Chapter 823

Without pause, he stepped out, the door closing behind him with a soft but final click.

Hailey’s chest rose and fell with shallow, shaky breaths. Her fingers curled around the edge of the blanket, knuckles pale.

And yet… even as the sting of Noah’s rejection pulsed through her, Hailey couldn’t ignore one critical truth.

Cold as he was… he had accepted the child.

That alone meant the game wasn’t over.

Suddenly, the phone on her bedside table buzzed to life, its screen glowing in the dim room.

It was her father.

Hailey stared at it for a moment, then took a steadying breath and composed herself.

She picked up.

“Hello, Dad.”

Forest’s voice crackled through the line—just a shade too eager, just familiar enough to be grating. A forced concern veiled in self-interest.

“Hailey, how are things going? Everything on schedule?”

Hailey nearly laughed. On schedule. Like she was a project. A pawn.

When had Forest ever asked how she was, beyond how useful she could be?

She buried the bitterness deep, slipped on her practiced smile, and lifted her voice with a hint of pride.

“You don’t need to worry. I’m already pregnant.”

“Really?” Forest’s tone lit up instantly, thick with satisfaction. “Excellent, Hailey. Absolutely excellent. I knew you wouldn’t fail me!”

His words were honeyed, but they stung all the same.

“Now that you’re pregnant,” Forest said, his voice humming with anticipation, “it’s time for Noah to return to Wall Group and reclaim his seat. You’ll be his wife in the public eye, Hailey—the wife of Wall Group’s chairman. And with that child, the Burgess name will finally rise to where it belongs. No one will dare look down on us again.”

He spoke like a man intoxicated by his own dreams, blind to the cracks in the foundation.

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Hailey didn’t answer immediately. A slow, knowing smile tugged at her lips—cynical, hollow.

It was still too soon to talk about such things.

After all, Noah had just walked out on her minutes ago, cold as ice.

Her gaze drifted to her stomach.

“It’s too early for celebrations,” she said smoothly. “Let the pregnancy show first. That’ll make it harder for anyone to question what’s coming.”

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