Chapter 10 - The Sovereign Queen's Crown
Two Years Later
The penthouse of the Phoenix Tower in Dubai overlooked the sparkling waters of the Persian Gulf. Warm golden sunlight poured through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, illuminating a breathtaking nursery decorated in soft ivory and gold.
I stood by the window, holding my six-month-old daughter in my left arm and my six-month-old son in my right. They were healthy, beautiful, and thriving—born through a surrogate using my frozen eggs from my early twenties, long before Everett had ever tried to poison my body.
Nathan walked quietly into the nursery, holding an iPad. "Madame Chairwoman, the quarterly report for Phoenix Global has arrived. Stock prices are up forty percent, making us the top-performing conglomerate on the NYSE."
"Thank you, Nathan," I said softly, kissing my daughter's soft forehead. "And how are our former guests doing?"
Nathan gave a cold, dry smile. "Everett’s request for an appeal was denied yesterday. He is currently working in the prison laundry room earning twenty cents an hour. Diane was transferred to a minimum-security facility after developing severe arthritis, and Vanessa was recently denied bail after getting into a fight with another inmate."
I nodded gently, looking back out at the endless blue horizon of the ocean.
There was a time when I had dimmed my own light to make a fragile man feel big. I had hidden my wealth, my power, and my intelligence behind a modest black gown, enduring endless insults just to keep a peaceful home.
They thought I was a barren leech. They thought I was weak because I chose to be quiet.
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But they forgot that the quietest waters run the deepest—and when the storm finally rises, it washes away everything in its path.
My son let out a tiny, sweet laugh, clutching my finger with his small hand. I looked down into his bright blue eyes and smiled.
