Thirty minutes later, Chloe stepped into the dimly lit, hyper-exclusive interior of The Obsidian Club. The sheer opulence of the private establishment, with its dark mahogany paneling and thick, sound-absorbing carpets, felt worlds away from the shattered reality of her own life. She felt as though the world had truly gone mad. The man sitting inside Private Room Three was Blace Salinas—the ruthless CEO who dominated the financial magazines and was consistently voted the city's most eligible, untouchable bachelor. And he was claiming to be the father of her child?
She hadn't slept a single wink. Every time she closed her eyes, the sickening audio of Jereme and Ericka's office tryst played on a loop in her mind. But a meticulous, armor-like application of makeup concealed the dark circles under her eyes and the pale shock of her skin. She wore a structured, slate-grey Chanel suit, its sharp lines serving as a fragile barrier against the emotional turmoil threatening to consume her.
As she walked into the room, her eyes were immediately drawn to the man sitting on the custom leather sofa. He was dressed in a dark navy bespoke suit that fit his broad, powerfully built frame flawlessly. His legs were crossed at the knee, and he was casually reading through a stack of financial documents. Even seated and silent, his presence was overwhelming, filling the room with a heavy, dominating, alpha energy that demanded absolute submission.
At the sound of her footsteps, he looked up.
His eyes were a startling, deep blue—as sharp, cold, and fathomless as a winter lake. They locked onto hers, and for a second, Chloe felt as though he could see straight through her carefully constructed facade, right down to her fractured soul.
This was Blace Salinas.
Her heart skipped a dangerous beat. She had spent the last decade navigating rooms full of powerful, wealthy men, but none of them possessed an aura quite like his. It was the aura of a man who didn't just play the game; he owned the board.
"Ms. Burgess," he said, his voice the same calm, low-frequency rumble she had heard on the phone. He gestured gracefully to the plush armchair opposite him. "Please, sit."
He had called her Ms. Burgess, not Mrs. Elliott. The distinction was a deliberate, calculated cut, severing her from Jereme before they had even begun to speak.
Trevor Stone, his imposing executive assistant, placed a glass of sparkling water on the table beside her, then retreated to the far corner of the room, blending into the shadows.
Chloe sat, keeping her back ramrod straight, refusing to sink into the cushions. "Mr. Salinas, I don't understand any of this. The text message, the phone call... about my child. How is this even possible?"
Blace leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on his knees. "First of all, Ms. Burgess, let me assure you of one thing: we have never shared a bed. There is no need for you to look at me with such absolute terror."
His bluntness caught her off guard, causing a slight flush to creep up her neck.
Before she could formulate a reply, Blace slid a thick, leather-bound folder across the polished mahogany coffee table. "Read this first. It will answer your immediate questions."
Chloe opened the folder. The first page was a certified DNA report from one of the most exclusive private labs in the country. The second section was a meticulously detailed investigative file regarding the fertility clinic she and Jereme had used.
The DNA results were unequivocal: a 99.99% parental probability match between the fetal DNA and Blace Salinas.
The investigation report was even more chilling, reading like a corporate espionage thriller. It laid out Jereme's entire scheme: he had bribed a senior lab technician to swap Chloe's fertilized embryo with the embryo he had secretly created with Ericka. However, the corrupt technician had made a catastrophic error. In his haste, he had grabbed the wrong vial from the cryogenic storage. He had selected a sample belonging to Blace Salinas—a sample that had been stored years ago prior to a minor medical procedure and was supposed to be heavily guarded.
Jereme and Ericka thought they had successfully implanted their own child into Chloe's womb. Instead, they had unwittingly detonated a ticking time bomb by stealing the heir of the Salinas empire.
Every piece of the nightmare clicked into place. Even though she was relieved she wasn't carrying the twisted spawn of her husband and stepsister, her mood didn't improve. Chloe's fingers grew ice-cold as she stared at the pages. Her entire life, her body, her future—all of it had been manipulated and violated without her knowledge.
Blace watched her in silence, his unwavering blue gaze giving her the space to absorb the devastating blow.
Finally, she closed the folder and looked up. The vulnerability and shock in her green eyes were gone, replaced by an icy, hardened resolve. "Let's be frank, Mr. Salinas. You have your answers. Now, what is it that you want from me?"
A flicker of something—genuine approval, perhaps—crossed his handsome face. "I require an heir. My grandmother's health is failing, and the family trust dictates certain requirements regarding my lineage. This child is my first. The Salinas bloodline does not get left to chance, nor does it grow up outside of my household."
"And so?" Chloe pressed, her voice steady despite the rapid beating of her heart.
"I want you to marry me," he stated simply, as if he were discussing the acquisition of a tech startup. "I know you are facing betrayal and a messy divorce. If you agree to be my contract wife and give birth to my child, I am willing to inject one hundred million dollars to save the currently failing Burgess Industries and help you turn the tables."
Chloe stared at him for a long moment, then let out a short, bitter laugh. "You people are truly fascinating. Marrying you? This is absolutely out of the—"
"Ms. Burgess," Blace interrupted, his voice dropping to a commanding, authoritative register as he tapped his index finger against the mahogany table. "Before you make a decision, you should think carefully about whether your solitary courage is enough to withstand the sheer amount of losses you are about to face."
His words hit their mark. She was surrounded by enemies. If she lost anything else, she truly wouldn't be able to bear it. Chloe closed her eyes, running through every possible scenario in her mind. Finally, she made her choice.
"In one month, after the mandatory waiting period for my divorce is over, we will get the marriage certificate."
"No problem," Blace replied, looking as though he had anticipated her surrender all along. "One month from today. I will see you at City Hall, my fiancée."
Even though his tone was perfectly level, Chloe swore she heard a faint trace of intimacy in the word 'fiancée'. She didn't linger to analyze it, standing up abruptly and leaving the club, completely unaware of the intense, predatory gaze Blace kept fixed on her retreating back.
Chloe used the quickest possible time to draft her divorce papers and her formal resignation letter. Carrying a stack of other routine corporate files, she drove back to the E&C headquarters and knocked sharply on the door to Jereme's office.
As she pushed the door open, she caught them instantly. Jereme was hastily shoving Ericka away from his lap, his hands fumbling to pull up the slightly unzipped front of his tailored trousers.
"What is so urgent that you just barge in?" Jereme snapped, his face flushed. "Don't forget this is a corporate environment. You need to follow the rules."
Chloe completely ignored his hypocritical reprimand. Under the watchful eyes of the cheating pair, she walked straight to his desk and dumped the entire stack of files in front of him. "Urgent documents. I need your signature before I can deploy the next phase of the project."
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ericka adjusting her blouse, deliberately pulling the collar down to reveal a fresh, angry cluster of red hickeys on her neck, her lips curling into a provocative smirk.
These two really had stamina, Chloe thought with clinical disgust. Weren't they afraid of dropping dead from exhaustion?
As Jereme reached for the files, Chloe's gaze shifted between him and her stepsister.
