Chapter 4
The air got colder when she spoke.
Victoria Reynolds stood there in her perfect red dress, looking at me like I was a bug she had found on her expensive carpet.
Reynolds stood up immediately, putting himself between us.
“Victoria, what are you doing here?”
“Making sure my husband hasn’t completely lost his mind. Adop strays off the street and checking them into private hospital suites. Do you have any idea what this looks like? The board is already asking questions.”
“This is not a stray. This is my son.”
Victoria laughed. It was a sharp, brittle sound.
“Your son. Of course. Because Daniel Reynolds always gets what he wants. Even when it belongs to someone else.”
She looked past him at me.
“How much did she ask for? Five hundred thousand? A million? Tell Emily I’ll write the check right now if she promises to disappear again and take this… mistake with her.”
Reynolds’ face went red.
“Get out.”
“Excuse me?”
“I said get out. You will not speak about them that way. Not in this hospital. Not anywhere. Noah is my flesh and blood. And Emily… Emily is the mother of my child. You will treat them with respect or you will leave. Permanently.”
Victoria’s smile vanished.
“Permanently? Are you threatening me, Daniel? After eighteen years of marriage? After I stood by you through every scandal, every bad investment, every late night with your whores? You would throw it all away for a woman who worked in your typing pool?”
“Watch your mouth.”
“Or what? You’ll divorce me? Go ahead. Try. But remember our prenup. Remember what happens to the company if we split. Remember who owns forty percent of the voting shares.”
She leaned in closer.
“I’m not going anywhere, Daniel. And neither is this dirty little secret of yours. But you will remember who your real family is. You will remember who you married. And you will make sure this boy and his gold-digging mother know their place.”
She turned on her heel and walked away.
Her heels clicked all the way to the elevator.
Reynolds stood there, his hands clenched into fists, his whole body shaking.
“I’m sorry,” he said finally, without turning around. “You never should have heard that.”
“Is she going to take you away from us?”
Reynolds turned to me.
His eyes were fierce.
“Never. She can threaten me. She can threaten the company. But she cannot threaten you. Not anymore.”
He knelt in front of me.
“Noah, listen to me. Things are going to get harder before they get easier. Victoria is not going to give up. My mother will fight this too. There will be lawyers. There will be lies. There will be people who say terrible things about your mother and about you. But none of it is true. And I will be right beside you through all of it.”
He took my hand.
“Your mother needs more than just a hospital room. She needs to recover somewhere safe. Somewhere nobody can bother her. Somewhere you can both be protected.”
“Where?”
“My house. Well, one of them. I have a place in the country. Outside the city. Private. Secure. Nobody knows about it except my most trusted people. You and your mother can stay there as long as you need.”
I thought about our tiny apartment. The peeling paint. The radiator that banged all night. The landlord who banged on the door every first of the month.
“Will Mom be okay with that?”
“I think so. She’s tired, Noah. She’s been fighting alone for so long. It’s time someone fought for her.”
He was right.
I had never realized how tired Mom was until I saw her in that hospital bed. How every year had carved a little deeper into her face. How she had given up everything just to keep me fed and safe.
We went back into Mom’s room.
She was sitting up now, drinking water.
She looked from Reynolds’ face to mine.
“Victoria was here, wasn’t she?”
Reynolds nodded.
“You heard?”
“Every word. The walls in this hospital are thinner than you think.”
Mom looked down at her hands.
“She was right, you know. About the prenup. About the company. If you fight her on this, you could lose everything.”
“Let me worry about the company. You just worry about getting better.”
“I can’t move into your house, Daniel. It would destroy you.”
“You’re not moving into the main house. I have another place. Quiet. Private. Victoria doesn’t even know it exists. You’ll be safe there.”
Mom looked at me.
Her eyes were wet.
“I wanted better for you, baby. I wanted you to have a normal life. Not… this. Not all the fighting and the secrets.”
“I don’t care about normal,” I said. “I just want you to get better. And if this helps, then let’s do it.”
Mom looked at Reynolds.
For a long moment, they just stared at each other.
Nine years of hurt and fear and love passing between them without a single word.
Finally, Mom nodded.
“Okay. But only until I’m strong enough to take care of myself again. Then we go back to our lives.”
Reynolds looked like he wanted to argue.
But he didn’t.
“Okay. Whatever you want.”
Two days later, we left the hospital.
Mom was still weak—she had to use a wheelchair to get to the car—but she was breathing easier. Her color was coming back.
The car that picked us up was even bigger than the first one. Black. Tinted windows. A driver in a uniform.
We drove for an hour outside Boston, into the countryside.
Trees rolled past. Green fields. Big houses with long driveways.
Finally, we turned down a private road lined with stone walls.
At the end was a house.
It wasn’t a house, actually. It was a mansion. White stone. Columns. A fountain in the front circle. Windows that reflected the sun like diamonds.
“Wow,” I whispered.
Reynolds smiled.
“Like it?”
“It’s bigger than our whole apartment building.”
Mom didn’t say anything. She just stared at the house with a tight, worried expression.
The driver opened the door.
Reynolds helped Mom out of the car.
A woman in a black uniform was waiting at the front door.
“Mr. Reynolds. Welcome. Everything is prepared as you requested.”
“Thank you, Margaret. This is Emily. And this is Noah. They will be staying here indefinitely. Please give them whatever they need.”
Margaret looked at us.
Her face was neutral. Polite. But her eyes flicked over our clothes—my scuffed sneakers, Mom’s simple dress—and I knew exactly what she was thinking.
The help. The charity cases. The dirty little secrets.
“Of course, sir. Right this way.”
She showed us inside.
The floors were marble. The ceilings were high. There were paintings on the walls that probably cost more than our old apartment.
We were given a suite of rooms on the second floor. Three bedrooms. Two bathrooms. A sitting room with a fireplace. Bigger than our entire old place.
“Your mother’s room is through here,” Margaret said, opening a door. “The doctor will come by every morning. Physical therapy at three. Meals are served promptly at eight, one, and seven. If you need anything else, ring the bell.”
She left.
Mom sat on the edge of the big bed and looked around.
“This is too much, Daniel.”
“It’s nothing. Less than nothing. After everything you’ve given up for our son, this is the least I can do.”
He stood there awkwardly for a moment.
“I should go. I have… things to take care of. Business. Victoria. My mother. But I’ll be back tomorrow. And every day after that. If you need anything—anything at all—you call me. Day or night.”
He walked to the door.
Then he stopped and turned back.
“Emily?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you. For keeping him safe. For giving him everything you could. Even when it cost you everything.”
Mom’s lip trembled.
“He was worth it.”
Reynolds left.
We heard his car drive away.
Mom lay back on the bed and closed her eyes.
I sat beside her.
“Are you okay, Mom?”
She opened her eyes and looked at me.
She reached out and touched my face.
“I’m just scared, baby. That this is all a dream. That I’m going to wake up and we’ll be back in that tiny apartment, and you’ll be asking me why you don’t have a father.”
She pulled me close.
“But if it’s real… then I’m scared of what happens next. Because Daniel Reynolds doesn’t do anything halfway. And when he fights, people get hurt.”
She kissed the top of my head.
“Just promise me one thing, Noah. No matter what happens. No matter what they say. You remember who you are. You are my son. You are good. And you are enough. Don’t ever let anyone make you feel otherwise.”
“I promise, Mom.”
Outside, the sun was setting over the big lawn.
Somewhere in the distance, a dog barked.
May you like
And I knew, deep in my bones, that Mom was right.
The fight was just beginning.
