Chapter 8 - The Ultimatum
The silence in the hallway was deafening.
The two bodyguards looked confused, unsure of what to do now that their boss was paralyzed.
"You're bluffing," my father rasped.
"Am I?" I challenged.
"Call David in accounting."
"Ask him what files I downloaded yesterday."
My father didn't make the call.
He knew I had him.
"What do you want?" he asked, his voice a venomous hiss.
"Three things," I said, stepping out into the hallway and pulling the door mostly shut behind me to protect Valerie and Lucy from his sight.
"One: You drop this custody petition immediately."
"You will never, ever approach Valerie or Lucy again."
"Two: You unfreeze my personal accounts."
"The money I earned from my trust, not the company stock."
"Three: You force Chloe to agree to an annulment."
"Quietly."
"No press, no smear campaigns."
My father’s face was purple with rage.
"Chloe’s family will pull their investments."
"The merger will collapse."
"Then let it collapse," I said coldly.
"You can either lose the Vances, or you can lose your freedom when the Feds raid your office."
"Your choice, Richard."
He stared at me, searching for the obedient, eager-to-please son he had molded for thirty years.
But that man had died in an airport lounge in New York.
"You are throwing away a billion-dollar empire for a bastard child and a waitress," he spat.
I stepped right into his personal space.
"Do not ever speak about my daughter or her mother that way again."
"Or I won't even wait twelve hours."
"I'll release the files right now."
My father breathed heavily, his fists clenched at his sides.
For a moment, I thought he might order the guards to attack me.
But Richard Sterling was a businessman above all else.
He calculated the risks, and he knew he had lost.
"Fine," he gritted out.
"The accounts will be unfrozen in an hour."
"The custody petition is withdrawn."
He turned to walk away, then stopped and looked back at me.
"But you are no longer a Sterling."
"You are disowned."
"You will never set foot in my company or my home again."
"That," I said with genuine relief, "is the best wedding gift you could have ever given me."
I watched him walk down the stairs, a defeated, hollow man.
When his SUV finally pulled out of the parking lot, my knees nearly gave out.
I turned and pushed the apartment door open.
Valerie was standing right behind it, tears streaming down her face.
She had heard everything.
Without a word, she threw her arms around my neck, burying her face in my shoulder.
I held her tight, breathing in the scent of her hair, feeling the fierce, pounding rhythm of her heart against mine.
"It's over," I whispered into her hair.
"They're gone."
"They're never going to hurt you again."
Lucy peeked out from the bedroom hallway, holding her stuffed rabbit.
"Is the loud man gone?" she asked.
I pulled away from Valerie just enough to look at my daughter.
May you like
"Yes, sweetheart," I said, a massive smile breaking across my face.
"He's gone."
