Elliana’s hand instinctively settled on her growing belly. “If you ask me, Maxine’s real target is my children.”

Silence stretched for a heartbeat, and then realization flickered in Cole’s and Jason’s eyes.

Jason’s jaw dropped. “Wait, you’re saying she wants your kids to inherit the Griffiths legacy?”

Elliana gave a slow nod. “That’s what I believe. When Maxine adopted my mom, it was all about my mom’s genetics — she saw my mother as the perfect vessel to strengthen the family bloodline. Maxine tried to pair my mom with one of the top Griffiths men, hoping for a daughter with extraordinary talent. But when my mom fled from the marriage arrangement instead, the dream was shattered.”

Pausing, she added, “Now, Maxine’s turned her eyes to my babies. They have both the Griffiths family’s lineage and my mother’s genes — exactly what Maxine’s been chasing. Even with Campbell blood mixed in, she’s desperate enough to accept it. If my children ever bring down the Campbell family, that would be Maxine’s ultimate victory.”

Elliana met Jason’s gaze. “Did you get anything on the Serpent Society leader who ambushed me last night?”

Jason replied, “Just like you asked, we took her alive. She’s already been moved to Ublento in secret, but we’re still trying to confirm who she is.”

Elliana’s eyes glinted with certainty. “I’ll put money on it — it’s Katrina.”

Elliana was certain that the one Maxine had previously deployed to eliminate her was Katrina — the woman currently positioned as the Griffiths family’s chosen successor.

When Elliana dropped this revelation, both Cole and Jason looked at her with raised eyebrows and obvious confusion written across their faces. Despite being quite sharp themselves, they were completely lost trying to understand her reasoning.

The logic just didn’t make any sense. If Maxine was really obsessed with getting her hands on the babies growing inside Elliana, why would Maxine send her own chosen successor to murder Elliana? That attack hadn’t been staged or fake in any way. The brutality behind Katrina’s every move had been absolutely genuine — she had been dead serious about ending Elliana’s life.

Noticing the bewildered expressions painted across their faces, Elliana couldn’t help but laugh softly. “You’re both struggling to understand Maxine’s strategy because you’re approaching this from a male perspective. Men and women don’t always process situations the same way. Since I’m a woman myself, I have a much clearer understanding of the game she’s orchestrating.”

Cole and Jason looked at each other briefly, silently acknowledging that she had a valid point.

“Maxine has never been truly satisfied with Katrina as her successor,” Elliana explained. “She only selected Katrina for that position because there weren’t any better alternatives available at the time. Now that she’s become fixated on claiming my unborn daughter as her own, she’s absolutely determined to replace Katrina with my baby girl. However, removing an established heiress from power is an enormous undertaking for a family as influential as the Griffiths — if executed poorly, it could easily trigger internal warfare and complete chaos. The most elegant solution to this problem is to arrange for the current heiress to ‘vanish’ under circumstances that appear completely legitimate and justified.”