The Billionaire's Substitute: Her Final Escape

he dim lighting in the foyer obscured her vision for a split second, bu

ofa in the center of the living room. He wa

ent a sharp, involuntary

table. The heavy paper bore the gold-foil crest of the Walton Group's legal department. T

down the dull, throbbing ache

lips into a welcoming smi

aced her, a rigid, unyielding stop

when she was a nobody from the orphanage with a fabricated genetic defect rumor hanging over he

sitation, no inflection. It was the exact to

over her knuckles. A somatic, icy chill started at the base of her ne

lled out a Montblanc fountain pen and pressed it precisely onto the sig

somatic angina-a physical manifestation of the intense psychological trauma and the suffocat

d she tasted copper, desperately tra

, the corners of his mouth tightening in obvious annoyanc

t flash of disgus

e back into her tear ducts. She relaxed her facial

amount you've received over the past five years," Brogan offered, thro

se. The pain was a physica

ining chair over to the table and sat down. She kept her

e paper blurred as her br

y part of her palm, using the sharp st

left wrist and c

liding straight into Elease's failing heart. He couldn't eve

t a deliberat

d, her tone light and frivolous. She played t

eyes. He let out a cold scoff, confirm

n. The freezing metal against her skin gave her t

spasmed

ressed half of her body weight onto the edge of

lease signed her name. She was signing the solitary con

ocument away. He moved fast, as if leaving it n

er and walked toward th

ayer of foundation on her face hid

the future," she said, her

walking. He d

go to the press, my lawyers will ruin you

pull air into her lungs. But she k

ut. Promise," Elease s

otsteps faded down the hallway, taking the las

clicked, Elease's

r and hit the cold hardwoo

ainst her left breast. She gasped for air, her mouth open

ith a reminder text from the hospital for her follow

he floor toward her dropped handbag. Her fin

e bag until her hand closed a

strong heart medications into her mouth and swallowed them

n forced her erratic

y magnified the hollow, tic

ck Brogan had left behind sat there, mocking her. The despa