Chapter 4.

A suffocating silence engulfed the hotel ballroom the moment the VIP room doors shut tightly behind them. Charlie stood frozen in place, his breathing ragged and uneven. The little boy’s face kept replaying in his mind—the sharp jawline and the shape of those eyes were a perfect reflection of himself as a child.

“Charlie...” Sarah’s trembling hand reached for the sleeve of his suit. “That can’t possibly be your child. Elena is setting you up on purpose. She—”

“Shut up, Sarah!”

Charlie harshly slapped her hand away. This was the first time in five years he had ever yelled at Sarah in public. A flush of humiliation and anger crept up her neck as she noticed several members of the business elite whispering while watching them closely.

Without sparing his wife another glance, Charlie turned around and strode toward his private transit room upstairs. His chest felt painfully tight under the crushing weight of reality. Five years. Elena had carried and given birth to his child all alone somewhere out there, while he spent every night cursing her name.

“Assistant Ray!” Charlie called sharply the moment he entered the room.

Ray hurried inside. “Yes, Mr. Vane?”

“Find out everything about Aethel Corp,” Charlie ordered in a hoarse voice that barely concealed the violent tremor running through his body. “Who Elena is in City-B, how she rose to power, and... find out everything about that little boy. Tonight.”

“Yes, Sir. But there’s something else you need to know regarding tomorrow morning’s merger agenda.” Ray swallowed nervously. “The CEO of Aethel Corp has just sent a unilateral cancellation notice for our logistics partnership. They’ve decided to move forward with Wyatt Group instead.”

A bitter laugh escaped Charlie’s lips. Elena had not simply returned; she had come back to strangle Vane Corp’s business empire. The woman who once lowered her head and apologized for everything now held complete control over the life and death of Charlie’s company.

Meanwhile, inside the limousine slicing through the streets of Capital City, the atmosphere felt entirely different. Leo had already fallen asleep peacefully in Elena’s lap. Gently, Elena stroked her son’s black hair while staring at the city lights beyond the window.

“You handled that perfectly, Madam,” Aria, her personal secretary, said from the seat across from her. “Only ten percent of Vane’s subsidiary shares remain before we gain full control. Charlie Vane is panicking.”

Elena’s expression remained cold and unreadable. “This is only the beginning, Aria. Panic alone is not enough to repay the five years of hell he put me through.”

“What about Sarah?”

“Let her enjoy her fear a little longer,” Elena hissed coldly.

Elena knew her younger sister’s true nature all too well. Sarah was a parasite living off Charlie’s guilt over her paralysis—which was nothing more than a fabricated performance based on original medical files that were now in Elena’s possession. The moment Charlie’s guilt disappeared, Sarah’s protection would collapse along with it.

The phone resting on the seat beside Elena suddenly vibrated with an unknown number flashing on the screen. She slid the green button and raised the phone to her ear without saying a word.

“Elena...”

The voice on the other end instantly made Elena’s jaw tighten. It was Charlie’s voice—frustrated and filled with desperation unlike anything Elena had ever heard from him before.

“Elena, please. Where are you? I know that’s my son. We need to talk!” Charlie spoke rapidly, as if afraid the call would be disconnected at any second.

Elena inhaled slowly before answering in an exceptionally calm tone. “You have the wrong number, Mr. Vane.”

“Don’t lie to me! That boy looks exactly like me!” Charlie shouted hoarsely, his voice sounding dangerously close to a frustrated roar. “Why did you hide him from me? Why did you leave without a word?!”

A cynical smile curved across Elena’s lips within the darkness of the car cabin. This man had truly forgotten his own cruelty.

“You were the one who threw me away with divorce papers, Mr. Vane. You were the one who said my existence was a mistake,” Elena replied. Every word came out razor-sharp. “This child has nothing to do with you. He does not have a father.”

“Elena—”

Click.

Elena ended the call and immediately blocked the number. She tossed the phone onto the floor of the car with a look of disgust.

Lowering her gaze once more, she stared at Leo’s innocent face as he slept peacefully, then clenched her fists tightly. A massive storm was about to descend upon Capital City, and this time, Elena would make sure she was no longer the victim destroyed by the storm—

She would become the storm itself.