Chapter 27

Lauren slammed the phone down, her face a storm cloud. "What is Dominick thinking? Taking Sonny to Rosemont Haven? That place is a ghost town! Why there?" She paced, anger simmering. The unease gnawed at her. She grabbed her coat.

"Where are you going?" Reginald asked, calm but curious.

"I'm getting Sonny back," Lauren stopped, her voice sharp. "He was hit at school, humiliated! My poor baby! And Dominick drags him off to that forsaken place?" Grayson was her world. No one touched him.

"Rosemont Haven's maintained, and Lily's there. Sonny's safe," Reginald countered, his voice steady. He loved Grayson, but not with Lauren's intensity.

"No way!" Lauren started for the door, but Reginald's firm look stopped her. "Dominick knows what he's doing. He barely sees Sonny. Let them have this time."

"Mom, Dad's right," Kayla chimed in. "Let Dom be a dad. Sonny's probably forgotten what he looks like."

Lauren sank back, defeated. But the rage simmered. "How did this happen? Grayson's never been scolded, and some stranger hits him? He shouldn't be at that school! Harrowtell has plenty of elite academies!"

"Mom, it's a great school. And Dom's on the board," Kayla explained.

"Worse! The board member's son gets hit? Who dared?" Lauren’s composure vanished, replaced by fierce protectiveness. "Whose kid? I won't let them get away with it!"

Marissa, who’d been trying to explain earlier, offered Lauren water. "Lauren, please. Sonny has a small scratch. It's treated."

Lauren trusted Marissa. Still, "Whose child did this to my sweetheart?" Everyone knew Grayson. No one dared.

Marissa hesitated. Finally, she whispered, "Taisley's daughter."

Lauren froze. "Paisley? She's back? And she has a daughter?"

"How old? Who's the father?" Reginald's calm question cut through Lauren's fury. A chilling possibility struck him: Dominick's child?