Chapter 7
Mom was in the hospital for five days.
The stress, the shouting, Victoria’s visit—it had been too much for her heart.
“One more shock like that,” the doctor told Reynolds privately, “and we won’t be able to bring her back.”
Reynolds didn’t tell Mom that.
But he told me.
We were standing in the hallway outside her room.
His face was gray.
“I almost lost her, Noah. Twice now. Because of me. Because of my family. Because I couldn’t keep them away from you.”
He sat down on the bench and put his head in his hands.
For the first time, I saw him cry.
Not quiet tears.
Big, heaving sobs that shook his whole body.
“I’m sorry. God, I’m so sorry. I promised I would protect you. I promised I would fix everything. And I’ve only made it worse.”
I didn’t know what to do.
I was nine years old. I was supposed to be the one who got comforted, not the one who gave it.
But I sat down beside him.
And I put my hand on his back.
“It’s not your fault.”
Reynolds looked up.
His eyes were red.
“Of course it’s my fault. I’m the one who cheated on my wife. I’m the one who let my mother threaten Emily. I’m the one who dragged you both into this mess.”
“Mom says everybody makes mistakes.”
“This wasn’t just a mistake, Noah. This was a catastrophe. And now the people I love most in the world are paying for it.”
He wiped his face with his sleeve.
“I’ve been thinking. About what Emily said. About freedom. About normal.”
He took a deep breath.
“I’m going to make this right. No matter what it costs.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Whatever I have to. If Victoria wants a war, I’ll give her one. But I’m going to fight it my way. Not in the newspapers. Not in the gossip columns. In the courts. And in the boardroom.”
He stood up.
“I’m going to give Victoria what she wants. A divorce. But on my terms. She gets the townhouse. The jewelry. Half the cash. But she doesn’t get the company. And she doesn’t get to say one more word about you or your mother.”
“Will she agree?”
“Probably not. Which means it’s going to get ugly. Very ugly. She’ll try to take everything. She’ll try to ruin me. But I’ve been preparing for this since the day she showed up at the country house. I have lawyers. I have evidence. I have friends on the board.”
He knelt in front of me.
“But I need you to be strong, Noah. Stronger than you’ve ever been. There are going to be more articles. More lies. People at school—when you go back—are going to say things. Your mother is going to need you to be calm. To be brave. Can you do that?”
I nodded.
“I can try.”
“That’s all I ask.”
The next month was the hardest of my life.
The divorce proceedings were everywhere.
Every day there was something new in the papers.
**REYNOLDS EMPIRE IN TATTERS**
**VICTORIA: HE LEFT US FOR A GOLD DIGGER**
**THE TWINS: OUR FATHER HATES US**
Reynolds’ mother gave interviews.
She cried on television about how her son had been bewitched.
Victoria went on every talk show that would have her.
She was the perfect victim. The betrayed wife. The devoted mother.
And the public loved her.
They hated Mom.
They hated me.
Everywhere we went—even in the hospital—people stared. Whispered. Took pictures with their phones.
Mom couldn’t handle it.
She got quieter. Sadder.
She stopped going outside.
She stopped reading the papers.
She would just sit in her room and stare out the window for hours.
Reynolds fought back.
He held a press conference.
He told the whole story.
About how he and Mom had fallen in love when she worked for him.
About how his mother had threatened her.
About how Mom had run away to protect me.
About how he had searched for nine years.
About finding me outside the hospital.
About Mom’s heart condition.
He showed the medical records.
He showed the letters his mother had written.
He showed everything.
And slowly, the tide began to turn.
People started to see Victoria for what she was.
Cold. Calculating. Cruel.
They started to feel sorry for Mom.
For me.
But it wasn’t enough.
The divorce trial was set for October.
And Victoria was fighting dirty.
Her lawyers claimed that Reynolds was an unfit father.
That he was unstable.
That he had abandoned his “real” family for a fantasy.
They demanded full custody of the twins.
Eighty percent of Reynolds’ assets.
Control of the company.
And they demanded that I be given a paternity test.
“To prove,” their lawyer said in open court, “that this child is even Daniel’s at all. For all we know, Emily Carter has done this before. Blackmailing wealthy men with children that aren’t theirs.”
The judge ordered the test.
Reynolds was furious.
“How dare they? How dare they suggest that Noah isn’t mine? One look at him and anyone can see it!”
But there was nothing we could do.
We went to the lab.
A nurse took blood from both of us.
Two weeks later, the results came back.
99.9997% match.
Noah Carter was officially Noah Reynolds.
The papers ran the story on the front page.
**HE’S A REYNOLDS**
But even that didn’t stop Victoria.
She just changed her strategy.
Now she claimed that Reynolds had been planning to leave her for years.
That the whole thing had been a plot.
That Mom was a co-conspirator.
The trial dragged on.
Mom’s health got worse.
She was in and out of the hospital.
The doctors said her heart was getting weaker.
That the stress was literally killing her.
One night, Reynolds came to the hospital.
He looked terrible.
Tired. Thin. Beaten down.
He sat beside Mom’s bed.
He held her hand.
“I can’t do this anymore, Emily. Watching you suffer like this. It’s killing me.”
Mom squeezed his hand weakly.
“We’re so close, Daniel. The judge is on our side. Everyone says so.”
“I don’t care about the judge. I don’t care about the company. I don’t care about any of it. I only care about you. And if this trial kills you… then winning means nothing.”
He took a deep breath.
“I’m going to give her what she wants. Everything. The company. The houses. The money. All of it. I just want it over. I just want you to get better.”
Mom’s eyes flew open.
“No. Daniel, no. You can’t. You built that company from nothing. It’s your life’s work.”
“Without you, I have no life. Without Noah, I have no future. The company can burn for all I care.”
“Daniel—”
“I’ve already talked to my lawyers. Tomorrow morning, I’m going to offer Victoria the deal of her life. She gets everything. She leaves us alone. Forever. No more articles. No more lies. No more court. We can go anywhere we want. Start over. Just the three of us.”
Mom started crying.
“You would really give up everything? For me?”
“I would give up my life for you. Don’t you know that by now?”
He leaned down and kissed her forehead.
“Sleep now. Tomorrow it all ends.”
The next morning, we all waited.
Reynolds was on the phone with his lawyers.
Mom was sitting up in bed, holding my hand.
We were all quiet.
Waiting.
Finally, Reynolds hung up.
He turned to us.
His face was unreadable.
“Well?” Mom whispered.
Reynolds walked over to the bed.
He sat down.
And he smiled.
The first real smile in months.
“She took it. Every last penny. Every house. Every share of stock. The cars. The jewelry. The art. All of it.”
Mom let out a breath she had been holding.
“Then it’s over?”
“It’s over. She signed the papers. The divorce is final. We’re free.”
Tears were running down Mom’s face.
Happy tears.
“But Daniel… you have nothing now.”
Reynolds laughed.
It was a real laugh. Loud and warm.
“I have you. I have Noah. I have my health. I have my brain. I built one billion-dollar company. I can build another. In fact, I already have a few ideas.”
He took both of our hands.
“The only thing that matters is that we’re together. Finally. After nine long years. We’re a family.”
Outside, the sun was shining through the hospital window.
For the first time in forever, there were no reporters.
No helicopters.
No shouting.
May you like
Just silence.
And hope.
