chapter4

Chapter 4: The Fragile Crown

​The heavy silence of the boardroom felt like it was going to collapse the ceiling. Now that the room was empty of the shouting board members and a hysterical Elena, it was just us.

​Lucius hadn't moved. He stood by the door, his hands shaking, his eyes fixed on Leo as if he were seeing a ghost. And in a way, he was. He was seeing the ghost of the family he had traded for a merger.

​"Nina," he whispered, his voice cracking. "Please. Just tell me the truth. Is he... is he really mine?"

​"He’s mine, Lucius," I snapped, pulling Leo closer to my side. "He was mine when I was sleeping on Marcus’s couch. He was mine when I was working two jobs to pay for his vaccinations. He was mine every time he asked why he didn't have a father and I had to lie to his face."

​Leo looked up at me, his lip trembling slightly. The "mini-boss" act he had put on for the cameras was fading. He was just a tired little boy in a stiff suit.

​"Mama," Leo whispered, tugging on my sleeve. "I want to go. This place smells like old dust. And I’m hungry. Can we get the chicken nuggets now?"

​The mundane request hit the room like a bomb. Lucius let out a broken, choked-off laugh. "Chicken nuggets. He... he likes nuggets?"

​"Most five-year-olds do, Lucius," I said coldly. "Not that you would know. Now, move aside. We’re leaving."

​"You can't just walk away again!" Lucius stepped forward, his desperation palpable. "I’ll give you the chair back. I’ll give you the whole company. I don't care about the debt. Just let me take him to lunch. Let me sit across from him for thirty minutes."

​"No."

​"Nina, please!"

​"You called me a placeholder!" I shouted, the pain of five years finally erupting. "You threw me out at midnight in a storm! You didn't care if I lived or died, Lucius! If I had stayed, you would have made me feel small until I disappeared. I saved my son from you. I saved him from your cold, heartless world."

​Before Lucius could respond, the boardroom doors swung open again. But it wasn't security.

​It was Beatrice Valentine.

​She didn't walk; she glided. At sixty-five, she was still the most terrifying woman in New York. Her silver hair was pinned back so tightly it looked painful, and her eyes were like two pieces of ice. She stopped dead when she saw me, then her gaze dropped to Leo.

​The air in the room turned freezing. Beatrice’s hand went to her throat, her eyes widening in a way I had never seen before.

​"Arthur?" she breathed, using the name of her late husband. "My god... he’s the image of his grandfather."

​"His name is Leo," I said, standing tall. "And he is not a Valentine. He is an Avery."

​"He has the Valentine eyes," Beatrice said, her voice returning to its sharp, commanding edge. She stepped toward us, ignoring her son entirely. "And he is standing in a Valentine building. Lucius, why is my grandson dressed like a commoner’s child and asking for fried food?"

​"Mother, stop," Lucius warned, but he sounded weak.

​"Nina," Beatrice said, turning her icy glare toward me. "I underestimated you. I thought you were a simple girl from a poor background. But it seems you were a thief. You stole the heir to this dynasty and hid him in a gutter for five years."

​"I didn't steal him. I protected him from people who think children are just assets for a balance sheet," I said.

​Beatrice ignored my insult. She looked at Leo and leaned down, her face a mask of fake kindness that didn't reach her eyes. "Little boy. Do you know who I am? I am your grandmother. I live in a house with twenty bedrooms and a garden as big as a park. Wouldn't you like to live there instead of... wherever your mother has been hiding you?"

​Leo didn't answer immediately. He looked at her expensive pearls, then he looked at me. He reached out and gripped my hand so hard his knuckles turned white.

​"My Mama says I shouldn't talk to people who have 'mean eyes,'" Leo said clearly. "And you have the meanest eyes I’ve ever seen. Can we go now, Mama?"

​I felt a surge of pride so strong it almost brought me to tears. I looked at Beatrice, whose face had turned a deep, ugly red.

​"You heard the CEO-in-waiting," I said, picking Leo up and resting him on my hip. He was heavy, a real, solid boy, not a ghost. "He’s not interested in your twenty bedrooms, Beatrice. He has a mother who loves him. He doesn't need a legacy built on lies."

​"You think you’ve won, Nina?" Beatrice hissed as I walked past her. "You’ve brought a war to this family. I will have my lawyers at your door by morning. I will sue for full custody. I will prove you are an unfit mother who kidnapped a Valentine heir."

​I stopped at the door and looked back over my shoulder.

​"Try it, Beatrice. But remember—I own your debt now. If you file one motion against me, I’ll foreclose on your precious Manor before the sun sets tomorrow. You want to play for the child? I’m playing for the whole kingdom."

​I walked out, leaving Lucius shattered and Beatrice fuming.

​Once we were in the elevator, Leo buried his face in my neck. "Mama? Are the mean people going to take me away?"

​"Never, Leo," I whispered, kissing the top of his head. "Never."