CHAPTER 109: Tell Him

POV: Avalon Pierce

James read the text over Avalon’s shoulder.

Let James know that I'm aware he's stepped down, but that's not important right now. I have something that I think he's going to want even more than being on the board, and I'm willing to use it to get what I want from him.

His jaw tightened.

“He’s bluffing,” James said.

“Is he.”

James was quiet.

"He's got nothing on me," he said, his voice firm. "I've paid off all my debts, so he's got no way to control me."

“Then what is this.”

James stared at the phone, his eyes fixed on it for what felt like an eternity.

He talked about his second company, the one that Henderson had invested in. “There was a list of investors that Henderson had never made public, people who had lost money when the company failed. They had blamed me publicly, but in private, they had blamed themselves for trusting me. He stopped for a moment. Henderson had always had this list, and now he was threatening to release it. He wanted to make it seem like the company's failure was all my fault, rather than what had really happened."

“Which was?”

“A market collapse nobody predicted. Including Henderson.” James set the phone down. “ But public perception doesn’t care about nuance.”

Selene had been listening from the doorway.

“Let him release it,” she said.

Both men looked at her.

“You’re not serious,” James said.

She walked in, her expression completely serious. "You were honest with us this morning, even if it was a bit late," she said. "If Henderson tries to make you look bad by releasing a list of accusations, we'll release the truth at the same time. We'll show everyone your real track record, the market data that proves your point, and the board votes where you tried to stop the acquisition from happening. That way, people will see what really went on."

James stared at her.

“You’d do that for me?” he asked. “ After what I didn’t tell you.”

"I'm doing this for the foundation," Selene said, her voice firm. "You're an asset to it, but Henderson is a danger. It's really quite straightforward - he's a problem that needs to be taken care of."

James looked at Avalon.

Avalon nodded once.

Monday arrived sharp and cold.

Henderson’s office occupied the top floor of a building that had clearly been designed to remind visitors who was paying for the view.

Richard Henderson stood when they entered.

Composed. Smiling like he already held every card.

"James," he said, his voice low and even, "I see you've gone and told them, haven't you?"

“I told them everything,” James said.

Something flickered across Henderson’s face.

“Then you know what I have,” Henderson said.

"I know what you think you have," James said.

Henderson looked at Avalon. Then Selene.

"Alright, let's talk about the basics," he said, settling back into his seat.

"Let's take a look at your plan for taking over the Pierce Foundation," Selene said, putting the document down in front of him. It was a pretty thick file, forty-three pages to be exact. "You know, the one that explains how the Henderson Philanthropic Trust is going to absorb the foundation over the next year and a half."

Henderson’s smile didn’t move.

But his eyes did.

“Where did you get that,” he said.

"Does it really make a difference," Selene said, her voice firm. "What matters is that it's true, that's all that counts."

The room was very quiet.

“I built something real,” Henderson said finally. “ I could make it bigger. Faster. More efficient.”

Selene's words were calm, but they cut deep. "You'd wipe out Nene's name, and with it, the whole reason we're doing this," she said. "You'd take something meaningful and turn it into a meaningless statement. You'd trade our dignity for a fancy press release." Her tone was steady, but her message was clear: "We're not going to let you buy our purpose, no matter what you offer."

Henderson looked at her for a long moment.

"And if I were to release the list of investors," he said, his eyes fixed on James. "What would happen to your reputation then?"

"Let it out," Selene said, cutting James off before he could respond. "We'll lay out the facts right alongside it. Every single vote James cast against your plans, every warning he sounded to the board, and the real market numbers from when his company went under." She leaned in, her eyes locked on her opponent. "You'll end up spending more time and money trying to discredit a good man than you'd ever make by taking over our foundation."

Henderson looked at the document on his desk.

At Selene.

At Avalon, who had remained silent throughout the entire meeting, observing as his wife took apart a billionaire with just a few documents and her unwavering confidence.

"Henderson said, 'This isn't how these conversations usually go.'"

Selene said she didn't care about the usual way things went.

They left the building twenty minutes later.

Outside the cold hit them properly.

James let out a deep breath, like he had been holding it in for a really long time.

He said, “he won't be making the list public.”

“No,” Selene said. “ He’s not.”

“How do you know.”

"Men like Henderson are all talk when they think they're on top," she said, glancing back at the building. "But the moment they realize they're not winning, their threats start to work against them."

James looked at her.

“You learned that from depositions,” he said.

“I learned that from surviving them.”

He was quiet for a moment.

“Selene.”

“Yes.”

“Thank you.”

"Don't bother thanking me," she told them. "Just make sure you share information with us from now on, and always do it first."

“Always first,” he agreed.

That evening, Avalon finally walked into her house and found her lying on the kitchen floor.

She was just sitting here, her back against the cabinets, with her knees pulled up tight. It's that special kind of tired you get when you've had to be strong all day, and now you just need a place to put it all down.

He sat beside her.

She leaned into him without speaking.

He didn’t ask if she was okay.

Just stayed.

She paused for a moment, then said, "Let's not discuss Henderson anymore tonight."

“Okay.”

“Or James. Or the foundation.”

“Okay.”

“I just want—” She stopped.

“What.”

She turned her head and looked at him.

"She looked at him and said, 'You, just you, for one evening.'"

He looked at her.

Something in his chest went warm and simple.

“You have me,” he said.