The Hidden Empress Stripping Her Secrets After Divorce novel Chapter 237

"Taking care of him straight into his bed?" Sebastian interrupted. "Taking care of him until she's three months pregnant?"

"What?" Melanie's voice spiked. "Pregnant? That's impossible! Tessa told me she was just..."

She choked on her own words, snapping her mouth shut.

In the office, a cold, predatory smile touched Sebastian's lips.

"Just what?" he pressed. "Just going to keep him company? Just managing his household? It seems your little pawn went off-script."

"Sebastian, listen to me..." Her voice trembled violently.

"Save it." Sebastian stood up and walked to the window. "Melanie, I will only say this once. I am the head of the Thorne family now. You and your playboy husband better stay in line. Because if you don't..."

He paused, dropping his voice to a lethal whisper. "I have zero qualms about showing you what it feels like to lose absolutely everything."

"Sebastian Thorne! You wouldn't dare!" she shrieked. "I'm your own flesh and blood!"

"Blood?" He laughed coldly. "As far as I'm concerned, there are only two people in this family: Marcus, and my mother. As for the rest of you..."

He left the sentence hanging, but the threat was suffocatingly clear.

The sound of something shattering echoed through the receiver, followed by Melanie's hysterical screaming. Sebastian listened with an utterly blank expression. When her tirade finally lost momentum, he spoke.

"Are you done?"

"Sebastian! You're going to burn in hell for this!" Her voice was raw and hoarse.

"I'll gladly wait for it," he replied flatly. "But until then, you'd better start praying that my mother pulls through this. Because if she doesn't..."

He paused, his voice as casual as if discussing the weather:

"I have no problem permanently shrinking this family tree."

The line went dead.

The office sank back into silence. Sebastian stared out the window. The sky had gone completely black, his reflection a sharp ghost against the glass.

His phone buzzed. A text from Lance:

[Boss, I just got off the phone with Seth. All of Marcus's accounts have been frozen. Seth is sending a team tomorrow morning to 'escort' Tessa to a premium medical facility for an amniocentesis. The high-security estate is fully prepped; Marcus will be relocated immediately.]

Sebastian texted back: [Execute it.]

He tossed the phone onto the desk and rubbed his temples. Outside, the city lights flickered to life, sprawling like a galaxy across the grid. But beneath that glitter, he knew exactly how much filth, greed, and calculation festered in the dark.

He thought of Isabella's impossibly pale face. Twenty years ago, when his father’s first major affair came to light, his mother had suffered the exact same reaction—hyperventilating until she collapsed and had to be rushed to the ER. He was only eight years old, sitting on the cold floor outside the trauma unit, listening to the rhythmic beep of the heart monitors. That was the day he learned what true hatred was.

His father had behaved for a few years, and Isabella's health had stabilized. But a decade ago, the cycle started again. Affair after affair, woman after woman. With every betrayal, a piece of his mother's heart simply died.

But tonight wasn't the night for executions.

Sebastian shut the laptop and grabbed his suit jacket. As he stepped out of his office, Lance happened to be walking out of the bullpen.

"Boss," Lance hurried to match his stride. "Seth has everything arranged. Tessa will receive a 'random' invitation from an elite prenatal clinic tomorrow morning. The amniocentesis is listed as a standard VIP protocol."

Sebastian nodded, not breaking his pace.

"Also," Lance added cautiously. "Seth mentioned Marcus is furious. He’s threatening to fly to New York to confront you."

"Let him." Sebastian hit the elevator button. "I’d love to ask him to his face if he actively wants his wife dead, or if he just wants his disgusting twilight-years sex scandals plastered on the front page of the Wall Street Journal."

The elevator chimed, and they stepped inside.

"Boss," Lance hesitated. "Are you really flying to San Francisco tomorrow? Because New York..."

"You're staying in New York to manage the fallout," Sebastian ordered. "Keep sending the flowers to Dr. Sullivan. Do not stop."

Lance blinked. "But you won't even be here..."

"Does my physical location impact your ability to deliver flowers?" Sebastian shot him a sharp look. "Or have you forgotten how to do your job without me in the same time zone?"

"...No, sir." Lance quickly shook his head. "I understand. The deliveries will continue exactly as planned."