Chapter 3 - The Ultimatum"Thank you," I managed to say, my voice thick with an emotion I hadn't felt in decades. "It's silk."
Leo nodded solemnly, satisfied with the answer, before turning his attention to a heavy crystal paperweight resting on the corner of my low credenza.
Elena hurried forward, scooping Leo up into her arms before he could test the gravity of my antique office decor. She held him close, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she looked down at me still kneeling on the floor.
"I didn't bring them here to ambush you, Tobias," Elena said softly, her defenses crumbling just a fraction. "Well... not entirely. But things have changed."
I stood up, towering over her by a foot, though right then, she held all the power.
"What kind of things?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. "Where have you been living? Who has been helping you? A woman doesn't raise twin boys alone in Manhattan without a massive support system—or a very good reason to hide."
Elena's jaw tightened. The vulnerability vanished, replaced by the fierce, protective steel of a mother who had fought tooth and nail for her children.
"For the past three years, I've been living in Boston," she said evenly. "Working my way up from a junior account manager to a vice president at a tech startup. I didn't take a single dime of your money, Tobias. I didn't use your name. I built a life where your shadow couldn't reach us."
A sharp pang of pride mixed with bitter jealousy twisted in my gut. "Then why bring them here today? Why walk back into my office with the unsigned divorce papers sitting right on my desk?"
Elena set Leo back into the stroller next to Julian, who was still sleepily chewing his elephant, and turned back to face me fully.
"Because I'm getting married," she dropped the bomb without a single flinch.
The air vanished from the room. The forty-second floor felt like it was plummeting down an elevator shaft.
"Married," I repeated, the word tasting like poison on my tongue. "To who?"
"His name is Julian Vance," she said calmly.
My brain stalled. The name echoed in my head, bouncing off the walls of logic and reason until it settled into a horrifying reality.
"Julian Vance?" I stepped forward, my voice rising. "My executive vice president? My personal hand-picked corporate successor? My lawyer's cousin? Are you out of your absolute mind, Elena?!"
Before she could answer, the office door flew open with a violent crash.
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Julian Vance strode into the room, looking immaculate in a tailored navy suit, carrying a legal document binder. But the moment he saw me standing over Elena, and the double stroller sitting between us, his confident smirk vanished.
And then, Julian said the four words that made me realize my entire life had just been hijacked.
