Chapter 4 - The Truth about the First ChildThe room went dead, breathlessly quiet.
Arthur Hayes looked at Adrian in shock, then quietly backed out of the private office, shutting the heavy mahogany doors behind him.
Adrian stood up from his desk, his chest heaving with shallow, panicked breaths as he pressed the phone to his ear. "Claire... that was six years ago. You agreed to that procedure. We weren't ready for a child!"
"I didn't agree to anything, Adrian," I revealed, tears finally spilling over my lashes as six years of buried grief resurfaced. "You brought your private doctor to our apartment. You told me that if I didn't terminate that pregnancy, your enemies would find us and kill us both. You used my fear, my love, and my isolation to force me into a decision that broke my soul."
"Claire, please..." Adrian's voice dropped into a desperate, groveling register he had never used in his entire life. "I was trying to protect the business! The Russo family would have killed you if they knew I had an heir with an ordinary woman!"
"And now I have an heir, Adrian," I stated flatly, every word carrying an unyielding, razor-sharp clarity. "His name is Leo. And today, my legal team filed a formal petition to place fifty percent of your primary shipping terminals into an irrevocable trust for his future."
"You can't do this!" Adrian roared, slamming his fist onto the mahogany desk. "I am Adrian Moretti! I own this city!"
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"You owned a city where I stayed quiet, Adrian," I promised softly. "That city doesn't exist anymore."
I hung up the phone.
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