William didn’t come to the penthouse. He knew Dominic’s security would never let him up. Instead, he used the one resource he had left: his knowledge of her habits.
He found her in the small botanical park three blocks away–the only place in the city that smelled like the greenhouse she used to love.
Victoria was sitting on a bench, watching a young mother push a stroller. When she saw William approaching, she didn’t run. She just stiffened, her hand covering her belly.
He looked wrecked. The “Territorial Patriarch” was gone, replaced by a man who hadn’t slept in forty-eight hours. He stopped a respectful distance away.
“You’re wearing the coat I bought you,” he said softly.
“It was cold,” Victoria replied, not meeting his eyes.
“Come home, Victoria,” William begged, taking a half-step forward. “I know about Silas. I know he froze your accounts. I can fix it. I can fund the best legal defense team in the city. I can crush him by lunchtime.”
“I can’t go back there, William,” Victoria said, her voice shaking. “That house… it’s poisoned. There are things happening there that you don’t see. Or that you refuse to see.”
“Then tell me!” William cried, spreading his hands. “Tell me what is wrong, and I will fix it. Is it Beatrice? Is it the staff? I will fire everyone. Just don’t keep my child away from me.”
“It’s not just the child,” Victoria looked up, tears in her eyes. “It’s me. I’m losing my mind in that house, William. And if I lose my mind, I lose the baby.”
William stared at her. He was confused, hurt, and terrified. He couldn’t see the gaslighting plot, but he could see her fear. And her fear broke him.
“Okay,” he whispered. “Okay. You don’t have to come back.”
He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a checkbook. “But let me help you. Let me kill Silas for you.”
“No money,” Victoria said, standing up. “I have to do this myself.”
William watched her walk away, his heart shattering. He gripped the bench until his knuckles turned white.
“I will destroy him anyway,” William vowed to the empty air. “I will burn Silas Vance to the ground for you, even if you never come home.”