Chapter 2 The Poisoned Promise

Rain tapped against Nora's apartment windows like fingers desperate to be heard.

She sat curled on the couch, Eli asleep in the next room, her laptop open to an empty document. She was supposed to be finishing the quarterly review. Instead, her screen was a blur, her mind replaying Celia's voice on repeat.

"You think coming back will erase what you did?"

Erase what?

Nora had walked away from everything for that child. From her pride. From her position. From Cal.

And now Celia was back. Watching. Threatening.

A knock rattled the door.

Her heart stuttered.

Not this late.

She got up slowly, peeking through the peephole.

Cal.

She opened the door with a crack.

He looked like hell-drenched, tense, eyes dark with a storm she knew too well.

"Can I come in?"

"You shouldn't be here," she whispered.

"Too bad," he said, stepping inside before she could protest.

"Did you know?" he asked as she handed him a towel.

Nora blinked. "Know what?"

"That Celia intercepted every letter I wrote after you left. Every attempt I made to find you. She bribed your homeowner. Paid someone to delete your email from my contacts. I thought you ghosted me."

She turned away. "I thought you moved on."

"I tried," he growled. "But she didn't just ruin us-she tried to erase you."

Silence.

Then Cal added, quietly, "She sent me a photo of you at a clinic. With a message."

Nora's blood chilled.

"She knows about Eli," she whispered.

He nodded. "She's not just after you. She wants me to suffer, and she's starting with him."

Nora stepped back, arms crossed over her chest protectively. "If this turns into a power play, I'm not letting you use him to fight your ex."

His expression shifted, hurt. I would never use him. He's my son, Nora.

Her breath caught.

It was the first time he'd said it out loud.

She searched his face for insincerity. There was none.

"Then prove it," she said.

"How?"

"Help me protect him. Not as Cal Prescott, the CEO. As Cal-the man who let me go once and doesn't get to make that mistake again."

Cal nodded. No hesitation. "You have my word."

The next morning, a package arrived at Nora's door.

No return address. Just her name scrawled in cursive.

Inside: a USB drive.

She plugged it into her laptop with shaking hands.

A single file.

"Play Me."

She clicked it.

A video played. Fuzzy. Surveillance footage.

Celia. Standing in a hospital hallway... slipping money into the hand of a nurse. Whispering. Nodding toward a file room.

The nurse vanished inside. Returned a minute later-carrying a folder with Nora's name on it.

Nora's entire pregnancy record... being sold like a black-market treasure.

Then the camera panned. And just for a second, in the far background, another figure came into the frame.

A man.

One Nora recognized instantly.

Peter.

Her ex.

Eli's legal guardian on paper.

But she hadn't seen him in over a year.

What the hell was he doing near Celia?

That night, Cal sat across from his legal advisor.

"I want full paternal rights established immediately. I want a protection order filed. And I want a background check on Peter Collins."

His lawyer raised a brow. "He's the one listed on the boy's birth certificate."

"I know," Cal said darkly. "That was before I knew he wasn't the father."

Nora hadn't seen Peter Collins in fourteen months.

Not since that day did he storm out, demanding answers about a baby that was never his to claim.

And yet here he was-sitting calmly at a downtown café, sipping from a cup like nothing had happened. Like he hadn't ghosted her. Like he hadn't signed that paper and walked away for good.

"Peter," Nora said as she approached.

He looked up, smirk already forming.

"Well, well. The mother of the year."

She sat opposite him, ignoring the bile in her throat.

"Why were you with Celia?"

He took another sip. "You're going to have to be more specific."

"Hospital footage. I saw you."

Peter leaned in, eyes hard. "That woman pays very well. Said you had a secret worth more than I could imagine."

Nora's breath caught. "What did you give her?"

"Nothing... yet," he said with a shrug. But she's desperate. Dangerous. And very, very persuasive.

Nora narrowed her eyes. "And you're still the same pathetic leech you always were."

"Correction," he said, smiling. "I'm a leech with leverage."

He reached into his jacket, pulling out a worn envelope.

"Signed affidavit. States: I'm Eli's legal father. If I submit this to court, you'll lose joint custody rights. And your precious CEO won't get anywhere near him."

Her pulse roared.

"You wouldn't dare."

He stood. "I would. Unless, of course... I get a little incentive to stay quiet."

"You're blackmailing me?"

"No," he said, his voice icy. "I'm reminding you what happens when you lie to people who once trusted you."

Cal slammed the office door so hard the glass rattled.

"Nora, where is he now?"

"Gone," she said, pacing. "I wanted to rip his smug face off, but he knows we're vulnerable."

"He won't touch Eli," Cal said. "Even if I have to burn my reputation to the ground."

Nora stopped.

"Then you had better be ready to start lighting matches," she said. Because Celia isn't the only enemy anymore. Peter has that affidavit. If he files it, it'll delay everything we're trying to build.

Cal ran a hand through his hair. "Then we needed proof that Peter was in Celia's pocket. Something dirty."

Nora thought for a moment, then nodded slowly.

"I might know where to look."

That night, Nora returned to the apartment she swore she'd never step foot in again.

Peter's old place.

She still had the spare key-he'd never changed the locks.

She moved through it silently, memories crawling over her skin like spiders.

Cheap cologne. Empty threats. A bruised ego and a love she'd outgrown before Eli was even born.

She went for his desk. Files. Documents. Emails.

Then she found it.

A burner phone.

She tapped through the messages.

And froze.

> Celia: "Make sure she doesn't talk. Cal's already suspicious."

> Peter: "She won't. But she's getting smart."

> Celia: "Then remind her of what's at stake. And don't screw this up."

Nora snapped a photo of the thread.

This wasn't just blackmail.

This was a conspiracy.

The next morning, she showed the evidence to Cal.

His jaw clenched so hard she thought he might shatter a molar.

"This is enough to bury them both," he muttered. We'll let them think they've won. Then we'll destroy them.

But just as he said it, his phone lit up.

Private number.

He answered.

Silence... then a voice-distorted and calm.

"If you don't drop this, the next story printed will be about a bastard child and a father with blood on his hands."

Then the line went dead.

Nora's hands shook as she stared at the phone.

That voice-it wasn't Peter.

It wasn't Celia either.

It was someone else.

Someone dangerous.

"They know we have evidence," she whispered.

Cal said nothing. His silence was heavier than anger-colder than fear.

He turned toward the window, knuckles white where he gripped the frame. "They've started a war."

"And they thought we'd run," Nora said, steadying her breath. "But they picked the wrong woman."

Cal turned to her then-his eyes sharp, not soft, not warm. "If we go down this road, there's no going back. You'll be dragged through the press. Our child's name won't be safe."

"I'd rather go down swinging than live afraid," she snapped. "I've been through worse."

He stared at her, quietly.

Then finally, he said, "Then we fight. Together."

Later that day, a package arrived at Cal's private office-no return address.

Inside: a single silver cufflink covered in dried blood.

And a note.

"I still remember what you did in 2017. Let's see how long Nora stays if she finds out."

His throat dried. The year he'd buried everything. The year he swore no one would ever speak of again.

He tore the note in half and set the office on lockdown.

Meanwhile, Nora stormed into HR.

"Is Peter Collins on the company's freelance list?"

The head of HR blinked. "Yes... he signed a short-term consulting contract last month. Celia signed off."

Nora's stomach dropped.

"Terminate it. Today."

"We'll need executive permission-"

"You have it." Cal's voice cut in from behind.

He entered the room, every inch of him thunderstorm.

"No one touches this company unless I say so. And I don't remember saying Peter Collins was welcome."

The HR lead scrambled. "Of course. I'll see to it."

But Cal's voice dropped an octave. "And if I find out any more deals were made without my consent..."

He didn't finish the sentence.

He didn't have to.

That night, Nora couldn't sleep.

She stood by the window of Cal's penthouse, the city glowing below her, a hand resting on her belly.

Her reflection looked back at her-tired eyes, clenched jaw, heart racing beneath a silk robe.

They weren't just gossiping now.

They were targeting.

Her baby. Her. Cal.

Everything was slipping out of control.

And she couldn't protect them all.

"Are you okay?" Cal asked behind her.

She didn't turn. "Tell me the truth."

"About what?"

"2017," she said quietly. "What did you do?"

Silence.

He stepped closer. "You don't want to know."

"I need to know."

He hesitated. "There was a woman. An ex. She tried to ruin me... and I destroyed her before she could."

Nora then turned. "Destroyed?"

"I leaked her finances. Got her rejected. Sent her away with nothing but silence."

"Was she guilty?"

Cal looked down. "She wanted power. She knew my weaknesses. She would've done worse."

Nora backed away.

"You're telling me you ruined a woman's life... and now someone's sending you bloodied warnings about it?"

"She threatened me-my company."

"Just like Celia's doing now?"

He said nothing.

That silence was her answer.

A beat later, Nora's phone buzzed.

A new email.

Subject line: "Your fiancé has a body count."

Attached: a video file.

A shaky clip from a hidden camera in a hotel room.

Young Cal Prescott.

The same woman.

A screaming match. Shoved glass. A fall.

A body.

Nora's lips parted as she watched it-horror crawling across her skin.

The screen went black.

Then a message:

"Still think he's your hero?"

            
            

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