Page 8 of Road to Redemption

“What choice have you left me, Vivienne?” Isaac growled.

Confusion washed over me. He knew what he had to do. Surely a few years in prison wasn’t a worse option than…

I couldn’t stomach thinking it.

His breathing grew heavy as he stared down at me, his hands gripping my wrists as he held me against the wall.

I met his gaze, seeing the charming smile he’d flashed me in the hallway back in undergrad — the way the crowd parted for him to talk to me. All the laughs we’d shared running through campus at night. The early mornings writing the charter. His hand on my belly, little Madeline squirming around inside.

And I could see those moments flashing in his mind too.

Slamming his fist into the wall behind my head, Isaac yelled. “Fuck!” Then he straightened his shoulder and snarled. “You’re going to leave this place. I’m going to fake your death and take your shares.”

“Isaac, stop…” I shook my head.

But he lifted his hand to my throat and gripped the flesh. “If you ever show your face again, I’ll take out an insurance policy.” Gripping my body, Isaac flipped me toward the window.

Downstairs, Madeline and Kiera were still playing — completely unaware of what was happening just out of their view.

Through gritted teeth, I shook my head. “You wouldn’t ever hurt our daughter.”

Issac hissed in my ears. “Let’s not find out.”

I tried to find a way out, a way out of this room that would let me grab the kids before I had to flee this house. Was there anywhere on this planet that I could escape the watchful eye of the monstrous company he’d built? That I had helped him create?

“Do what’s right for our daughter.” Isaac’s voice grew calmer. “She’ll be safe under my watch.”

Shaking my head, I turned my head just enough to meet his gaze. “I won’t leave the shares to you. No. You’ll have no incentive to protect her. You’ll have all the power.”

Isaac knew I was right, that my years of practicing business law was going to fuck him over.

Should’ve married some trophy wife then.

“Madeline will get my shares. You’ll have control of Zeus until she turns 18 and the shares turn over to her. Then you’ll have to make your own daughter complicit in your crimes.” I could barely get the words out, Isaac’s grip on my body pressing my jaw into the wood paneling.

“No.” Isaac sneered. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“You want me to go in peace? This is how you do it.”

Gritting his teeth, Isaac had no choice but to relent. He knew the woman he’d married, she wouldn’t go down with a fight.

“You know it’s only fair. It’s the only way to ensure her safety and good treatment. You’ll have to take care of her if you want her votes.”

Madeline adored her father, she would follow his lead so long as he didn’t push her away. It raised the hair on my skin, the thought of my baby helping him commit his crimes. But I knew the values I’d instilled in her, the same ones Brennan would keep working toward.

Madeline would never let innocent people get hurt.

And I had to trust that.

“Fine.” Isaac released his grip. “Leave. Now. No goodbyes.” Clearly, my husband thought he could keep his daughter under his control too. He’d use the next decade before she turned 18 to keep her leash short.

Under his care, she would become Isaac’s right hand. And Brennan would be outnumbered.

Looking out at the garden, I took one last look at my beautiful child. I’d already made this powerful man relent once, I wasn’t going to push my luck. Not when I’d secured Madeline’s safety.

She knows I love her. I’ll find her again.

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