Chapter 11 - The Midnight Call
Three days passed in an intoxicating dream.
For the first time in their lives, Noah, Ivy, and Owen experienced what it meant to have a father. Sebastian spent every waking minute outside of essential board duties with them—sitting on the floor building towering Lego castles with Noah, patiently letting Ivy paint his fingernails with glitter polish, and reading adventure stories to Owen until the boy fell asleep in his arms.
The tension in my chest had finally begun to dissolve. Seeing Sebastian look at our children with so much unconditional love made the nightmare of Arthur Vale feel like a distant memory.
On Thursday night, after tucking all three children into their beds in the penthouse nursery, Sebastian and I sat on the terrace under the stars, wrapped together in a heavy cashmere blanket, sharing a glass of red wine.
"The board voted this afternoon," Sebastian said, his arm draped securely around my shoulders. "Arthur was officially removed as chairman emeritus. His security credentials have been revoked across all Vale properties. It’s over, Maya. We won."
I took a deep breath of the crisp night air, letting a genuine smile touch my lips for the first time in years. "It feels surreal. I spent so long expecting the worst."
"The worst is behind us," Sebastian promised, kissing my temple. "Tomorrow, I’m taking you to the courthouse. I want to petition for an immediate annulment of that fraudulent divorce. I want to marry you again, Maya. Properly this time. In front of our children."
My heart swelled, a feeling of pure happiness spreading through my veins. I looked into his gray eyes, nodding softly. "Yes. Let's do it."
Just as Sebastian leaned in to seal the promise with a kiss, his encrypted satellite phone on the outdoor table began to ring violently.
He frowned, glancing at the glowing screen. "It's Marcus. The head of security I stationed at Arthur's country estate."
Sebastian reached over and tapped the speakerphone button. "Marcus, what is it? It's midnight."
"Mr. Vale, you need to hear this right now," Marcus’s voice crackled through the speaker, strained and out of breath, background sirens wailing in the distance. "Arthur is gone."
Sebastian’s jaw tightened. "What do you mean gone? He’s on house arrest pending the SEC investigation!"
"He’s not in the estate, sir! Twenty minutes ago, a private medical helicopter landed on the south lawn under a false flight manifest. When my team breached the master bedroom, the guards stationed there had been incapacitated with neurotoxins. Arthur didn't flee alone."
"Who was with him?" Sebastian demanded, standing up, his entire body going rigid.
"The head of his private black-ops security... and Clarissa Sterling," Marcus said frantically. "But that's not the worst part, sir. Arthur didn't run to escape federal indictment. He left behind a court order signed two hours ago by a federal appellate judge in Delaware."
"What court order?" I asked, my voice trembling as a cold dread seized my throat.
"An international extradition and emergency protective custody warrant," Marcus said, the terror evident in his tone. "Arthur invoked an obscure diplomatic treaty through the Sterling family's overseas ties. He filed a petition claiming the triplets are victims of international parental kidnapping, alleging that Maya smuggled them out of Europe three years ago under false identities."
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"That's an outright fabrication!" I screamed, clutching Sebastian's arm.
"The judge granted the injunction, ma'am," Marcus warned, his voice breaking up over static. "Federal marshals and Interpol agents are already en route to your penthouse with a tactical extraction team to seize the children. You have less than five minutes before they breach the building!"
