The Divorced Military Queen Awakens (by Sadie Baxter) novel Chapter 654

Chapter 654 Schemes Of Adoption

After all, Edmund already had a bright, healthy daughter. He had no reaso household, especially one whose mother was a vegetable. To Edmund, that with a capital T.

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other little girl to the

tion spelled trouble

“Of course it is true,” Edmund said with an easy laugh. “That child will be worth her weight in gold one day. My entire rise and fortune might very well hinge on her.”

Rely on a penniless orphan to change his fate?

The assistant frowned, unable to fathom how an abandoned girl could inspire such confidence in a man as calculating as Edmund.

Edmund offered no further explanation. Instead, he recalled the child’s eyes–round and lifted at the corners like wings–so uncannily similar to those of Julius‘.

People still whispered about Julius‘ wife, who had vanished five years earlier in a mysterious accident. Though newspapers labeled it a disappearance, anyone with sense assumed the lady was long dead.

Grief had driven the patriarch into seclusion within Whitethorn Manor. Only two years ago had he begun to reappear, and even then, his public sightings could be counted on one hand.

Edmund considered himself lucky; on one rare occasion, he had actually seen Julius in the flesh.

From a discreet distance, he had watched the man clasp a young girl’s small hand, warmth radiating from him in a way Edmund never thought possible.

“Who is that little girl?” he had whispered to the colleague beside him,

“Mr. Whitethorn calls her his ‘daughter,” the colleague murmured. “But they are not related. Mr. Whitethorn vanished while expecting. The girl happens to look a little like him, so fate smiled on her— and on her kin.”

Envy had burned through Edmund that day like cheap whiskey sliding down a

stomach.

Earlier that morning, inside the drafty orphanage hall, he had seen another child with those same eyes. The resemblance struck him like a hammer.

If he escorted that little girl into Julius‘ presence, perhaps the patriarch’s cold eyes would finally soften- and that favor, Edmund knew, was rarer than gold.

If that happened, his own fortunes could rocket overnight, lifting him from dusty obscurity straight into dazzling power.

The possibility sent a tremor of raw excitement skittering through his veins.

Still, the child’s comatose mother was a loose thread that needed trimming; obstacles, Edmund told himself, were meant to be handled.

Fortunately, the girl was young–pliable, starved for kindness–perfect soil in which to seed loyalty.

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Chapter 654 Schemes Of Adoption

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He would teach her that he alone was salvation, that every breath of safety she drew flowed from him; the elivered Dawn to Julius, more grateful she grew, the richer his future rewards. Imagining the moment Edmund’s pulse quickened, his mind ablaze with impatient anticipation.

In the quiet nursing ward, Dawn crouched beside the metal bed, tiny fingers thoughts raced in tight, frightened circles.

ying at the blanket as her

She wanted nothing more than for her mother to receive real treatment–anything that might wake her mother up.

Yet the word adoption tasted like exile; she yearned to stay here, anchored to the promise that Megan would return.

Before leaving, Megan had knelt, squeezing her small hands, and promised she would come back once she had earned enough for the medical bills.

Suddenly, the memory flared like a match in the dark.

Megan had left a phone number, digits Dawn had traced over and over in her little notebook. Megan had told her that if something urgent ever happened, she must find a way to call.

This is urgent, right?

She resolved to place that call today and tell Megan everything.

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