Pregnant And Hunted By The Billionaire

inst the hood like she was posing for a magazine cover. She had driven six hours from Greenwich to watch this-six hours, just to see Chloe thrown away like garbage with h

avenwood" sign was a bitter ta

gesture that had become habit over the past several weeks. She caught herse

her palms. She focused on the sting, a small, sharp pain to distract from the cr

the family's benevolence, good for a few headlines and a society magazine spread. Six months of trying to fit into a world that had never wanted her. And now, six hours i

his face a mask of professional indifference. He held out a t

ollar bills. A final insult. Severance

voice as sterile as a hospital room, "that from thi

ad, her voice a raw whisp

tion. He took her worn canvas bag from the seat and shove

ay with grime, and the porch sagged like a tired old man. Abernathy exited the car and opened her d

d Debra Hicks, her foster parents, rushed out, t

lone on the curb. The smiles vanis

. She directed her venom at Abernathy, who was already retreat

on the car door. "The arran

e purred to life, and the car pulled away, leaving Chloe in

s clamping around her upper arm like a

th sour with the smell of cheap beer. "Y

t. Her eyes lit up with malicious glee. Behind her, more curtains moved. More faces appeared in doorways. The wh

listen. "The little crow who thought she was a phoe

m other porches. Fingers pointed. Whispers

of shame. She tried to wrench her arm free f

e turned it upside down, dumping its meager contents onto the muddy ground.

fingers fumbling as she counted the bills. A sneer twisted her lips.

led medical atlas with anatomical illustrations, lay open, its

the house, his grip bruising. The front door slammed

a foul mix of stale cigarette smoke, spi

her elbow cracking against the rough, splintered fl

of the back rooms. Her foster brother, Dale Hicks. His eyes, small a

churned with a

d, kicking at one of Chloe's books. "But that pretty fac

ow and calculating, as if he were

eart. This was worse. This was so much w

ection, a desperate, unconscious gesture to protect the one secret she h

They were talking about Cletus, a man from the next county

old tide of despair she'd been fighting all day finally r