Chapter 6 - RICHARD FINALLY DID SOMETHING THAT WASN’T ABOUT HIM
Richard asked to meet Alexander.
That sentence alone sounded dangerous.
I said no.
Then Alexander said yes.
We met at our house.
Not an office.
Not a restaurant.
The children were upstairs with Celeste.
Richard arrived alone.
Alexander stood in the library.
No business smile.
No hostility performed for effect.
Just controlled attention.
Richard looked uncomfortable.
Good.
He should.
“Thank you for seeing me.”
Alexander nodded.
“Elena said Sebastian contacted you.”
“Yes.”
“What exactly did he ask?”
Richard sat.
I remained beside Alexander.
Not between them.
That mattered.
“He asked whether Elena still reacts strongly to fertility discussions.”
My stomach tightened.
Alexander’s jaw hardened.
Richard continued quickly.
“I told him I wasn’t discussing her medical history.”
“What else?”
“He asked about the triplets.”
Alexander went still.
“What?”
“Whether they were conceived through treatment.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Alexander’s face became colder.
“Guess.”
Richard looked toward me.
Then back.
“He wants to categorize them.”
That sounded right.
Biological.
Donor-assisted.
Natural.
Heir.
Legitimate.
Men like Sebastian loved categories that made people easier to rank.
Richard continued.
“He asked whether Elena ever considered leaving you.”
Alexander’s eyes moved toward me.
I did not look away.
Richard noticed.
“I said I had no idea.”
“Good,” I said.
“I genuinely don’t.”
“Even better.”
He almost smiled.
Then became serious.
“He asked what makes you angry.”
Alexander raised an eyebrow.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“What did you say?”
“That I had only met you twice and both times you seemed to become quiet when angry.”
Alexander almost laughed.
“Accurate.”
Richard continued.
“Then he asked whether you were possessive.”
The room changed.
I felt Alexander react beside me.
Richard saw.
“He was looking for a way to make Elena compare you to me.”
There.
Clear.
Cruel.
Effective.
Sebastian had read the history.
He understood my most sensitive wound was not infidelity.
Control.
Reality rewritten by a man who claimed authority over my choices.
Alexander looked toward the window.
Richard spoke.
“I recorded the second half.”
I frowned.
“You recorded him?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Richard looked at me.
“Because I spent years wishing you had proof before I lied to your face.”
That answer silenced me.
He took out his phone.
Played the recording.
Sebastian’s voice.
Calm.
Polished.
“Mrs. Voss seems resilient.”
Richard answered,
“She is.”
“Resilience often comes from injury.”
Silence.
Then Sebastian:
“My son has always mistaken possession for devotion when frightened.”
Alexander closed his eyes.
Richard’s recorded voice:
“I wouldn’t know.”
Sebastian laughed.
“You were married to Elena seven years.”
“Yes.”
“What makes her feel trapped?”
The recording ended.
Alexander stared at nothing.
I touched his hand.
Richard put away the phone.
“I thought you should hear it.”
Alexander looked at him.
“Why help?”
Richard gave a tired laugh.
“That is a fair question.”
He looked toward me.
“Because once somebody’s pain becomes information you can use against them, it gets easier to stop seeing them as a person.”
Silence.
“I know what that turns you into.”
My throat tightened.
He continued.
“And because Elena is the mother of three children who did nothing to deserve a man studying her weaknesses so he can reach them.”
Alexander studied him.
Then nodded once.
“Thank you.”
Richard looked genuinely surprised.
“So we are not fighting?”
“No.”
Richard almost smiled.
“Good.”
Alexander added,
“I considered it.”
“There it is.”
I laughed.
The tension broke slightly.
Then Richard became serious.
“Sebastian also mentioned your board.”
Alexander’s expression changed.
“What about it?”
“He said several directors still believe you made emotional decisions after marrying Elena.”
My stomach tightened.
“Which decisions?”
“Selling portions of the European portfolio.”
“Refusing one acquisition.”
“Moving capital away from certain family holdings.”
Alexander’s jaw moved.
Those had all been business decisions.
Good ones, according to him.
But Sebastian was building a story.
Elena weakened Alexander.
Elena distracted him.
Elena brought children and emotional instability.
Oldest tactic in the world.
Blame the woman when a man stops obeying another man.
Richard looked toward me.
“I recognized that one too.”
I stared.
“What?”
“Making the woman responsible for choices the man made.”
His expression darkened with shame.
“I did it professionally after our divorce too.”
I had not known.
He continued.
“I told people I lost focus because the marriage failed.”
I almost laughed.
“Of course.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Not today.”
He nodded.
Fair.
Alexander asked,
“Did Sebastian name directors?”
“One.”
“Who?”
“Martin Kessler.”
Alexander’s face changed.
I knew the name.
Board member.
Longtime Voss family ally.
Seventy.
Elegant.
Always pleasant to me.
Of course.
Alexander stood.
“Thank you.”
Richard rose too.
“Be careful.”
Alexander looked amused.
“You’re warning me?”
Richard sighed.
“I know how absurd this is.”
“Yes.”
He looked toward me.
“But I’m trying something new.”
“What?”
“Being useful before everything collapses.”
That almost hurt.
Because it was funny.
Because it was true.
Because once, that version of Richard might have saved a marriage.
But time does not refund choices.
“Keep doing that,” I said.
He nodded.
Before leaving, Richard stopped.
“Noah comes home next week.”
I smiled.
“Good.”
He looked different when saying the baby’s name.
Softer.
“What are you to him now?”
Richard thought.
“Vanessa and I are working out something.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
He smiled faintly.
“I’m his dad.”
No hesitation.
There.
Progress.
“Good.”
After he left, Alexander stood near the fireplace.
“Kessler.”
“You trust him?”
“I did.”
There was that word.
Past tense starting to form.
“What happens now?”
“Board meeting tomorrow.”
“Are you worried?”
“Yes.”
“About losing control?”
Alexander looked at me.
Then laughed quietly.
“Unfortunately you have ruined my ability to answer that dishonestly.”
“Good.”
He sat.
“I’m worried they’ll use you.”
“They already are.”
“And the children.”
“Yes.”
“I can destroy Kessler financially.”
“No.”
He looked offended.
“I didn’t say I would.”
“You thought loudly.”
Alexander smiled.
Then became serious.
“My father understands one thing about me.”
“What?”
“I hate being told I am becoming him.”
That made sense.
“He will keep creating situations where either choice can be framed that way.”
I sat beside him.
“If you fight, you’re him.”
“If you retreat, he wins.”
“Yes.”
“Then stop making him the reference point.”
Alexander looked at me.
“What?”
“Choose based on what you think is right.”
“Not what proves you are different from Sebastian.”
Silence.
That hit something.
He nodded slowly.
“You make that sound easy.”
“It is not.”
I touched his hand.
“But your father should not get to define you even as the person you are trying not to become.”
The board meeting lasted four hours.
Alexander returned home at seven.
No tie.
Face exhausted.
I waited.
“Well?”
“Kessler proposed an independent review of my leadership.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why?”
“Conflict of interest.”
“Family instability.”
“Reputational risk after Richard’s wedding.”
I laughed.
“Your board is worried about my ex-husband’s canceled wedding?”
“Apparently rich men enjoy finding sophisticated vocabulary for gossip.”
“What happened?”
“I voted for the review.”
I stared.
“You what?”
Alexander smiled faintly.
“If there’s a legitimate problem, they can find it.”
“And if there isn’t?”
“Then my father wasted everyone’s time.”
My chest warmed.
No retaliation.
No purge.
No power play.
Confidence.
Then Alexander said,
“I also stepped down as chair during the review.”
I stopped breathing.
“What?”
“Temporary.”
“Alexander.”
“I’m still CEO.”
“Why?”
“Because Kessler expected me to fight for the chair.”
He took my hand.
“And I realized something irritating.”
“What?”
“I don’t need the title badly enough to let my father use it as a weapon against my family.”
My eyes filled.
He smiled.
“Don’t look so shocked.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
“Maybe a little.”
He leaned toward me.
Then his phone rang.
School security.
Again.
Both of us froze.
Alexander answered.
No hello.
“What happened?”
He listened.
His face changed.
Then looked at me.
“They’re fine.”
I exhaled.
“What?”
“A man tried to pick them up.”
My stomach turned.
“Sebastian?”
“No.”
Alexander’s eyes hardened.
“He used a driver we’ve never seen.”
My hands went cold.
“The school stopped him.”
“Good.”
“The driver is in police custody.”
“Good.”
Alexander listened again.
Then asked,
“Where is Sebastian?”
A pause.
His expression changed.
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
He ended the call.
I stared.
“What?”
Alexander looked at me.
“His hotel room is empty.”
“Since when?”
“Last night.”
My stomach dropped.
“Where is he?”
Alexander looked toward the dark windows.
“I don’t know.”
Upstairs, one of the children laughed.
A small sound.
Safe.
Home.
For now.
Then the doorbell rang.
Every security light outside came on at once.
Alexander stood.
I heard voices in the foyer.
One of our guards entered.
“Mr. Voss.”
“What?”
“There’s someone at the gate.”
“Who?”
The man hesitated.
Then:
“Your father.”
Alexander stopped.
The guard continued.
“He says he wants to surrender his passport.”
I frowned.
“Why?”
The guard looked confused.
May you like
“He says somebody else is using his name.”
---
Related Stories
