Chapter 3 - The Midnight Vigil
"Give him to me," Maren said softly, reaching out.
Reluctantly, I transferred the warm bundle into her arms. Watching her cradle him was like watching poetry in motion. She sat down in the rocking chair, unbuttoning her cardigan to feed him with a bottle of pumped milk she grabbed from a warmer on the side table. The baby latched on eagerly, his little eyes blinking open to reveal irises that were dark, stormy blue—the exact shade of mine.
"What's his name?" I asked, pulling up an ottoman and sitting right beside her, close enough to feel the warmth radiating from both of them.
"Leo," she replied softly. "After your grandfather. The only Vance who ever treated me like human being."
A lump formed in my throat. My grandfather had built the foundation of our company with honor before my mother twisted it into an empire of cold pragmatism.
"He's beautiful, Maren."
"He was born six weeks early," she murmured, stroking the peach fuzz on Leo’s cheek. "The stress... my blood pressure spiked. I spent four days in labor alone in a county hospital while your mother’s lawyers sent weekly emails verifying that I hadn't violated the non-disclosure clause."
"She made you sign an NDA?" Rage flared white-hot behind my eyes.
"Five million dollars, Everett. She wired it to an escrow account, claiming it was child support to keep me quiet so I wouldn't tarnish your upcoming public stock offering. I never touched a cent of it. The bank papers are on the kitchen counter if you don't believe me."
I stood up, walked into the modest kitchen, and found the folder. There it was. An ironclad non-disclosure agreement bearing my mother's personal legal counsel’s seal, alongside uncashed cashier's checks. My mother had effectively bought my son’s silence, keeping me in the dark to protect a corporate valuation.
I walked back into the living room, my hands shaking. "I’m going to ruin her for this."
"Ruin her?" Maren looked up, her gaze exhausted and weary. "You can't even see the truth until it’s shoved in your face, Everett. You spent four years of our marriage putting your mother’s company above everything. You missed our anniversaries. You missed my father’s funeral because of a board meeting in Tokyo. Your mother didn't create the crack in our marriage—she just drove the wedge in."
Every word was an arrow straight through my chest. Because she was right. I had built a golden cage, filled it with diamonds, and assumed it was enough.
Leo finished his bottle, letting out a milk-drunk sigh. Maren burped him gently, but her eyelids were drooping, heavy with bone-deep exhaustion. She looked like she hadn't slept a full two hours in weeks.
"Let me take him," I whispered.
"Everett, you don't know how—"
"Show me," I interrupted gently, dropping to one knee before her. "Please, Maren. Let me learn. Just let me hold him while you sleep. I won't leave. I swear on my life I won't disappear."
She stared at me, searching my face for the arrogant CEO she had divorced. Whatever she saw in my eyes softened the hard lines around her mouth. With a weary nod, she handed Leo back to me.
"Burp cloth goes over your shoulder," she whispered faintly. "Keep his head supported."
I held Leo against my shoulder, rocking him with slow, deliberate steps across the hardwood floor. Maren didn't even make it to her bedroom. She curled up on the sofa, pulled a knitted throw over herself, and within three minutes, her breathing evened out into deep, restorative sleep.
May you like
I stood there in the quiet house, the only sound being the ticking clock and the soft breathing of my newborn son against my neck. It was Christmas Eve, and for the first time in my thirty-four years, I realized that every dollar in my bank account was utterly worthless compared to the life beating against my chest.
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