Chapter 2
Adrian’s boots crunched over broken glass as he walked straight toward the stage.
Every eye in the room followed him.
Whispers swelled like storm wind.
Vivian called out behind him.
“Adrian, stop! You have no idea what you are doing!”
He did not turn around.
He set Noah down gently near the front row.
“Stay right here. Don’t move.”
Noah nodded, his small hands clutching Adrian’s coat.
Adrian reached the podium.
The woman in red stepped back, her face pale.
He recognized her instantly.
Clara. His mother’s personal lawyer. The woman who had handled every family secret for twenty years.
Adrian snatched the envelope.
It was thick, sealed with red wax stamped with the Sterling crest.
“Open it,” he said, his voice like ice.
Clara’s hands shook.
“Mr. Sterling… please. Listen to your mother first.”
“I said open it.”
Vivian rushed up the steps, her gold gown swishing.
She grabbed Adrian’s arm.
“These terms protect you! They protect Noah!”
“By locking him out in the rain?” Adrian wrenched free. “By making him hide like a criminal?”
He broke the seal himself.
He pulled out the papers.
The first line made his blood run cold.
**TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS AND TRANSFER OF GUARDIANSHIP**
Adrian stared at the words.
He read them again.
He looked at Vivian.
“Guardianship to you?”
Vivian lifted her chin, though her eyes were wet.
“It is for the best. You are not stable enough. You travel too much. You cannot give him the life he deserves.”
“You waited until I was gone to force this?” Adrian’s voice cracked. “You locked him out so I would panic and sign anything just to get him back, didn’t you?”
Clara looked away.
Vivian did not answer.
Adrian flipped to the last page.
There was a deadline.
**SIGNATURE REQUIRED BEFORE MIDNIGHT TONIGHT**
If he signed, he lost his son forever.
If he refused… what would Vivian do next?
He looked down at Noah.
The boy was shivering, staring up at him with wide, trusting eyes.
And then Adrian noticed something else written in fine print at the very bottom.
**THIS AGREEMENT ALSO TRANSFERS ALL ASSETS, PROPERTY, AND CORPORATE VOTING SHARES TO VIVIAN STERLING UPON SIGNATURE.**
It was never about Noah.
It was about everything.
Adrian gripped the papers until his knuckles turned white.
“You never cared about him,” he said quietly. “You just wanted to take everything I own.”
May you like
Vivian’s expression hardened.
“Sign it, Adrian. Or you will regret it.”
