Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Isla
I step into Mom’s apartment, and the silence hits me first. She’s sitting at her small kitchen table, hands clasped so tightly her knuckles are white. Something’s wrong. Really wrong.
“Mom?”
She doesn’t look up. “Sit down, baby.”
The chair scrapes against the floor as I pull it out. My heart’s already racing, and she hasn’t even started talking yet. “If this is about Wolfe?—”
“It’s about everything.” Her voice cracks. She reaches for my hand across the table, and I notice hers is trembling. “There’s something I should have told you a long time ago.”
“Mom, you’re scaring me.”
She takes a shaky breath.
“You know I worked for the Wolfe family before you were born.”
“Yes, but?—”
“James Wolfe had an uncle. Jonathan.” She swallows hard. “He was nothing like his brother. Wild. Charming. He saw their wealth as a prison, not a blessing.”
My stomach turns. Something about the way she says his name...
“We...” She closes her eyes. “We fell in love. Or what I thought was love. I was young, naive. When I told him I was pregnant...”
“No.” The word escapes me before I can stop it. “Mom, no.”
“He left the next day. Never came back.” A tear slides down her cheek. “I thought if I never said it out loud, it wouldn’t matter. That we could just... live our lives.”
The room spins. I grip the edge of the table, trying to anchor myself to something solid. “Are you telling me...”
“James Wolfe isn’t just some businessman threatening your future, Isla.” Mom swallows hard.
“He’s... family.” The air thins. My mind spins, grasping for meaning. Family. What—“No,” I whisper, but the pieces are already snapping into place.
Mom’s voice breaks completely. “He’s your cousin.”
Everything stops. The air leaves my lungs. The ground shifts beneath me.
“That’s not possible,” I whisper, but even as I say it, pieces start clicking into place. Wolfe’s interest. His vendetta. The way he looked at me in meetings, like he was searching for something.
“I’m so sorry, baby.” Mom’s crying now. “I thought I was protecting you.”
“All this time...” My voice sounds distant, like it belongs to someone else. “Everything I’ve built, everything I am...”
“You are exactly who you’ve always been,” Mom says fiercely. “This doesn’t change?—“
“It changes everything.” I stand up so fast my chair tips backward.
“Wolfe knows, doesn’t he? That’s why you’re telling me now.”
The look of terror on her face is all the answer I need.
I press my hands to my temples, trying to stop the world from spinning. I’m not just tied to the Wolfes by circumstance anymore. I’m blood. Their blood. The very thing they’re fighting over—legacy, birthright, family—it’s not just about the Alderidges anymore.
It’s about me.
And now, Wolfe knows exactly how to destroy everything I love.
“When did he find out?” The words feel like glass in my throat.
Mom wrings her hands, her wedding ring—the one she bought herself—catching the dim kitchen light.
“Last week. He... he came to see me.”
“Damn it, Mom, why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because he threatened to expose everything if I warned you.” Her voice shakes. “He has proof, Isla. Letters from Jonathan. Pictures. Things I thought were lost decades ago.”
The nausea hits hard. I grip the back of the fallen chair, steadying myself.
“What exactly did he say?”
“He said...” Mom’s breath hitches. “He said he’d make sure everyone knew. Not just about Jonathan, but... he’d twist it. Make it look like you orchestrated everything. That you used your connection to infiltrate Alderidge-Hathaway, to get close to Eli?—“
“No.” The word rips from my chest. “He can’t?—“
“He will.” Mom stands, her hands trembling as she reaches for me. “You don’t understand. James watched his father die believing the Wolfes had lost everything. That there was no legacy left. And all this time...”
“All this time, there was me.” The realization burns like acid. “A Wolfe working for the very people who?—”
“Who he believes destroyed his family.” Mom’s eyes fill with fresh tears. “He said he’d make sure the world knew how the great Isla Carrington was nothing but a servant’s daughter who lied her way to the top.”
My legs give out. I sink into the chair, my mind racing through every interaction with James, every loaded comment, every searching look.
“The project.” My voice cracks. “The Artisan Hotel. He’s not just trying to sabotage it because of Edward anymore, is he?”
Mom shakes her head.
“He wants to burn it all down, baby. Your reputation. Your career. Everything you’ve built.” She pauses, and I see the real fear in her eyes. “And he wants to use you to destroy Eli in the process.”
The room spins faster. Eli. God, Eli. If this gets out, it won’t just ruin me. The woman he trusts, the woman he’s falling for again, isn’t just tied to his family’s greatest enemy—she’s one of them.
“He’s going to tell him.” The certainty of it hits me like a physical blow.
“James is going to tell Eli everything.”
“Unless?” Mom prompts softly, knowing there has to be more.
I close my eyes, seeing James’s calculated smile, hearing his veiled threats in every board meeting.
“Unless I help him take down Alderidge-Hathaway from the inside.”
The silence that follows feels like a tomb sealing shut.
I have everything to lose now. My mother’s dignity. My career. Eli’s trust. Our future.
And James knows exactly which pieces to move to make it all collapse.
“I have to go.” The words come out steady, even as my heart threatens to shatter.
“Isla, no.” Mom grabs my arm. “We can tell Eli together. He’ll understand?—“
“Will he?” I turn to her, seeing the same fear I feel reflected in her eyes.
“You don’t know what Edward did to him, Mom. The trust issues, the need to protect everyone...” My voice catches. “Finding out I’m a Wolfe would break something in him I’m not sure could be fixed.”
“But facing James alone?” Her grip tightens. “Baby, please?—”
“I won’t let him destroy you.” The words come fierce and fast. “The press would tear you apart. Turn our whole life into some tawdry scandal. Everything you sacrificed to give me a good life...” I swallow hard. “I won’t let them make you ashamed of that.”
“And Eli?” She asks softly. “What about him?”
The pain in my chest threatens to consume me.
“James swore to destroy Edward’s children. The Artisan Hotel isn’t just a project to Eli—it’s his chance to prove himself. To step out of Edward’s shadow.”
I press my hands to my face, fighting back tears. “If this gets out, if people think I manipulated my way into his life...”
“They wouldn’t?—“
“They would. James would make sure of it.” I look around the small apartment, at the life we built from nothing. “Everything I’ve worked for—my career, my reputation—it would all become a footnote to the scandal.
The Wolfe in sheep’s clothing who infiltrated Alderidge-Hathaway.
Mom’s tears fall freely now.
“You can’t sacrifice yourself to protect us.”
But I’m not sacrificing myself. I’m doing what I’ve always done—handling things myself so no one else gets hurt. It’s the only way.
I grab my purse, already pulling out my phone.
“I need you to promise me something.”
“Isla—”
“If Eli comes looking for me, tell him...” My voice breaks. “Tell him I’m sorry. That everything we had was real. That I?—“
He would hate me. The thought is like a blade to my chest. He would look at me with that same quiet devastation, the way he did when Edward betrayed him. And this time, he wouldn’t let himself forgive me.
“Baby, please?—”
“I have to go.” I kiss her cheek, tasting salt.
“I love you, Mom. Everything you did, every sacrifice... I understand now.”
As I walk out, my phone buzzes. A text from James.
Time’s up, cousin. My office. One hour.
I straighten my spine, wipe my tears, and step into the elevator.
I won’t let James destroy the people I love.
Even if it means destroying myself instead.
The elevator ride to James’s office feels like a descent into hell. Each floor brings me closer to the moment I’ll have to look my cousin in the eye and accept his terms. My hands won’t stop shaking, so I clench them into fists.
The doors open to a dimly lit hallway. It’s late—past nine—but I know he’s waiting. He’s always waiting.
His assistant’s desk sits empty, the monitor’s blue light casting shadows. I pause at his office door, catching my reflection in the glass. I look exactly like what I am—a woman about to lose everything.
I don’t knock. I won’t give him that satisfaction.
James stands at his window, Manhattan sprawled out before him like a kingdom he’s planning to conquer. He doesn’t turn when I enter, but I see his smile reflected in the glass.
“Right on time, cousin.” The word slithers between us like a snake. “I was beginning to wonder if your mother would keep her mouth shut forever.”
“Leave her out of this.”
Now he turns, and the calculated warmth in his expression makes my skin crawl.
“Family is everything, Isla. Isn’t that what the Alderidges taught you?” He gestures to the chair across from his desk. “Please, sit.”
I remain standing. “What do you want?”
“What do I want?” He laughs, but there’s no humor in it. “I want what’s mine. What should have been my father’s.” His eyes narrow. “What Edward Alderidge stole from us.”
“I won’t help you destroy Eli.”
“No?” He pulls out a manila envelope, letting it fall onto his desk with a soft thud. “Then perhaps we should discuss how the press will react when they learn about the illegitimate Wolfe heir who’s been sleeping with the enemy.”
My throat closes. “You’d destroy your own blood?”
“Destroy?” His smile turns cruel. “I’m offering you a chance to claim your birthright. To finally be who you really are.”
“I know exactly who I am.”
“Do you?” He steps closer, and I force myself not to back away. “You’re my blood, Isla. A Wolfe. Not some charity case the Alderidges can use to prove their benevolence.”
The truth of it hits like a physical blow. This isn’t just about revenge anymore. It’s about possession. About claiming what he sees as his.
“I’ll never help you hurt them.” My voice shakes, but I hold his gaze. “Do whatever you want to me.”
“Oh, Isla.” He picks up the envelope again, tapping it against his palm. “You’re already helping me. By coming here alone, by trying to protect everyone...” His smile widens. “You’ve given me exactly what I needed.”
The realization crashes over me just as the door opens behind me.
I’ve walked right into his trap.
And when Eli finds out, he’ll never look at me the same way again.
And there’s no way out.