He needed me every night-until I married another man

Chapter 3 Her Leverage

Three days later...

The giant screens in Times Square blazed through the night.

One headline dominated every display, looping on repeat. Victor Steele had dropped nine figures on the Tears of Hera, a legendary pink diamond, all for his beloved Chloe Harlow.

The media ate it up, calling the diamond his way of celebrating the heir Chloe was carrying.

I pulled my eyes from the screen, hit the gas, and drove straight to Victor's private medical lab.

The sensor above the lab door flashed an angry red. My access card was dead.

Four bodyguards in black stood shoulder to shoulder in front of the entrance, each one built like a brick wall.

"Ms. Kensington." The lead guard planted himself in my path. "Mr. Steele's orders. Your clearance for the core lab has been permanently revoked to avoid any disruption to the expectant mother."

Behind those doors sat the master serum I had poured three years of my life into.

"Take Ms. Kensington to Mr. Steele's office." The order left no room for argument.

Two guards wrenched my arms behind my back and hauled me into the private elevator like a criminal, straight up to the top floor.

The elevator doors slid open, and the bodyguard shoved me through.

The scene inside stopped me cold.

Chloe sat straddling the wide leather executive chair, her silk slip dress bunched down around her waist.

Under the office lights, bare skin gleamed everywhere, and a feverish flush burned across her cheeks.

Victor had her crushed against him, his head buried between her breasts, his mouth working rough and hungry against her skin.

The leather chair groaned under the weight of them both.

"Mm, Victor," Chloe moaned, stretching his name into something obscene. "You're so bad. What if someone catches us?"

Her voice was syrup-thick, but her hands told a different story. She had both arms locked around his neck, pulling him down, pressing her chest into his.

"Who the hell is that," Victor muttered, his voice thick and ragged. His hand worked the soft skin at her waist like he owned every inch of her.

The bodyguard flung me forward, and I hit the thick carpet with a muffled thud.

Everything on the chair froze.

Chloe let out a startled gasp and yanked at her dress, but half her chest was still on full display.

She tucked herself into Victor's arms, but her eyes found mine over his shoulder, bright with the smug satisfaction of someone who had already won.

Victor lifted his head, slow and deliberate. The lust drained from his eyes, and something cold slid in to take its place.

He zipped himself up without a trace of hurry, pulled a sanitizing wipe from the desk, and cleaned each wet finger one by one.

Then he snatched a file off the desk and hurled it straight at my face.

"Read it," Victor said, looming over me. His tone could have drawn blood.

"Starting today, you lose access to every piece of medical equipment registered in your name." He let each word land like a verdict.

"Chloe is carrying my child, and I won't tolerate anything that puts that at risk." He straightened his cuffs. "Those pathetic little experiments of yours? Shut them down. Today."

He circled the desk, each step silent on the thick carpet.

"Word is you've been moving assets around behind my back," he said, his voice dropping low.

He lunged forward and grabbed my chin, his fingers digging in hard enough to c***k bone.

"What, planning to use that dirty money to blackmail me?" His grip tightened on my jaw.

His grip forced my head back until I was staring straight into those savage eyes.

He was so close that the smell hit me first. Cheap perfume clung to his collar, and underneath it sat the stale, nauseating musk of what they had been doing.

"Don't flatter yourself, Emma." He released my chin and wiped his hand on his trousers. "The only reason you're still breathing my air is because your medical skills happen to keep my condition in check."

"That's all you are," he said, his tone bored. "A tool I reach for when things get ugly."

"And don't even think about comparing yourself to Chloe. You're out of your league."

Victor's eyes locked on mine. He was waiting.

He was waiting for me to c***k the way I always had, to crumble with tears streaking down my face and beg him to take it all back.

He wanted me on my knees, swearing I would never lay a finger on Chloe, groveling to prove I was still worth keeping around.

Chloe pressed a hand over her mouth, her face arranged into a portrait of pity. "Oh, Emma. Don't blame Victor for being harsh. You're just not family. How could you ever compare yourself to the three of us?"

She tilted her head with a pitying little smile. "But if money's really that tight, I could always toss you a few crumbs. You know, out of the kindness of my heart."

I met Victor's venomous glare head-on, and a wave of pure revulsion drowned out whatever was left of my feelings for him.

"Victor, you're giving yourself too much credit," I said, my voice perfectly even. "I moved my assets so I could get the hell away from both of you."

I took two steps back, fished out a sanitizing wipe, and scrubbed at the spot on my chin where his fingers had been, my face twisting with disgust.

"All that junk, you included, is hers now," I said, already turning for the door.

"Emma!" A vein bulged at Victor's temple, and his roar shook every wall in the office.

I didn't break stride. I slammed the door shut behind me and left every trace of his filth on the other side.

Out in the hallway, I pulled out my phone and placed an overseas call to Haven Cove.

"The money has cleared," I said, my tone leaving no room for questions. "I want that private clinic bought outright. Get the title transferred today."

I hung up and strode toward the elevator.

Victor had no idea that the lab he had just shut down with his own hands held the only stabilizer serum capable of keeping his late-stage bipolar disorder in check.

And the last surviving dose sat right here in my palm.

I stared at the vial in my hand, a cold smile pulling at my lips. "Three days without this, and you'll wish you were dead."

With that, I dropped the vial into the trash.