To the Morrison family, I was merely the inconvenient, pregnant ex-wife—a woman to be tolerated, mocked, and eventually discarded 2

Chapter 3: Protocol Seven

Arthur answered on the second ring.

“Cassidy?” he said, his tone instantly alert. Arthur Vale, Executive Vice President of Legal, did not waste words. He knew better than anyone what my name meant inside Morrison Global, even if the family sitting around me had chosen to forget.

I stared at Brendan while water continued to drip from my hair. “Arthur,” I said, “activate Protocol Seven.”

The room changed.

Diane’s smirk weakened. Jessica lowered her glass. Brendan’s eyes narrowed, searching my face for the punchline he desperately needed to exist.

Arthur was silent for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice had dropped. “Cassidy, if I do that, the Morrisons could lose everything. Are you certain?”