2025-08-26 11:00:51
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Chapter 41: Stranger Father
He didn’t speak much.Didn’t ask questions.He observed.Gabriel’s silence carried weight. His eyes were not a child’s eyes — not Aaron’s bright, curious ones, not the warm, hungry gaze that asked to be included. Gabriel’s stare was colder, sharper. He took everything in as though he were cataloguing evidence.Aaron noticed. At first, he tried. He sat cross-legged on the carpet, opening one of his books — the one about constellations he loved. He pointed at the Orion cluster, tracing it with his finger.“See this? Dad says if you follow the belt you can find Sirius. It’s the brightest star in the sky.”Gabriel leaned closer, his shadow falling across the page. He stared. He did not answer.Minutes passed like hours until Aaron shut the book with a frustrated snap and muttered, “Fine. Don’t talk then.”Later that night, Liam found Gabriel sitting alone in the guest wing, staring at the window though the curtains were drawn. He seemed deep in thought and Liam wondered what a little chil
Chapter 40: Woman at the Gate
Rain traced silver rivers down the Hawthorne estate’s front gates.Liam wasn’t expecting visitors. Not on a Sunday. Not at sunrise.But when security called and said, “Sir… there’s a woman here. She says you’re the father of her son,”he didn’t wait for Voss.He came to the gate himself.She stood under a black umbrella, hair wet, face pale but composed.“Liam Hawthorne?” she asked.He nodded slowly.“My name is Celeste Hart. We met in Milan. Seven years ago. Brief. One night.”His heart stilled.“I have no interest in your money,” she said. “But our son… his name is Gabriel. And he’s starting to ask why his father never came for him,. Complains that he is mocked in school. Called a bastard who has no father.”Liam swallowed hard. “Where is he now?”She stepped aside.And there — standing quietly behind her — was a boy.Dark hair. Serious eyes. His face was hauntingly familiar.“Gabriel,” she said gently, “this is… Liam.”The boy looked up.And said the one thing that shattered Liam’s
Chapter 39: Queens Don't Flinch
Ava stood before a global panel of investors, announcing her next move. NOVA Solutions — an independent, woman-led energy tech firm, built to rival both Vantage and Hawthorne Holdings.“I’m not building this to compete with Liam Hawthorne,” Ava said into the camera. “I’m building it because I no longer need permission to lead.”She launched with two stolen Vantage clients — both of whom Delilah had once cast aside.The move was ruthless.And beautiful.But as her company climbed...A package arrived at her penthouse. No sender. Just a name.Inside was a USB drive. What could this be? Only one way to find out, she decided and plugged it in. And her heart froze at what sher saw. It was a video of her, in Prague.But unedited. The full version.Including the end.Where she said into a burner phone: “I don’t care who gets hurt, as long as I win. Even if it’s Liam.”Her blood ran cold.It wasn’t business strategy. It was personal. And it was real.********The call came at 1:42 a.m.Aar
Chapter 38: Burn the Name
The cameras were brutal.The microphones harsher.But Liam Hawthorne walked into the press hall with Ava Langston at his side — not behind him.He took the podium. She stood with him.No bodyguards. No lawyers. Just them.“I want to address two things,” Liam began. “The boy in that photo… is my son. He was kept from me. And now that I know of him, I will protect him. With everything I have.”Reporters shouted over each other. “What about Ava Langston? Did she know?” “Was there a cover-up?”Liam raised a hand.“Ava Langston is not only my partner in business and in life. She’s the reason I became the man worthy of that child. She didn’t hide him. I did. Out of fear, not malice.”Then Ava stepped forward.And her words silenced the room.“I’ve been called manipulative, cold, controlling. I’ve been called worse. But no one talks about how many empires were built by men who broke things to get there. So when a woman builds one — they burn her for it.”Her voice never cracked.“I’m not ste
Chapter 37: My Name, Not His!
The Hawthorne Holdings boardroom was colder than usual.Ava stood at the center — alone, flanked by lawyers and whispers.Across from her sat the board's PR consultant, tapping a manicured nail against a tablet.“We believe the company’s survival depends on perception,” the consultant said. “Right now, you’re a liability.”Ava smiled. A sharp, elegant thing.“I built the GreenTech division from nothing. I pulled it through the Vale audits. I negotiated clean energy contracts that tripled shareholder value. You didn’t mind my reputation then.”“But that was before Delilah Vale entered the public sphere,” the woman replied. “And before you became romantically linked to the CEO while hiding a child from him.”The implication cut deep.Then came the ultimatum. “If you publicly distance yourself from Mr. Hawthorne, we will back your division as its own entity. Full control. Full future.”“And if I don’t?”The consultant smiled sweetly.“Then you fall with him.”Ava stood slowly, hands fol
Chapter 36: The Blood Trap
The Gala was a masterpiece of money and mirrors. No expenses was spared in its preparation. The ladies wore Luxury gowns. There was Gold wine. Press was there taking their flashes.But Ava wasn’t there for photos.She walked in dressed in obsidian silk — sleek, calm, unreadable — until she saw her.Delilah.By the champagne fountain. Laughing. Holding court like a queen returned from the dead.Ava approached, fire hidden behind every graceful step.Delilah turned just as Ava reached her.The crowd sensed tension. Phones lifted. Flashes from the cameras of the press, blinked.“I’m surprised you showed up,” Delilah purred. “I expected you'd be home licking your wounds — or Liam’s boots.”Ava smiled.“A decade later and you’re still bitter I outran you", Ava said. “Oh, sweetheart,” Delilah said softly. “I’m not bitter. I’m the consequence.”They moved away from the crowd, but the air crackled.“I know what you’re doing,” Ava hissed. “The boy. The petition. The leaks. All of it.”Delila
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