Todos los capítulos de THE SURROGATE BRIDE'S REVENGE: Capítulo 1 - Capítulo 6

The call came in the middle of the quarterly review. Four words from the nurse: “Mr Allen, come now.”Desmond Allen stood up mid-sentence and walked out. Mrs Prudence’s eyebrow lifted. Mr Thompson already had his phone out. Nobody asked why.He reached the private wing of St. Gabriel’s in twenty-two minutes, taking the stairs three at a time, still in his boardroom jacket. The corridor smelled of lilies and bleach. Two men were waiting outside his grandfather’s door, and he knew them both too well.“Desmond.” Mr Chen inclined his head. “We came as soon as we heard.”“You came before I did,” Desmond said.Dominic gave him a sorrowful smile. “Family should be here.”“The family is in that room.”He shut the door on them.The man in the bed had once filled every room he entered. Now he barely dented the pillow. Tubes. A monitor with a slow green line.“You’re late,” his grandfather whispered.“I’m here.” Desmond took the thin hand. It gripped him harder than he expect

The woman across his desk had not touched the tea.Desmond noticed that before he noticed the bruise, a purple smear along her cheekbone that no amount of hair could hide. She sat very straight, both hands wrapped around the handles of a plastic hospital bag, like someone braced to be thrown out.“Thank you for coming, Miss Starling.”“You said you knew what they did.” Her voice was hoarse. “Prove it.”He almost smiled. “Isaiah’s company carries far more debt than he admits to anyone. Two of his investors are quietly pulling out. Emily has not been admitted to any hospital in two years. Last Thursday she spent the afternoon at a spa.”Dorcas’s knuckles whitened on the plastic. “How do you know that?”“Because I pay people to know things.”“You had me followed?”“I had them followed. You were a footnote.” He let that sit. “I know what they did to you. I also know exactly how little you can do about it alone.”“Why do you care?”“I don’t. I need a wife.”Silence. A

“Take me to Isaiah’s house.”Dorcas said it before the registry doors had finished closing behind them, her phone still in her hand and one word glowing on the screen. No. Under it, a small grey line: Read.“No,” Desmond said.“I wasn’t asking.”“You have been Mrs Allen for four minutes. You haven’t eaten. You have a head injury, and he has just threatened you.”“Then he should see I’m not frightened.” Her eyes were red-rimmed, but dry. “I know where he lives. I can take a taxi. Or you can drive me.”It was not a decision he would have made for a client. He gave the driver the address.In the car she sat with her hands in her lap, turning the gold ring around her finger. He had expected her to talk, or to cry. She did neither.“Which three lawyers did you call?” he asked.“I’ll give David their names tomorrow.”“Someone told Isaiah’s side you meant to fight.”“I know.” She kept her eyes on the road. “That’s why I’m going now.”“My security man will walk you to the door,” h