Chapter 54
Chapter 54:
Dallas pushed off the doorframe and walked forward slowly, deliberately. His guards had already discreetly cleared the hallway outside, ensuring the confrontation remained private. “Careful, Hyde,” Dallas warned. “Slander is expensive p>
“She’s coming with me!” Anson yelled. “She’s our family’s responsibility. The trust — everything my father set up for her — is under my control p>
“She is not your financial dependent,” Dallas said calmly.
“Then what is she? Your employee? Your mistress?” Anson sneered. “How much are you paying her to spread her legs for you p>
Eliza gasped. She looked at Dallas, pleading with her eyes. Don’t.
But Dallas had already read the wild desperation in Anson’s face — the way he grasped for any lever of control, any threat that might still work. This wouldn’t end. Anson would hound her, use the press, leverage the Hyde name, unless he was faced with a wall he simply could not climb. A legal, absolute fact. Dallas needed a nuclear deterrent. He needed to burn the bridge so thoroughly that Anson could never cross it again.
A𝗰𝘁і𝘷e 𝘤𝘰𝘮m𝘂𝘯i𝗍𝗒 oո
“She is my wife,” Dallas stated.
The room went dead silent. Even the heart monitor seemed to pause. Anson blinked. He shook his head. “What p>
“We are legally married,” Dallas repeated. “She is Mrs. Koch p>
Anson looked at Eliza, his face gone gray. “Eliza? Is this true? Tell me he’s lying p>
Eliza closed her eyes for a brief moment, then opened them and looked straight at Anson.
“Yes p>
Anson stumbled back against the wall. “You — you married him? The enemy? Why p>
Eliza looked at Dallas. She looked at the man who had stood by her while Anson watched her choke.
“I married a man who knows how to use an EpiPen,” she said softly.
That line destroyed Anson. It cut through every excuse he had ever made for himself, exposing his failure in the most brutal and practical way possible.
Dallas opened the door wide. “Get out. Before I call the police for harassing my wife p>
Anson looked like a ghost. His eyes moved from Eliza to Dallas as the full weight of his defeat settled over him. Then, broken and hollow, he shuffled out.
The door clicked shut.
Eliza and Dallas stood alone in the silence. The secret was out.
Eliza stared at the closed door, her heart pounding.
“You broke the contract,” she whispered. “Clause 7. Confidentiality.” She turned to look at Dallas.
Dallas turned to face her. He didn’t look apologetic. He looked triumphant.
“He needed a reality check,” Dallas said. “And you needed to be free. As long as he believed there was still a chance, he would have kept coming p>
“Now he knows — he’ll tell everyone!” Eliza panicked. “The press, my quiet life p>
“He won’t,” Dallas predicted, his voice certain. “Shame will keep him quiet. He lost to me. To admit that the woman he claimed to love married his worst enemy? It would destroy his reputation. He’ll bury this secret deeper than anyone could p>
Eliza tried to get out of bed. “I need to leave. This is too much.” The IV line tugged at her arm and she winced.