Chapter 779:

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Ximena grabbed her ruined sketches, the Silk Road collection she had poured her soul into, and fled to the bedroom, locking the door. She slid down against the wood and hugged her knees. She could hear them outside, laughing, eating her food, watching her TV. She looked at her phone. No messages. She was an island, and the water was rising.

Later that night, the lock on the bedroom door clicked. Xander had picked it with a credit card.

He walked in. Ximena pretended to be asleep.

He sat on the edge of the bed. He didn’t touch her. He simply spoke into the darkness.

“We have a problem, Ximena. The mortgage is due tomorrow. And we have no money.”

Ximena stayed silent.

“So,” Xander continued, “I talked to a guy. A lender. He can give us a bridge loan, but he needs collateral.” He placed a document on the nightstand. “Sign the house over to me.”

His voice was soft. “Not because of credit scores, obviously. My credit is shot after the arrest. But this lender knows me. He trusts me. He needs my name on the deed to bypass the bank freeze that Aurora put on you. If I’m on the deed, I can get the loan privately. We save the house.”

It was a lie so transparent it was almost insulting, but Xander banked on her exhaustion.

“I’ll think about it,” Ximena whispered.

“Don’t think too long.” Xander stood. “Brenda likes this neighborhood. It would be a shame if we all ended up on the street.”

ѕ𝘩a𝗿𝖾 𝘆𝗈ur 𝖿𝘢v𝘰𝗋і𝘵eѕ 𝗳𝗋o𝗆 𝘨𝘢𝗹𝗻о𝘃𝘦𝗅𝗌.𝖼𝗼𝗆

He left the room.

Ximena stared at the document in the moonlight. Quitclaim Deed.

They were going to eat her alive.

Five miles away, the atmosphere in Thorne Manor was a universe apart.

The nursery was bathed in the soft, golden light of the afternoon sun. The air smelled of lavender and baby powder.

Elias lay on his stomach on the plush rug, groaning.

“My shoulder is killing me,” he muttered. “Too many board meetings.”

Aurora sat nearby, holding Luna, their daughter, the quiet, observant one among the triplets. She was barely three months old, with eyes that seemed to hold ancient secrets. In her chubby hand, she gripped a blunt, rounded toy needle made of soft plastic.

“Dada hurt?” Luna cooed, her vocabulary limited to soft sounds.

“Careful, little one,” Aurora said, watching her.

She moved Luna closer to Elias. “Look, Luna. Daddy hurts here.” She pointed to the Jian Jing point on his shoulder.

Luna stared at the spot with intense focus. She reached out, toy in hand, her arm flailing in the uncoordinated, jerky motion typical of an infant. By sheer chance, or perhaps guided by the universe, the blunt plastic tip landed squarely on the muscle knot Elias had complained about. She patted it enthusiastically, drooling slightly.

Elias flinched, then sighed. “Oh. That’s… exactly the spot. Even her pat helps.”

Aurora leaned forward, her eyes shining with a mother’s bias. “She has the instinct, Elias. Did you see how she focused? She didn’t look at his head or his arm. She looked exactly where I pointed.”

She grabbed a small anatomical doll they used for teaching. “Luna, tummy ache.”

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