My billionaire boyfriend’s mother walked into my Vermont farmhouse, placed a blank check on my kitchen table, and said, “Name your price. Then disappear before Adrian learns that child is his.”

appeared to be her attorney.

I was standing in the kitchen when they approached.

Poppy was sitting on the floor, happily stacking wooden blocks.

Celeste entered without waiting for an invitation.

Her eyes moved across the modest room.

Then she noticed my daughter.

For the briefest moment, her expression changed.

Recognition.

It disappeared almost immediately.

“Mrs. Vale?” I asked.

“Miss Brooks.”

She sat at my kitchen table and opened her handbag.

Then she placed a check in front of me.

It was signed.

But the amount was blank.

“Write whatever