Chapter 7 - The Matriarch's Gambit
I opened the door before she could knock again, stepping out onto the icy porch and pulling the door shut behind me. The biting morning wind cut through my dress shirt, but the fire in my blood kept me numb to the cold.
"You have ten seconds to get off this property," I warned, my voice deadly low.
Eleanor adjusted her diamond-encrusted gloves, looking at me with the same clinical disdain she used when firing underperforming executives. "Stop playing the heroic protector, Everett. You're making a fool of yourself. Do you know who called me forty minutes ago? The Sterling patriarch. Evelyn is mortified that you abandoned their holiday brunch."
"I told you, Mother. The Sterlings mean nothing to me. Neither do you."
"You naive boy," she sneered, stepping closer. "Do you think you can simply vote me out of the company? I signed a power of attorney over your father’s legacy trust before he passed. If you challenge me, I will trigger the moral turpitude clause in the board charter. A CEO fathering an illegitimate child with an estranged ex-wife amidst corporate litigation? The board will replace you within forty-eight hours."
"Leo is not illegitimate," I snarled, stepping into her personal space, forcing her guards to take a tense half-step forward. "He is my flesh and blood. And if you think a piece of paper can stop me from protecting my family, you've forgotten whose blood runs in my veins. Grandfather Leo built this company, not you. And he left me the executive override."
Eleanor’s eyes narrowed, a flash of genuine panic flickering across her aristocratic face. "You wouldn't."
"Try me," I said, cold satisfaction washing over me. "I spent the last ten years modernizing our legal infrastructure. Your trust has no jurisdiction over Vance Technologies' primary assets. The only thing you have left is your pride, Eleanor. And right now, you're about to lose that in the town square."
Behind me, the front door cracked open.
Maren stepped out onto the porch, clutching Leo tightly against her chest, wrapped in his blue blanket.
"Maren, get back inside," I commanded softly.
"No," she said, her voice clear and resonant in the crisp morning air. She stood beside me, facing Eleanor directly. "I ran away from you once because I thought my husband hated me. But I’m not running anymore. You tried to buy my child’s future with dirty money. Take your checks, Eleanor. Take your threats. Because the only thing you will ever be to this boy is a ghost."
Eleanor stared at the child, her face pale as alabaster. For a fraction of a second, her gaze softened as she looked at Leo’s features—the undeniable Vance stamp on his tiny brow. But her pride snapped back into place like a steel trap.
"You will regret this," Eleanor whispered, her voice trembling with venom. "Both of you."
May you like
She turned on her designer heels, barking at her guards, and stormed back toward the black sedan. The tires spun on the ice before catching traction, speeding away into the blinding white horizon.
***
