Chapter 5

Bella's POV

Less than five minutes later, more than a dozen security guards filed through the front door. They wasted no time on explanations. They went straight upstairs and started clearing out the rooms.

For the first time, Evander's carefully composed expression cracked. He shot to his feet. "Don't you dare touch anything!"

Not one of the guards even looked at him. They kept working, sweeping Caspian's watch cases, Stellan's laptop bag, and stacks of Marielle's newly purchased clothes into heavy-duty trash bags.

Evander moved to stop them. The head of security calmly pushed him aside with one arm, sending him stumbling back several steps.

Caspian's face darkened with fury. He pointed straight at me. "Mom, have you lost your mind? Adeline throws one spoiled-rich-girl tantrum, and you're kicking your own sons out of the house?"

"My sons?" I accepted a sanitizing wipe from Oliver and slowly cleaned my fingers. "Don't flatter yourselves."

The room went silent.

"I chose to call you my sons because I believed you'd earned a place in this family. You clearly mistook that privilege for something you were entitled to." I tossed the wipe aside. "So get out."

Outside, suitcases and shopping bags were already piling up near the front drive.

Marielle stared in horror as another bag was tossed out with the rest. "What are you doing? My new moisturizer is in there!"

She rushed toward it, but one of the guards nudged the bag out of the way before she could grab it. Marielle lunged after it, lost her balance, and landed awkwardly on the floor.

The lazy amusement finally disappeared from Zet's face. He stared at me, his jaw clenched. "Fine. You want to play hardball? Go ahead. But don't come begging us to return.

"Every major supplier on the Westmere development deals directly with the four of us. Without our signatures, next week's contractor payments don't go through.

"And when Vale Group misses those payments and gets buried in breach-of-contract claims, don't say we didn't warn you."

Stellan scoffed. "Mom, I think you've spent so long living comfortably that you've forgotten who's actually keeping Vale Group running. We'll leave if that's what you want. But when Vale stock crashes tomorrow, don't come crying to us for help."

The four of them stood on the lawn with Marielle, surrounded by the belongings that had just been thrown out of the house.

When they finally left, every one of them walked away with his head held high. Anyone watching might have thought they were leaving on their own terms instead of being thrown out of the family home.

I watched them disappear down the drive, then turned to Oliver. "Find out what those four have been doing behind my back."

…

The next morning, Adeline came into my study with red, swollen eyes. A letter was crumpled tightly in her hand, and tears splashed onto her knuckles. "Mom, they took my place in the competition away."

I took the letter from her. It was her finalist confirmation for the Global Young Entrepreneurs Challenge.

Adeline had spent six months preparing for it. There had been countless late nights, stacks of research, and draft after draft before she'd finally produced a business proposal she was proud of.

Now, her name had been crossed out in red ink. Written beside it was another name—Marielle Sloane.

"I went to the organizing committee." Adeline's voice broke as she struggled through the words. "They said an executive from Vale Group personally contacted them and requested that my finalist spot be transferred to Marielle."

Her fingers curled into fists. "Mom, I worked so hard for this… How can they just give it to someone else?"

How? Because as far as Evander was concerned, six months of Adeline's hard work meant nothing. One tear from Marielle, apparently, was worth more.

I took Adeline by the hand and told the driver to take us straight to Vale Group's headquarters.

I'd thrown all four of them out of the lake house, but apparently that hadn't humbled them in the slightest.

They were still sitting comfortably in the executive conference room as though the company belonged to them. When I pushed open the doors, I found all four gathered around Marielle.

And on the screen in front of them was Adeline's business proposal. They were helping Marielle rewrite it.

"Marielle, don't worry about understanding the numbers in this section," Evander said gently, pointing at the screen. "When you present, just read what's written on the slide."