The Hidden Empress Stripping Her Secrets After Divorce novel Chapter 560

New York. The Langford Villa.

The moment the call ended, Lyra Langford's palms were slick with sweat.

She tossed her phone onto the vanity and slumped back in her chair. The hard wood dug painfully into her spine, but she couldn't bring herself to move.

Her ears were ringing.

The lawyer's chillingly polite voice echoed in her head—"The Duke requests that you bring the child to Paris for a paternity test."

A paternity test?

Like hell.

Leo wasn't Leon's son. She knew that better than anyone.

Lyra shot to her feet, paced over to the window, and paced right back. She sat down, only to stand up again seconds later. Her hands felt gross and clammy. She wiped them aggressively against her sweatpants, but it did nothing to dry them.

She stared down at the phone screen, the Parisian number still glaring at the top of her recent calls list.

Why the sudden interest in Leo?

The Duke hadn't cared about the boy while Leon was alive. Why start digging now that he was dead?

Something was terribly wrong.

Unless... the Duke was investigating Leon's murder and had stumbled onto Leo's existence as collateral.

A sickening, icy dread washed over her. A cold sweat broke out across her back.

She knew exactly how Leon had died. She had engineered it.

The slums of the 13th District in Paris. She had told the hitman, 'Money is no object.' He had replied, 'Give me three days.' Then came the car crash, and eventually, Leon bled out. She had wired the funds, wiped the digital trail, and believed she was in the clear.

Now, the Duke of Astor was hunting for the truth.

She had expected an investigation—of course a man like that would look into his own son's murder. She just hadn't expected the blowback to happen this fast.

And she certainly hadn't expected them to drag Leo into it.

Her phone buzzed violently against the vanity.

She jumped, nearly knocking over a perfume bottle. It wasn't the lawyer. It was an unlisted number.

She stared at the screen, her heart hammering against her ribs.

Should she answer it?

It rang five times. Taking a deep breath, she swiped to answer.

"Hello?"

The voice on the other end was low, laced with a gravelly edge. "Did a lawyer call you?"

"...Yes."

"What did they say?"

"They said the Duke believes Leo is Leon's son. They want me to fly to Paris for a paternity test."

Silence stretched for a heartbeat. "What did you tell them?"

"I told them I needed to think about it."

"Good. Don't agree to it, but don't flat-out refuse either. Stall them."

Lyra's hand trembled violently against the receiver. "Is the Duke... is he investigating Leon's death?"

The line went silent.

Her heart lodged in her throat. "Did they trace it back to me?"