SHE THOUGHT HER UNBORN BABY WOULD REPLACE HIS DAUGHTER—UNTIL HE REMINDED HER WHO INSTALLED THE CAMERAS
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Chapter 6 / 10
Chapter 6 - THE BIRTHCeleste gave birth three months later while legal proceedings were still unfolding.
A healthy girl.
Isla.
Adrian attended the hospital.
Some people criticized him.
Why support Celeste after what she did?
Because Isla was his child.
And Celeste's wrongdoing did not erase her humanity during childbirth.
He did not reconcile.
He did not pretend.
He simply showed up as father.
Lucy met Isla later under carefully managed circumstances.
She stared at the baby.
“Is she the new heir?”
Adrian's heart broke.
“No.”
Lucy frowned.
“What is she?”
He smiled.
“Your sister.”
Lucy looked at Isla.
“That’s it?”
“That’s enough.”
Lucy considered.
Then touched one tiny foot.
“She's wrinkly.”
Adrian laughed.
“Very.”
That moment changed the emotional direction of the family.
Celeste wanted the baby to become a crown.
May you like
Lucy treated her as a baby.
Exactly right.
Related Stories
Chapter 7 - WHAT ADRIAN LOSTAdrian lost more than a marriage.
Chapter 8 - MARA LEAVES THE HOUSETwo years later, Mara resigned.
Chapter 9 - CELESTE ASKS FOR FORGIVENESSLucy was sixteen when Celeste requested a meeting.
Chapter 10 - WHO THE HEIR REALLY WASTwenty years after the kitchen incident, Cole Manor no longer felt like Rachel's house.
