Chapter 237:

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The thought of Lily’s distress touched me deeply. Yet I knew that as long as Lily remained at the estate without a finalized custody order, Beatrice and Blake would keep using her to pull me back into their domestic sphere.

I looked at Beatrice’s determined face and made a quiet, decisive calculation. They were using Lily’s tears as a summons, believing I would dance on their strings forever.

“You came all this way to remind me of my duty, Beatrice,” I said, my voice sharp and colder than ice. “Then let’s settle it tonight. I’ll come to the estate solely to take care of my distressed child. But tomorrow morning, my lawyer, Arthur Vance, will formally serve Blake with the custody petition. This is the last time you will ever summon me to that house.”

I paused, letting the words sink in. “If you want me at the estate tonight, those are my terms.”

𝗝оі𝗇 𝘵𝗁𝗼𝘂𝗌𝘢𝗇𝖽𝗌 o𝗳 𝖿𝘢𝘯𝘴 o𝘯 𝗴𝗮𝗅𝗻𝗈𝘷e𝗹𝗌.с𝘰𝗺

Beatrice studied me for a long moment, then nodded slowly. “Agreed. For Lily’s sake.”

The moment I arrived at the estate, Lily launched herself into my arms, sobbing with relief. “Mommy! You’re back! I thought you didn’t want me!”

I held her tight, pressing soft kisses to her forehead, my heart swelling with fierce, protective devotion. “Mommy will always be here for you, sweet girl.”

Blake stood at the top of the grand staircase, looking down at me with a complex, unreadable expression, caught somewhere between tension and hesitation.

I met his gaze directly, not with the pain of an ex-wife, but with the cold, absolute detachment of a legal adversary. When he moved to step forward, I ignored him and carried Lily straight to her bedroom.

“I’ll stay in Lily’s room tonight,” I told Beatrice coldly as I closed the door. “Tomorrow morning, my lawyer, Arthur Vance, will be contacting Blake about her permanent primary custody.”

I spent the entire night holding my daughter, my heart set on one thing: making sure Lily’s future would be shaped by love, not by compromise. The quiet of the room settled around us, and I let myself breathe, feeling my decision harden into something solid and unshakable.

Corinne POV

On Monday morning, I left the Carlisle estate at dawn, before the household woke. I left a brief note for Mrs. Hayes letting her know that Lily would be picked up for school as usual. Then I drove straight to my Manhattan apartment, changed into a sharp black business suit, and prepared for the high-level briefing Dr. Kensington had arranged.

At nine o’clock sharp, I arrived at the penthouse suite of the Waldorf Astoria. I rang the bell, and Dr. Kensington opened the door himself, dressed in a relaxed dark blue suit, a warm smile on his face.

“Welcome, Corinne,” he said smoothly. “Come in. Our clients are waiting.”

I stepped into the opulent living room. Seated on the silk sofas were two distinguished figures whose presence commanded immediate, breathless respect.

One was a man in his late fifties with the upright, ironclad posture of a senior military commander. His sharp eyes carried the intensity of a seasoned strategist.

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