Chapter 425

[ 942 words ]

Noah’s POV

I walked into my father’s study knowing something was wrong the second the door closed behind me.

Father stood behind his desk with his jacket off and his sleeves rolled up. The calm, smiling man from the gala was gone. What was left looked carved out of something colder.

“Sit the fuck down,” he said.

I stayed standing.

“You went to her house,” he said. “You even bought that old woman flowers. You sat at their table and let Julian Windsor put his arm around you like you were one of them. You think I wouldn’t find out p>

“I went because she’s my grandmother p>

“She’s nothing to you.” His voice stayed low, but every word came out sharp. “I spent years making sure that name stayed buried. I built everything we have so we wouldn’t need them. And you run straight into their arms the first chance you get p>

“Why are you so fucking obsessed with them?” I asked. The question had been sitting in my chest for days. It finally came out. “The Windsors. Julian. That whole family. You talk about them like they stole something from you, but you never once told me why. You never even told me they existed until you needed them as an audience p>

His eyes narrowed.

“Watch your mouth p>

“No.” I stepped closer to the desk. “You don’t even know what my favorite color is. You don’t know what sport I actually liked growing up. You never asked. You were too busy building whatever the hell this is to notice your ownson. But you still think you get to decide who I talk to and who I call family. They’re not the ones who treated me like a tool. You are p>

For a second the room was completely silent.

Then Father smiled. It was the ugliest expression I had ever seen on his face.

“You want to play the wounded son?” he said. “Fine. Let’s talk about what you actually did. You took my instructions, you married that desperate woman, and you sent her into their offices like a good little soldier. Now you want to pretend your hands are clean because you sat through one lunch and hugged your cousin p>

“I didn’t know what the fuck you were doing p>

“You didn’t ask.” He opened a folder on the desk and pushed it toward me. “You never asked. That was the deal. You followed orders, and you got the life I built for you. Now you’re confused because the people I told you were the enemy turned out to be polite over lunch p>

I looked down at the folder. Inside were printed screenshots and transcripts. Messages. Voice notes. Old emails. All of them involving Delia.

“What the hell is this p>

“Insurance,” Father said. “Selected highlights of your wife’s little obsession with Julian Windsor. The late-night messages she sent when she still thought she could win him back. The voice notes where she talks about Katia like she’s an obstacle that needs removing. The parts where she admits she only married you because she had nowhere else to go.” He tilted his head. “I had them cleaned up just enough. By morning every major outlet that still pretends to care about society gossip will have a package. Delia Vesper, the unstable woman who couldn’t take rejection and tried to buy her way into a family that never wanted her p>

My stomach turned.

“You can’t do that p>

“I already did. The files went out twenty minutes ago.” He watched my face with open satisfaction. “You wanted to play family with the Windsors? Now the whole city gets to see exactly what kind of woman you brought into their orbit. Let’s see how warm the welcome stays after that p>

I stared at him.

“You’re a fucking monster p>

“I’m practical.” Father closed the folder. “And I’m not finished. You decided their table was more important than mine. So I decided to remind Julian Windsor what happens when people forget who started this p>

The way he said it made the air in the room feel thinner.

“What did you do p>

Father checked his watch like he was running late for something minor.

“Aiden has a short school day today. There was a small change to the pickup routine. Nothing dramatic. Just enough confusion for the right person to get close. By the time Julian’s security realizes the schedule was altered, the message will already be delivered p>

I felt something cold drop straight through my chest.

“You went after a child p>

“I went after leverage.” Father’s voice stayed flat. “Julian took something from me years ago. He keeps taking. Today he learns that his family is not untouchable just because he walks around like the city belongs to him p>

I moved before I fully decided to. My hands hit the edge of the desk hard enough to make the folder jump.

“You stay the fuck away from that boy. Do you hear me? You stay away from Katia. You stay away from all of them. I don’t care what history you think you have. You do not use a child to settle your shit p>

He looked at my hands on his desk, then up at my face. For the first time something like real anger cracked through the cold.

“You forget yourself,” he said quietly. “Everything you have comes from me. The name. The money. The position. I can take it apart as easily as I built it. You want to stand with them? Then stand with them when the ground starts moving. But do not stand in my office and tell me what I can and cannot do p>

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