Chapter four

The Price of Staying

The aroma of burnt coffee and sea salt hung over Vivian's kitchen. Elias was seated at her worn wooden table, exactly where Leo had been two days earlier, except now he was meticulously going over a stack of documents with an expression of intense corporate focus.

“You bought the Harborview Inn?” Vivian asked, slamming her own ceramic mug down. Her voice was sharp with disbelief.

“It was undervalued, structurally sound, and the only available property with adequate proximity for the current needs of Thorne Global,” Elias stated without looking up, underlining a clause with a pen that probably cost more than her car. “I need a base of operations in this town, Vivian. The hotel next door was fully booked, and I require a dedicated office space for my team and uninterrupted access to my son. I closed on it this morning.”

Vivian threw her hands up. “You just bought an iconic landmark—a twenty-room hotel that’s been family-owned for fifty years—in twenty-four hours, all because you wanted to be closer to your kid?”

“I secured my position,” Elias corrected, finally meeting her gaze, his expression challenging. “I’m here now, Vivian. I’m not running a remote operation from the city. I am establishing my presence. You told me you needed assurance that I wouldn’t abandon Leo again. This is my assurance.”

She knew he had a point, and that infuriated her further. His actions, while devastating to the small-town economy, proved he was serious.

“You don’t establish a presence, Elias, you acquire it. You roll over everything in your path with cash,” she countered, leaning across the table. “That inn was their retirement plan! Couldn't you have just... stayed in the hotel and used a temporary office?”

“And risk missing Leo’s soccer practice because of a corporate emergency?” He pushed the documents aside. “No. I will not be the absentee father my own father was. I will be here, physically present, and prepared. I even hired the Inn’s original chef. The Thorne Group will absorb all twenty employees into the payroll for the first year.”

The concession was calculated, designed to soften the blow. Vivian hated that it worked a little.

“You’re still operating like a wrecking ball with benefits,” she muttered, but the fury had drained into a weary resignation. Elias Thorne had successfully embedded himself into her world, and now she couldn't escape him.

Later that afternoon, the tension between them was momentarily forgotten at the town’s small, dusty soccer field.

Elias, still in his tailored jacket (though he had rolled up the sleeves), stood on the sidelines, looking like a high-fashion model at a sporting event. Leo was playing goalie, bouncing nervously as the opposing team pressed their attack.

A woman walked up to Vivian on the sidelines, dressed impeccably and radiating an expensive, chilly aura.

“Vivian Holloway, right? I recognized you from Elias’s files. I’m Clarissa Vance,” the woman said, extending a perfectly manicured hand.

Vivian frowned, taking the hand. “I’m sorry, I don’t—”

“Oh, right. I’m Elias’s former fiancée. The one his father forced him into the merger with ten years ago. We just finalized the dissolution of that contract—and the engagement—after Elias terminated the partnership a few days ago,” Clarissa said, her smile brittle. “He burned a lot of bridges to be here, Vivian. An unbelievable amount. Which brings me to why I'm here.”

She paused, watching Elias cheer when Leo successfully blocked a shot.

“Harold Thorne—Elias's father—is currently furious. Elias just torpedoed Harold’s legacy deal for a reason Harold doesn't understand yet. And Harold Thorne doesn’t take losses lightly. He wants to know who or what is important enough to make Elias act so irrationally.” Clarissa leaned in conspiratorially. “I warned Elias he’s put a target on your and Leo's backs. But he’s so focused on being the father he lost, he’s forgotten he’s still the son of a monster.”

Vivian felt a cold dread settle in her stomach, eclipsing the anger she felt toward Elias. The security of their peaceful life was already being threatened, not just by Elias’s presence, but by the powerful, ruthless enemy he had just created.

She had managed to keep her son safe from the Thornes for a decade, and in three days, Elias had brought the entire war to her front door.