chapter 7

Chapter 7: The Hostile Takeover

​The sun didn't shine on Manhattan the next morning; it glared. I stood in my new office on the top floor of the Aria Capital building, staring out at the city I had once feared. Below me, the yellow taxis looked like toys, and the people looked like ants. For five years, I had been one of those ants, scurrying in the shadows, just trying not to get crushed.

​Not anymore.

​"Ms. Avery?" Sarah’s voice broke my thoughts. She was standing by the glass door, a sleek tablet in her hand and a sharp, professional smile on her face. "The markets just opened. Valentine Holdings’ stock is plummeting. The rumors about the secret heir and the debt acquisition have hit the front page of the Wall Street Journal."

​"Good," I said, not turning around. I watched the reflection of my own face in the window. I looked calm, but inside, my blood was singing with a dark, cold satisfaction. "What’s the damage?"

​"They’ve lost twelve percent in twenty minutes. Their investors are jumping ship. Lucius is currently trapped in an emergency meeting with his lawyers, and Beatrice…" Sarah paused, her smile widening. "Beatrice is currently being denied entry to the Country Club. It seems her membership was tied to a line of credit that Aria Capital just cancelled."

​I finally turned around, a slow smile spreading across my lips. "A small appetizer before the main course."

​"And the boy?" Sarah asked, her voice softening.

​"Leo is with Marcus," I said. "They’re at the private museum tour I arranged. He’s safe. But I want double security on them, Sarah. Beatrice is a cornered animal, and cornered animals bite."

​"Understood."

​I sat down at my desk—a solid slab of black obsidian that cost more than the house I grew up in. I pulled up the live feed of the stock market. Red. Everything associated with the name Valentine was bleeding red.

​Five years ago, Lucius told me I didn't have the "pedigree" to be a queen. He thought a queen was someone who sat on a throne and looked pretty. He didn't realize that a real queen is the one who knows exactly where the foundations of the castle are weak.

​My desk phone buzzed. It was a private line. Only one person had the number.

​"I told you not to call me, Lucius," I said, picking up the receiver.

​"Nina, please," his voice was hoarse, sounding like he hadn't slept or breathed since he left my doorstep in the rain. "The board is calling for my resignation. They’re saying I’m a liability because of the scandal. My mother is losing her mind. She’s calling every judge in the state."

​"She can call the Pope for all I care," I said, leaning back in my chair. "The law doesn't care about her 'long legs' when the bank is foreclosing. You lost the right to be a Valentine the moment you signed those debt papers over to my shell company three years ago without reading the fine print."

​"I didn't care about the fine print! I was trying to save the company so I could prove to my mother I was worthy!" Lucius shouted, his voice echoing through the line. "I did it for the legacy, Nina! The same legacy I thought I was protecting when I... when I let you go."

​"And how does that legacy feel now, Lucius?" I asked, my voice a whisper of pure silk. "Does it feel heavy? Does it feel like it’s choking you? Because that’s what it felt like to be your wife. It felt like I was being erased by a name that didn't even want me."

​"I’ll step down," Lucius said, his voice suddenly going flat. "I’ll give you the chair. I’ll give you the company. Just... let me see Leo today. I went to the apartment in Queens, but you were gone."

​"Of course I’m gone, Lucius. Did you really think I’d stay in a place you knew about?" I stood up, walking back to the window. "You don't get to negotiate with me. You’re not the King of Wall Street anymore. You’re just a man with a ruined suit and a broken heart. You want to see Leo? Then you have to do something for me first."

​"Anything," he said instantly.

​"The medical report from five years ago," I said. "The one Beatrice had buried. The one that proves I was admitted to the hospital with stress-induced complications the night you divorced me. The one that shows I begged the nurses to call you, and your mother’s assistant told them I was a 'harasser' and to throw me out."

​The silence on the other end of the line was long and heavy. I could hear Lucius’s ragged breathing.

​"I... I didn't know about a report," he whispered.

​"Then find it," I snapped. "Because until I have proof that your mother tried to kill my child before he was even born, you don't get to be a father. You have twenty-four hours, Lucius. After that, I’m filing the final takeover papers, and you’ll be looking for a job in a cubicle."

​I hung up before he could respond.

​My heart was racing, but it wasn't from fear. It was from the sheer, raw power of finally holding the leash. For five years, I had been the one begging. I had been the one crying in hospital hallways while the staff looked at me like I was trash. Now, the tables hadn't just turned; I had flipped the entire room.

​I walked over to the small mirror on the wall and adjusted my collar. I looked sharp. I looked dangerous. I looked like the woman who was about to dismantle a century-old dynasty with a single phone call.

​But then, my eyes caught a small drawing pinned to my corkboard. It was a picture Leo had drawn this morning—a big red bird with fire for wings. The Phoenix, he had called it.

​My throat tightened. I wasn't just doing this for revenge. I was doing this so that when Leo grew up, he would never have to be a "placeholder" for anyone. He would be the king of his own world, and no one would ever be able to tell him he wasn't enough.

​A knock at the door interrupted my thoughts. It was Marcus. He looked out of place in the sleek office, his jeans and boots clashing with the marble, but he was the only person I trusted.

​"Nina, we have a problem," he said, his face grim.

​"What is it? Did Beatrice file the suit?"

​"Worse," Marcus said, stepping inside and closing the door. "Lucius isn't the only one looking for the boy. Elena was spotted at Leo’s old daycare this morning. She’s desperate, Nina. She knows if you take the company, she loses everything. She’s not going after the money anymore. She’s going after the only thing that makes you vulnerable."

​I felt a cold chill wash over me. My hands balled into fists.

​"She thinks she can touch my son?" I whispered, my voice vibrating with a lethal rage.

​"She’s looking for leverage," Marcus said.

​"Fine," I said, grabbing my purse and walking toward the door. "She wants to play with fire? Let’s show her what happens when the Phoenix gets angry. Sarah! Cancel my afternoon meetings. I have a snake to handle."

​I walked out of the office, my heels sounding like a drumbeat of war. Lucius might be begging on his knees, but the women of the Valentine family still thought they could win. They were about to learn the most important lesson of all:

​A mother who has survived the ashes doesn't fear the flame.