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CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Last Updated:
2026-01-31 18:18:06
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The billionaire’s dirty deal CHAPTER EIGHTY SIX
The first Carter Industries board meeting Leo attended felt like walking into a battlefield wearing a calm expression.Grayson had insisted on driving him.“Emotional support chauffeur,” he’d joked.Leo adjusted his tie as the car stopped in front of the towering glass building.“You know they hate me already.”Grayson leaned across the console and kissed him quickly.“Correction,” he said. “They fear you.”Leo rolled his eyes.“That’s not better.”“Actually,” Grayson replied, opening the door for him, “it’s much better.”Leo stepped out, shoulders squared.Inside, the boardroom was exactly what he expected.Polished walnut table.Floor-to-ceiling windows.Ten executives already seated.Seven of them stared at him like he had brought a bomb instead of a briefcase.Richard Carter sat at the head of the table.“Mr. Carter-Knight,” he said calmly. “Welcome.”Leo took the empty seat halfway down.Across from him, a gray-haired man cleared his throat.“Before we begin,” he said stiffly, “I
The billionaire’s dirty deal CHAPTER EIGHTY FIVE
Leo’s phone wouldn’t stop vibrating.At first he ignored it. He was halfway through pouring coffee when the buzzing started again then again then again.Notifications.Missed calls.Messages piling up faster than he could read them.Something was wrong.Grayson walked into the kitchen just as Leo stared down at the screen, his face drained of color.Grayson immediately felt it.“What happened?”Leo didn’t answer right away. Instead, he turned the phone toward him.“A video,” he said quietly.Grayson took the phone.The clip was short less than ten seconds.It showed Leo sitting at a closed-door donor meeting months ago. A room full of investors and philanthropists.Leo speaking calmly.Then the video cut sharply.“…legacy money built on exclusion…”Cut.The video ended there.Below it, a caption burned across the screen:“Carter Heir Attacks Family Business While Profiting From It.”Grayson swore under his breath.“They cut the full statement,” Leo said, rubbing his forehead. “I
The billionaire’s dirty deal CHAPTER EIGHTY FOUR
The first time Ava said it, it slipped out by accident.“I don’t want to mess this up again.”They were in Leo’s office at the foundation. Late. Papers everywhere. Grant proposals stacked high.Leo looked up.“Again?”Ava froze slightly.She hadn’t meant to say it out loud.Grayson, who had come to drop off coffee, paused at the doorway.Ava exhaled slowly.“I was engaged once,” she admitted. “Two years ago.”Leo leaned back in his chair.“And?”“And when I found out about Meredith… about all of this… I spiraled.”Her voice was steady, but thin.“I became obsessed with where I came from. With what it meant. With whether I was abandoned because something was wrong with me.”Leo’s chest tightened.“That question doesn’t go away easily,” he said quietly.Ava nodded.“My fiancé said I was disappearing. That I cared more about ghosts than the future.”Grayson stepped inside fully now, setting the coffees down.“Did he leave?” he asked gently.“I pushed him away first,” she replied. “Feels
The billionaire’s dirty deal CHAPTER EIGHTY THREE
The email arrived on a quiet Sunday afternoon.Leo almost didn’t open it.Subject line: “Private Inquiry – Confidential.”He sighed. “That never means anything simple.”Grayson looked up from where he was assembling what looked like a very complicated dinosaur puzzle with Aria.“Spam?”“I wish.”Leo clicked it.And then he went very still.Grayson noticed immediately. “What is it?”Leo didn’t answer right away.He read it again.Then again.Finally, he whispered, “Her name is Ava.”Silence.Grayson stood slowly. “Who’s Ava?”Leo turned the laptop toward him.The message was short. Direct.My name is Ava Monroe. I believe I’m Meredith Carter’s daughter.The room shifted.Grayson blinked. “That’s not possible.”“That’s what I thought.”They both stared at the screen.The email continued:I recently obtained documents through a DNA registry. Meredith Carter gave birth at nineteen. The child was placed for private adoption. That child is me.Leo felt like the air had been sucked out of th
The billionaire’s dirty deal CHAPTER EIGHTY TWO
The call came at 6:42 a.m.Too early for anything good.Grayson reached for his phone before the second ring.Unknown number.He almost ignored it.Almost.“Hello?”There was breathing on the other end.Then a woman’s voice.“Is this Mr. Grayson Knight?”His stomach tightened.“Yes.”“This is Officer Ramirez from Brookfield High.”Everything inside him went cold.“I’m calling about your son.” Leo was already sitting up in bed.“What happened?”Grayson’s face had drained of color.“We need to go.”The drive felt endless.No music.No small talk.Just the echo of that sentence.Your son.When they reached the school, the front office felt too bright. Too normal.Kids walking to class.Lockers slamming.Ordinary.Officer Ramirez met them outside the principal’s office.“Your son is safe,” she said immediately.Leo’s knees nearly buckled.“Safe?” he repeated.“Yes. But there was an incident.”The word incident felt too small.Inside the office, their son sat in a chair, shoulders stiff.
The billionaire’s dirty deal CHAPTER EIGHTY ONE
Three years later.Not chaotic, just alive.Soccer cleats by the door. Pink glitter shoes abandoned in the hallway. Crayon drawings taped proudly to the fridge dragons, hearts, a very questionable family portrait where Grayson somehow had purple hair.Their daughter, Aria, stood in the middle of the living room in a sparkly cape.“I am NOT a princess,” she declared fiercely. “I am a warrior.”Her older brother nodded solemnly. “She fought a dragon before she was even born.”Grayson looked at Leo over their heads.“Still telling that story?” he asked.“Always,” Leo replied.Because some scars deserved legends. Life had steadied into something almost peaceful.Grayson had returned to business but on his terms. Smaller portfolio. More time at home. He had learned the hard way that money didn’t tuck kids into bed.Leo had started a nonprofit using part of Meredith’s trust.A foundation for LGBTQ+ youth who’d been rejected by their families.He called it The Fierce Heart Initiative.G
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