Chapter 6 - When the High-Society Fiancée Discovers the Waitress in the Penthouse
“Elizabeth Vance! Open this door right now! I know you’re in there!”
The screeching voice outside the door was unmistakable.
Victoria Sterling.
Elizabeth’s eyes widened in horror. She instinctively clutched Maya tighter against her chest, retreating toward the back bedroom.
“How did she find this place?” Elizabeth whispered, panic lacing her voice.
“Arthur,” I said through gritted teeth, my jaw clenching so hard my teeth threatened to crack. My CFO had betrayed me to the Sterling family the moment I walked out of that restaurant.
I turned around, walked to the door, and ripped it open.
Victoria stood in the dimly lit hallway, dressed in an ivory cashmere coat with a fur collar, her diamond earrings catching the flickers of the overhead bulb. Behind her stood two private security guards and my mother’s personal driver.
When Victoria saw me standing in the doorway of the rundown apartment without my jacket, my sleeves rolled up, her jaw dropped in utter disbelief.
“Noah?” she shrieked, her perfectly manicured hand flying to her mouth. “It’s true? Arthur told me you abandoned the Dallas summit to chase after your pathetic ex-wife, but I didn’t believe him! What is the meaning of this madness?”
“Get out of here, Victoria,” I said, my voice dropping to a dangerous, low frequency. “You have five seconds to turn around and leave this building before I have my security throw you down these stairs.”
Victoria’s face twisted in disgust as she peered past my shoulder into the small living room. Her eyes landed on Elizabeth standing in the doorway of the bedroom with Maya in her arms.
“So this is the little charity case?” Victoria sneered, her voice dripping with pure venom. “You hid a bastard baby in the slums to blackmail Noah out of his inheritance? How typical of a low-class Ohio girl.”
Before Victoria could finish her sentence, I lunged forward, grabbing her security guard by the lapels and shoving him back against the opposite wall with enough force to knock the breath out of him.
“Say another word about my daughter,” I snarled, stepping into Victoria’s face, my eyes burning with lethal intent, “and I will liquidate every single share of Sterling Global stock held in my private trusts by tomorrow morning. Your father’s company will be penny stock by noon.”
Victoria stepped back, her face draining of all color. She had never seen me like this. In the corporate world, I was calculating, cold, and measured. She had never seen the beast that lived underneath the tailored suits.
“Noah, your mother will ruin you for this,” Victoria spat, trying desperately to regain her composure. “The board is meeting at eight o’clock tomorrow morning to vote on removing you as CEO if you don’t sign the merger. You’re throwing away your entire life for a waitress and a child that might not even be yours!”
“She is mine,” I said with absolute, unyielding certainty. “Now get out of my sight.”
I slammed the apartment door shut, locking every bolt.
Inside the room, Maya had begun to cry, frightened by the yelling and the slamming of the door. Elizabeth was rocking her back and forth, whispering soft, desperate comforts, her own hands shaking uncontrollably.
I walked over to them.
“Ellie,” I said gently.
She looked up at me, tears streaming down her face. “They’re going to destroy you, Noah. Your mother, the board, the Sterlings... they will take everything you have.”
“Let them try,” I said, reaching out.
For the first time in three years, Elizabeth didn’t pull away. When I reached out, she leaned forward, resting her forehead against my chest as Maya cried between us.
May you like
I wrapped my arms around both of them, shielding them from the world with my body.
“Let them take the money, Ellie,” I whispered into her hair, kissing the crown of her head. “I built that empire once. I can build another one. But I’m never losing you and Maya again.”
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