Aria's POV
I looked at the card.
Then at her.
"You want to buy me off."
"I want to make this clean." Her voice softened, taking on that sympathetic tone I'd heard her use a hundred times. "You know what Damon and I are. What we've always been. And now—" Her hand drifted to her stomach, just for a moment.
"Things are changing. This is your graceful exit. Ten million, and I make one call to the committee. Your competition entry gets reinstated. You walk away. Everyone wins."
I picked up the card, turned it over in my fingers.
A bitter laugh slipped out of me.
"You think the Grayson family is in financial trouble," I said. "You think I'm desperate for cash. You think you can buy me off, and I'll step aside quietly."
She smiled, though the confidence flickered. "I'm being generous."
