A Caged Songbird's Escape: Into the Arms of a Predator novel Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The overhead lights cast a soft glow inside the car. When the man’s gaze swept over her knees, something cold and sharp flickered in his dark eyes, but his voice remained as detached as ever. “You didn’t hold back, did you?”

His assistant muttered, “When has Matriarch Paige Murphy ever gone easy on anyone…”

“Slate Murphy’s coming back into the country soon, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Get everything ready.”

“To what extent?”

The man shot him a lazy glance, but his eyes were icy, his brows drawn in a way that made his temper clear. “What do you think?”

When Elissa woke, her body felt limp and drained of strength.

But she wasn’t in pain, not really.

Her palms and knees, which should have been swollen and throbbing, hardly hurt at all. They just looked a little alarming.

Even her tailbone, sore for two days straight, felt lighter now, as if someone had taken the weight off.

Still, she shouldn’t be here. That much she knew.

Elissa frowned, reaching for her phone to call the hotel front desk and figure out what had happened. As she moved, she caught the faintest trace of sandalwood clinging to her

skin.

For a moment, she felt disoriented.

When she came to, she forced a wry smile and grabbed a familiar tube of custom–made ointment from the nightstand. Without another glance back, she checked out and left.

At home, the atmosphere felt unusually harmonious.

It was as if all the friction from the past two days had sprung from her presence alone.

“Elissa, you’re back!”

Marcia beamed, her greeting dripping with sweetness.

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Obviously, Frank had done a stellar job of putting her in a good mood last night.

Elissa ignored her, not in the mood to play along.

Marcia, unwilling to let things go so easily, strode forward, tucking her hair behind her ear to show off a dazzling pair of pink diamond earrings.

Collector’s grade–rare pink diamonds.

She tapped at her phone. “So, Marcia, please wire six hundred thousand to this account before midnight tonight. Otherwise, I’ll just have to explain it all to Grandma.”

The Atwater family hadn’t even divided up the inheritance yet. With Spencer gone, her share barely added up to half a million!

Elissa couldn’t care less whether Marcia had the money.

After a shower, she started decluttering, sorting through her things and tossing out anything she didn’t need. It would make leaving that much easier when the time came.

She grabbed the trash bin and dumped things in without hesitation. She’d never been one

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Chapter 10

to waver.

She even packed up her wedding dress, asking Edna to help carry it downstairs to throw

out.

That’s when Frank came home and walked in on the scene.

He noticed the crumpled mess of white tulle and satin in the trash bag, unease creeping across his face. “Why are you getting rid of your wedding dress?”

Elissa met his eyes without flinching, her voice calm. “Throwing it out.”

Useless things, after all, are meant to be thrown away.