Chapter 266

Chapter 266:

Isolde didn’t say a word. She looked at him with an expression of pure, unadulterated disgust — the look someone gives a rotting piece of meat on the sidewalk. Then she turned her head and kept walking down the hallway.

Grayson tried to swing his legs out of bed to follow her, but a blinding flash of pain drove him back down. He gripped the sheets, gasping.

Belle recovered her balance and pouted. “Gray, why did you push me? Did you see the way she looked at us? She is so jealous she can’t even stand it.”

“Shut up,” Grayson snapped, his voice lethal.

Belle flinched. She quickly tried to pivot. “I was just thinking — you mentioned market correction earlier. If Carson Dynamics officially goes bankrupt this week, where do the resources go? Can InnoTech buy their assembly lines?”

Grayson looked at her. He saw the naked, ugly greed in her eyes.

“Yes,” he said coldly. “If they default, you buy their assets for pennies on the dollar. That is how you win.”

Belle’s eyes practically glowed. She was learning.

𝖥о𝗅𝘭𝗈𝘄 𝘶𝗌 о𝘯 𝗀𝗮𝘭ոo𝘷𝖾𝗅𝗌.co𝗺

Grayson looked back at the empty doorway. His chest felt completely hollow.

Isolde hadn’t looked jealous. Jealousy implied she still cared. She had looked at him with absolute apathy.

And that terrified him more than anything else.

“Get out,” Grayson said to Belle, not looking at her. “I want to be alone.”

The study inside the Carson estate was lit only by a single brass desk lamp.

Isolde sat hunched over the massive oak desk, twenty straight hours without sleep etched into every line of her face. The desk was buried under a mountain of Phoenix-X7 blueprints, cost-analysis spreadsheets, and material catalogs. She was desperately searching for a cheaper, synthetic alternative to the aerospace-grade titanium required for the drone’s chassis.

She rubbed her burning eyes. The clock on the wall read 5:15 AM.

A soft, muffled cry echoed down the hallway.

Isolde dropped her pen, pushed her chair back, and hurried out of the study.

She opened the door to Effie’s bedroom. Effie was curled into a tight ball under her pink comforter, whimpering softly. Isolde sat on the edge of the bed and pulled the blanket back. “Baby? What’s wrong?”

Effie clutched her stomach. “Mommy, my tummy hurts really bad. I don’t want to go to school today.”

Isolde immediately pressed the back of her hand to Effie’s forehead. Her skin was cool — no fever.

Isolde’s eyes softened. She knew this symptom. It was pure anxiety.

“Effie,” Isolde said gently, stroking her daughter’s hair. “Did something happen at school? Is it Kaiden?”

Effie’s lower lip quivered. She nodded, tears spilling over her eyelashes. “Kaiden told everyone in my class that I am a wild child. He said I don’t have a daddy anymore, and that nobody is allowed to play with me.”

Isolde’s jaw locked. A hot, violent fire ignited in her chest.

That vicious little brat was actively trying to destroy her daughter’s world.

She took a deep breath, forcing the anger out of her voice. She couldn’t let Effie run away — hiding would only teach Kaiden that his bullying worked.

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