Chapter 41

Alex slept on Alicia’s couch that night.Not because anything dramatic happened.Not because either of them said it out loud.It just felt wrong for him to leave.He lay there staring at the ceiling long after the apartment had gone quiet, listening to the refrigerator hum, the distant siren somewhere downtown, the soft rhythm of a city that didn’t care who was falling apart inside it.Alicia hadn’t cried.That worried him more than if she had.She’d moved through the apartment slowly, methodically—locking doors, checking windows, smoothing Aiden’s hair as he slept. Like if she kept her hands busy, her thoughts wouldn’t catch up.Alex wanted to say something useful.He didn’t.He watched instead. Memorized the way she pressed her lips together when she was thinking too hard. The way her shoulders stayed tense even when she sat down.At some point, she paused in the doorway between the hallway and the living room.“Are you still awake?” she asked quietly.“Yeah.”She nodded. “Good.”T

Chapter 42

The home visit was scheduled for Thursday. Two days away. Alicia wrote it on her calendar in black ink, underlined it twice, then stared at it until the letters blurred. Forty-eight hours to prove she was a fit mother to the child she’d raised alone for four years. Forty-eight hours to sanitize a life that had never been dirty to begin with.Alex found her scrubbing the baseboards at 11 p.m. “Alicia.”“I know.” She didn’t look up. “It’s late.”“It’s already clean.”“It can be cleaner.” He crouched beside her, took the rag from her hand. Her fingers were red, raw. She didn’t fight him. “They want to see normal,” he said quietly. “Not perfect. You don’t have to bleed for them.”She let out a breath that sounded too much like a sob and pressed her forehead to his shoulder. Just for a second. Then she pulled back. “Aiden can’t see me like this,” she whispered. “He won’t.”But he did. The next morning, Aiden stood in the kitchen doorway watching Alicia repack his backpack for the

Chapter 43

The invitation wasn’t accepted. It was acknowledged. Chris replied at 2:17 a.m. _Your place. Cute. Bringing the bodyguard. I’ll bring an appetite..Alicia read it once. Deleted it. Then deleted it from her trash. Alex didn’t sleep after that. He sat at her kitchen table with his laptop open, legal docs on one screen, security camera feeds on the other. By 6 a.m. he had three former Marines rotating outside her building and a restraining order draft that would never hold against Chris but looked good in court. “You need to rest,” Alicia said, setting coffee beside him. “So do you,” he countered, not looking up. “I’m not the one about to walk into a boardroom that wants his head.” Alex finally met her eyes. “Let them want it. I’m not giving it to them.” Keith had texted him four times. He hadn’t opened any of them. The fifth text came at 7:31 a.m. Board votes at 10. They’re pushing for temporary removal as CEO. Citing ‘erratic personal conduct affecting company stabili

Chapter 44

Margaret Dickson didn’t raise her voice when she was angry. She raised her standards. By 8 a.m. Monday, three things happened. First, Alicia’s studio landlord hand-delivered a notice. _Lease under review due to “zoning compliance audit.” Vacate in 30 days if violations are found. There were no violations. There never were. Second, Aiden’s pediatrician called. We're so sorry, Ms. Dickson, but we’re over capacity and have to refer you to another provider. Effective immediately. They’d been his doctor since birth. Third, Ms. Hendricks from CPS requested a second home visit. Just procedural. Given recent media attention and new information received._ New information. Alicia read the email three times, then set her phone face-down and went to throw up. Alex found her on the bathroom floor twenty minutes later. “Tell me,” he said. No preamble. She told him. He didn’t curse. Didn’t punch a wall. He just went very, very still. The way he used to look before he destroyed

Chapter 45

Margaret didn’t come at night. Margaret came at 7:03 a.m., when the sky was gray and honest and most people were still pretending the day hadn’t started. She didn’t knock. The locks turned with a key Alicia didn’t know she still had. Alicia was in the kitchen. Alex was by the front door, already awake, already waiting. He’d slept in shifts, gun legally registered and locked in a safe, but within reach. Neither of them had discussed it. They hadn’t needed to. Margaret stepped inside wearing cream silk and pearls, like she was late for a charity board. Her eyes swept the apartment—Alex by the door, Alicia by the counter, no Aiden—and landed on the flash drive still sitting on the dining table from two nights ago. “Darling,” she said to Alicia. “You look tired.” “You need to leave,” Alex said. No heat. Just a fact. Margaret smiled at him. “I own half of this building, Mr. George. Through three different LLCs. I don’t leave places I own.” “You don’t own her,” Alex replie

All Chapters of His hidden heir : Chapter 41 - Chapter 45

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45