My Boss's Hidden Heir (Elara and Marcus) novel Chapter 143

Elara’s POV

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Elara stared at her phone for the hundredth time in the last hour, reading the blackmail messages over and over until the words blurred together.

I know you were pregnant before the wedding.

Pay me $500k or everyone else knows too.

Clock’s ticking, Elara.

The phrasing was crude, direct, exactly the way Luca talked. The amount demanded was ridiculous, more money than Elara had ever seen in her life. And the threat was real, devastating in its simplicity.

If people found out she’d been pregnant before the wedding, if the board discovered Marcus had married her out of necessity rather than genuine intent, everything would fall apart. The will, the shares, Marcus’s control of the company. All of it gone because Elara had been careless enough to get pregnant.

She’d tried to tell Marcus three times already. Had picked up her phone, opened a new message, typed out the words. But each time she’d deleted it before sending.

Marcus was already dealing with the fallout from the investor meeting, with proving Penelope had sabotaged him, with managing a board that was questioning his competence. How could she add this to his plate? How could she burden him with another crisis when he’d just promised to fix everything?

And there were the babies to think about. Dr. Sarah had been clear. No stress. Elara’s body was already under tremendous strain trying to support two pregnancies when one twin wasn’t thriving. Adding more stress could tip things over the edge.

So she’d made a decision. She would handle this herself.

Elara picked up her phone and typed out a response to the unknown number.

Elara: I’m not paying you. But I’ll meet you to talk. Where and when?

The response came within seconds.

Unknown: Smart girl. Tomorrow, 2pm. Old warehouse on Pier 47. Come alone or the deal’s off.

Elara’s hands shook as she read the address. Pier 47 was in an abandoned industrial area, the kind of place where no one would hear you scream. Going there alone was monumentally stupid.

But what choice did she have?

She needed to confront Luca face to face, needed to make him understand that she wouldn’t be manipulated or threatened. That he could take his blackmail and shove it because she’d rather face the consequences than give him a single dollar.

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Chapter 143

Elara typed back: Fine. 2pm tomorrow. I’ll be there.

:

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She set down her phone and took a deep breath, trying to calm the panic rising in her chest. This was a terrible idea. She knew it was a terrible idea. But it was her mess to clean up, not Marcus’s.

Her phone rang. Mimi’s name flashed on the screen.

“Hey,” Elara answered.

“Don’t hey me. What the hell is going on? You’ve been dodging my calls all day.”

“I’ve been resting. Doctor’s orders.”

“Bullshit. I can hear it in your voice. Something’s wrong. What happened?”

Elara closed her eyes. She’d never been able to lie to Mimi successfully. “I got a blackmail message. About the pregnancy timeline.”

Silence on the other end. Then: “I’m coming over. Right now.”

“Mimi, you don’t need to…”

“I’m already in my car. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

The line went dead.

Elara lay back against the pillows and waited, her mind spinning through scenarios. What would she say to Luca tomorrow? How would she convince him to back off without paying? Could she threaten him somehow,

turn the tables?

Fifteen minutes later, she heard the front door open and Mimi’s footsteps pounding up the stairs. Her friend burst into the bedroom looking furious.

“Show me the messages,” Mimi demanded.

Elara handed over her phone. Mimi read through the texts, her expression getting darker with each line.

“This is Luca,” Mimi said. It wasn’t a question.

The next day dragged by with excruciating slowness. Marcus came in to check on Elara several times, bringing her lunch and making sure she had everything she needed. Each time she had to force a smile and pretend everything was fine.

By one thirty, Elara was dressed and ready. She’d chosen comfortable clothes that wouldn’t restrict her movement, pulled her hair back into a ponytail, and charged her phone fully in case she needed to call for help.

Mimi arrived at one forty-five driving her Honda. They drove to Pier 47 in tense silence, both lost in their own thoughts about what might happen.

The warehouse district was exactly as depressing as Elara had imagined. Abandoned buildings with broken windows, graffiti covering every surface, trash piled in corners where the wind had blown it. The kind of place that screamed “bad decisions happen here.”

They parked outside the address Luca had given and sat in the car for a moment, both staring at the rusted warehouse door.

“Last chance to change your mind,” Mimi said. “We can turn around right now, go home, tell Marcus everything.”

“No. I’m doing this.”

They climbed out of the car and walked to the warehouse entrance. The door was slightly ajar, revealing

16:58 Mon, May 11 M…

Chapter 143

darkness inside.

Elara pushed it open wider and stepped through.

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The warehouse was mostly empty, just concrete floors and exposed beams. Sunlight filtered through the broken windows high above, casting strange shadows across the space.

And there, in the middle of the room, stood Luca.

But he wasn’t alone.

Beside him, wearing a burgundy coat and an expression of absolute satisfaction, was Penelope.

AD