Chapter 4

Blaire gestured to her assistant. The assistant pushed open the door to the hospital's VIP lounge. A senior partner from a top-tier law firm was already waiting inside, his briefcase resting on the glass table.

The lawyer pushed his gold-rimmed glasses up his nose. He slid a freshly printed divorce agreement, stamped with the firm's gold foil logo, to the center of the table.

Daryl walked into the room. He did not sit. His tall, broad frame cast a heavy, oppressive shadow over the table.

The lawyer began to read the terms in a robotic, clinical voice. He listed the stripping of Daryl's rights to the Doyle family trust, the real estate, and even the cars he used for groceries.

Blaire sat on the leather sofa. She crossed her long legs and stared out the window at the Manhattan skyline, acting as if the man she had slept next to for five years did not exist.

The lawyer finished reading. He pulled out a pre-signed check, placed it on top of the agreement, and pushed it toward Daryl.

"This is a settlement of five million dollars," the lawyer explained. "The condition is that you surrender all custody rights to Cassie and sign a lifetime Non-Disclosure Agreement."

Before Daryl could speak, the lounge door burst open. Marlene's attending physician rushed in, looking frantic.

"I apologize for the interruption," the doctor said, out of breath. "Marlene woke up briefly in the ICU. She is extremely agitated. She is demanding to see Blaire."

Blaire frowned. She let out an annoyed sigh, clearly viewing this as an unnecessary delay, but she stood up and walked out of the room to get it over with.

The group gathered outside the glass wall of the Intensive Care Unit. Marlene lay in the bed, an oxygen mask strapped to her face. She turned her head weakly and looked through the glass at Blaire.

Marlene lifted a trembling hand. Her eyes were wide with desperate pleading, begging her daughter-in-law to show mercy.

Blaire stepped up to the glass. She pressed the intercom button on the wall. Her voice piped into the room, cold, steady, and utterly ruthless.

"I am divorcing him, Marlene," Blaire said. "And I am taking Cassie. Your son is a failure. He does not deserve to be a father."

Marlene's eyes widened in sheer terror. The heart monitor next to her bed instantly erupted into a high-pitched, continuous wail.

Marlene's body convulsed once, and she fell back into a deep coma. Doctors and nurses sprinted into the room, charging the defibrillator.

Daryl watched his mother flatline because of Blaire's words. The last thread of his restraint snapped.

He spun around. His hand shot out and clamped around Blaire's wrist. His grip was like a steel vise, pressing so hard the bones in her arm ground together.

Blaire let out a sharp cry of pain. Her mask of ice shattered. She stared up at Daryl, her eyes wide with sudden, raw terror. He looked like a demon crawling out of hell.

Preston roared and lunged forward to grab Daryl's arm. Jaxon stayed safely behind his father, his previous terror keeping him pinned to the wall as he shouted empty threats. "Let go of my sister!" Jaxon yelled, his voice cracking.

Daryl did not even touch them. A terrifying, invisible shockwave of Draconic energy exploded from his body. The force of it acted like a guided missile, completely bypassing Blaire's trembling form. The invisible wave curved over her shoulder and slammed directly into Preston's chest. Both Preston and the cowering Jaxon were thrown backward, crashing hard onto the linoleum floor.

Daryl shoved Blaire away. He pointed a shaking finger down the hallway.

"Get out!" Daryl roared. The sound shook the glass windows.

Blaire stumbled backward, her back hitting the wall. A dark red bruise was already forming on her wrist.

Daryl's eyes were bloodshot, his chest heaving. "From this second on, you are permanently banned from coming near my mother. If you take one step toward that room, I will bury the entire Doyle family."

Blaire's heart hammered against her ribs. The killing intent in his eyes was so real, so suffocating, that her throat closed up. She could not force a single word out.

The family lawyer, trembling in the corner, nervously held up the divorce agreement, trying to break the terrifying tension.

Daryl snatched the papers from the lawyer's hands. He marched back into the VIP lounge and grabbed the Montblanc pen from the table.

He did not read a single word of the asset stripping clauses. He flipped to the last page and slashed his signature across the bottom line.

Then, he picked up the five-million-dollar check.

While Blaire watched in stunned silence, Daryl ripped the check in half. Then he tore it again, and again, until it was nothing but confetti. He threw the pieces right into Blaire's face.