My mother-in-law dragged me to court, accusing me of pretending to be pregnant to snatch the inheritance. Then, right there in the courtroom, she lunged forward and kicked my stomach. “See? It’s all fake!” Gasps erupted. What she didn’t realize… the man behind the judge’s bench was my father. And in that instant, her case didn’t just fall apart. Her life did haj.

Cliffhanger:
Judge Thorne didn’t answer her. Instead, he knelt on the floor next to the medics who were checking my vitals. He ignored the cameras, ignored the gasping elite in the gallery. He reached out and took my hand, his fingers trembling ever so slightly. “Elara,” he whispered, loud enough for the microphones to catch. “Elara, look at me. You’re safe now. Dad’s here.”

Chapter 4: The Bloodline Revealed
The silence that followed was absolute. It was the kind of silence that occurs right before a massive explosion.

Agatha, who was being dragged toward the holding cells, froze. She turned her head slowly, her eyes wide and bloodshot. “Dad?” she whispered, the word sounding like a curse.

The lead reporter for the City Gazette stood up, dropping his digital recorder. “Thorne? As in Alexander Thorne III? The man who owns half the private equity firms in the state? That Thorne?”