Chapter 5 - The Confrontation
The next morning, I did not call the FBI.
I dressed in my sharpest litigation suit, pulled my hair into a tight bun, and drove straight to the Sterling tech campus.
Luke sat in the passenger seat, his jaw clenched, radiating a quiet, dangerous intensity.
We bypassed the main reception by waiting for a group of executives to enter the secure elevators, slipping in right behind them.
When we reached the top floor, Marcus Sterling’s executive assistant tried to stop us.
"Excuse me, you cannot be up here without an appointment," she warned, reaching for her security phone.
I slapped my business card onto her desk.
"Tell Mr. Sterling that Grace Vance is here to discuss the property he purchased from Dr. Evans fourteen months ago."
The assistant looked confused, but typed a message into her computer.
Less than thirty seconds later, the heavy oak doors to the corner office swung open.
Marcus Sterling stood there, a tall, imposing man in a tailored suit, looking deeply unsettled.
"Come in," he ordered, his voice tight.
We walked into the massive, sunlit office, and Marcus quickly closed and locked the doors behind us.
"How did you find out about the clinic?" Marcus demanded, crossing his arms defensively.
"We signed absolute non-disclosure agreements."
I didn't blink.
"You signed non-disclosure agreements with a criminal enterprise, Mr. Sterling."
"The embryo you purchased was not an anonymous donation."
"It was stolen from my uterus during a medical procedure."
All the color drained from the billionaire's face.
He stumbled backward, falling heavily into his leather desk chair.
"No," he whispered, shaking his head rapidly.
"That's impossible, we went through all the proper legal channels."
"We paid an agency fee of over a million dollars to ensure everything was ethical."
"You paid my sister," I corrected him, my voice dripping with venom.
"She defrauded you, just like she violated me."
Just then, a side door opened, and Eleanor Sterling walked in carrying a diaper bag.
She froze when she saw us standing over her husband.
"Marcus? What is going on?" she asked nervously.
I turned to look at her, and my breath caught in my throat.
Standing right behind Eleanor, holding the hand of a nanny, was Mia.
May you like
The little girl looked up at me with my own green eyes, holding a stuffed rabbit.
My knees went weak, and Luke had to wrap his arm around my waist to keep me standing.
