The Divorced Military Queen Awakens (by Sadie Baxter) novel Chapter 657

Chapter 657 Reluctant Goodbye

Chapter 657 Reluctant Goodbye

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Given time, he believed, Dawn would stop thinking about the mother who now lay silent and still.

The assistant ushered her through the gates of Edmund’s estate.

Edmund was the wealthiest man in the township the manor sprawled across manicured lawns, its marble columns gleaming in late–afternoon light.

Inside the great hall, Edmund waited, smiling broadly. The longer he studied Dawn’s face, the more certain he became–she looked uncannily like Master Whitethorn.

Once Edmund had earned the little girl’s trust, he intended to whisk her across the ocean to Azania and present her to Julius.

Inside the foyer, Mindy Arnold and her eight–year–old daughter, Emma, rega thin–lipped contempt.

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If the child had not been unmistakably Aplothian–ink–black hair, night–dark eyes, every feature stamped with Aplothian delicacy–Mindy might have assumed Edmund had an illegitimate daughter.

“Dad, you already have me. Why would you adopt that thing?” Emma jabbed a finger at Dawn, her small face twisted with outrage.

“Her mother is in a permanent coma,” Edmund said gently, masking every shard of calculation behind kindness. “The orphanage was no place for a child. I only want to help her.”

“I don’t like her. Make her go away!” Emma shrieked, stamping her polished shoes against the marble floor.

Edmund’s voice dropped to a chill that sliced through the room. “Absolutely not. From today on, Dawn is a young lady of this house, your equal in every privilege–clothes, tutors, everything. You will treat her as a sister, or I shall pack you off to the other estate.”

Emma’s eyes flooded with furious tears. With a piercing wail, she bolted down the corridor, satin ribbons flapping behind her. Mindy, alarm chasing anger from her face, hurried after her daughter without another word.

Once the hallway had quieted, Edmund motioned for a maid to attend to Dawn, his smile returning as quickly as it had vanished. When Dawn’s small figure disappeared up the stairs, he faced his assistant. “Is everything in place?”

“Yes, sir. The arrangements are complete. We have the doctors and nurses on the payroll. In

12:24 Tue, Dec 30

Chapter 657 Reluctant Goodbye

little while, they’ll find an excuse to dispose of the comatose woman.”

“Excellent.” Edmund inclined his head, satisfaction gleaming in his pale eyes.

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A child cut cleanly free of all blood ties would depend on him alone. That dependence, carefully nurtured, would bloom into devotion. Devotion, in turn, would make Dawn the perfect chess piece–one he could move straight into Julius‘ orbit and, by extension, pull his own family into the sun. The very idea sent a thrill skittering through Edmund’s veins, bright and electric.

Under the maid’s gentle guidance, Dawn tiptoed into a second–floor bedroom reserved just for her.

Someone had staged the space like a scene from a fairy–tale cartoon: pink satin bedspread, snowy gauze curtains billowing around the windows, furniture carved and pain ivory. A private bath adjoined the room, its door standing open in silent invitat

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The maids bathed her in rose–scented water, then slipped her into a frothy, lilac–colored gown trimmed with lace and seed pearls. When they stepped back, one of them clasped her hands beneath her chin, unable to contain a gasp.

The child was heartbreakingly lovely, an Aplothian doll come to life.

Huge, midnight eyes floated beneath delicate phoenix–shaped lids; silky black hair cascaded to her waist; her cheeks, pale as milk, invited an indulgent pinch. Only her small palms betrayed the roughness of orphanage chores–damage a little lotion would soon erase.

Dawn lifted her chin toward the mirror, fascinated by the stranger staring back.

Is that really me? I look so different now. When Mom wakes up, will she like me better like this?

That evening, Edmund transformed the manor’s ballroom into a garden of crystal and light, hosting a lavish reception to announce Dawn’s adoption.

The town’s moneyed families arrived in glittering waves, eager to sip champagne and measure the Arnolds‘ newest curiosity.

When Dawn finally descended the grand staircase, gasps rippled through the crowd like wind across tall grass. Never had they seen such fragile beauty wrapped in so small a frame.

In the hush behind his polite smile, Edmund quietly congratulated himself again for having acted so shrewdly, a warm ripple of self–approval spreading through his chest like a discreet toast raised only to himself.

After a thorough bath and a simple yet tasteful dress, the child exceeded every expectation. The eyes were unmistakably Julius‘ and even the clean bone structure echoed his. Place the two together, and no one would doubt their blood. Visions of future wealth and favor

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12:24 Tue, Dec 30

Chapter 657 Reluctant Goodbye

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