Once a Doormat Now Untouchable (Caleb and Sydney) novel Chapter 702

A brief silence settled over the line.

Then Eloise spoke through gritted teeth. "Why? Don't tell me you can't handle one woman, not with everything you have behind you.

"She's Julian's weakness. She's the Huttons' weakness. Get hold of her and you have both of them by the throat. Wiping the slate clean for me and Victor would be nothing for you. One decision. That's all it takes."

Eloise was done with this life. Done with every day of it. Back when she still had a place in the Sterling household, even after Julian stripped her of real power, people had kept their heads down around her.

Now they crossed the street when they saw her coming. Some did not even wait until she was out of earshot before the mockery began.

"Things are different now," Jeremiah said. "One wrong step, and I won't just lose DK. I'll lose everything."

The Huttons and Julian were almost certainly turning over every stone in search of him.

"I have to be careful. I need to wait for the right moment."

"There is no right moment." Eloise's voice flattened, edged with bitterness. "Or maybe you just don't have the nerve you used to. Maybe you've gone soft. Hesitant. Afraid of your own shadow."

It was not a matter of resources. What he had now was at least as strong as before, if not stronger. Twenty years behind bars had not stopped Tristan from expanding the operation into something larger and more powerful overseas. Hired guns and men willing to die for the cause were not in short supply.

What Eloise had not expected was that, even after all this time out of prison, he was still held in check by Julian. He had not managed to reclaim the Sterlings for her and Victor.

"Keep waiting," Jeremiah said, his tone patient and steady as he soothed her. Then something shifted in his gaze, a calculated gleam cutting through. "I've been watching Sydney these past couple of days. She has two, maybe three months left."

Eloise's resentment vanished in an instant. "You're going after the child."

The moment the words left her mouth, everything clicked.

The moment Sydney heard that, something loosened in her chest. As soon as she stopped forcing it, the answer surfaced on its own.

"I remember where I've seen it." She reached back through her memory. "It was the first time I went to Jeremiah's house. I saw that car parked outside before I even went in. And when I got inside, I noticed the dining table had two place settings, both used. But I never saw anyone else."

Julian's brow tightened slightly. "So whoever it was either can't be seen by anyone or specifically can't be seen by you."

From the driver's seat, Peter added his two cents. "An old man like that is still keeping someone on the side?"

"No." Sydney's instincts told her otherwise. The person had not wanted to be seen by her. She suspected it went further than that.

'Even the car…' She was almost certain she had seen it more than once.