to be. A man like that doesn’t turn up at a private reception.”“Terrible timing, though. He walked in right as that wretched girl was making a scene.”Blake pulled himself together and stepped forward with his hand out.“Mr. Sterling. Blake Mercer, Mercer Group. I’ve requested a meeting a few times — I know how full your calendar is.”He drew Chloe in against him.“My fiancée is Victor Hartwell’s daughter. If you’re considering a partnership with the Hartwells, I hope you’ll let the Mercers in as well. We’ll all be one family soon enough.”More voices piled on un

Chapter 5

Chloe folded around her leg and went down. Tears spilled over as she looked up at him.“Mr. Sterling, what are you doing? That hurts.”Someone in the crowd sucked in a breath. After that, nobody dared make a sound.Even Blake didn’t move to help her up.Chloe stared at him, stunned. Then she swung around and pointed at me.“This is her fault!“We told her hours ago to go get rid of that bastard, and she dragged it out until now.“You must have found out the Hartwells have a daughter like this, and now you’re worried about the scandal if she loses it inside our house. And she still has the nerve to ask you to drive her to a hospital.”Adrian clearly hadn’t expected anyone to be this hard to get through to. He turned to Victor.“If this isn’t handled properly, you know what happens.”Victor went pale. He caught the back of Chloe’s neck and forced her head down.“Stop talking. Apologize to him. Now.”Chloe fought his hand. “Dad, what are you doing? Sophie’s the one who damaged

Chapter 6

“That’s… Mr. Sterling’s child?” someone whispered.Every face in the foyer changed at once.“Victor said the baby she’s carrying belongs to Mr. Sterling.”“No wonder she told us we couldn’t afford to touch it.”“This is bad. We’ve just insulted Sterling Holdings.”Blake stood frozen for several seconds. Then he backed away with both hands up.“I didn’t know anything. Chloe was already calling it a bastard when I got here. This has nothing to do with me.”Chloe rounded on him.“Nothing to do with you? Those photos from the bar came from you. You’re the one who said she was running around with all those men.“Don’t you dare put this on me.”Blake’s face twisted.“You picked them out. My investigator sent me footage of men and women both. You’re the one who cut every woman out of it.“You were terrified she’d take your place in this family. Don’t blame me because it fell apart.”They started shouting over each other, each one trying to prove the other was worse.Adrian didn’

Chapter 7

“That was fifteen years ago!” Elaine shouted. Her voice climbed. “How would you know anything about it? I saw it with my own eyes. There’s nothing to argue about.”Victor looked up at me, grief working under his face.“Sophie, your mother left a letter behind. She wrote that she was running away with someone.“A million dollars went missing out of my safe the same day.“That was her handwriting. There’s no question about it.”“No question?” I looked back at him calmly. “I didn’t come back to be claimed as anybody’s daughter.”I worked an envelope out from under my pillow, took out the folded pages, and held them out.“I came back to clear my mother’s name.“Adrian’s people recovered these. They’re her text messages from the day she died.”Elaine moved fast and grabbed for the pages. “That was fifteen years ago. We’re a family now—”Ethan shoved her away.He took the pages and read them line by line. His shoulders began to shake. Then he sank down where he stood, covered his

Chapter 8

Adrian clapped once.The door opened and a line of attorneys came in. The lead counsel set a thick file on the nightstand.“The evidence is with the police and a formal investigation is open. We expect this to move quickly.”Adrian nodded.Security officers came in behind them and cleared the room without a word.Elaine screamed and fought them the whole way out. Chloe sobbed for her mother. Ethan walked out with a blank face and didn’t resist.Victor twisted back toward me again and again as they moved him to the door, his voice already gone hoarse.“Sophie! I didn’t know. I swear to you I didn’t know.“It’s my fault. I should have believed her.”I watched him and said nothing.Not because I hated him. Some things simply arrive too late, and I no longer knew what to do with them.The door shut. The noise faded down the corridor, and the room was quiet again.Adrian sat beside me until my breathing settled. Then he touched my hand and went out.Once he knew the baby and I

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