His Discarded Son

Chapter 4 Colliding Worlds

Backstage at the summit, producers spoke into their headsets while the next three speakers rehearsed in separate corners of the green room.

Noah sat on a leather sofa with his headphones on and code scrolling across his tablet. I stayed close, holding a bottle of water I had forgotten to open.

The door struck the stopper hard enough to turn every head.

Arthur walked in first, smelling of expensive cologne. Vivian held his arm and smiled at the room. Leo followed one step behind, pale and sweating at the hairline.

Arthur spotted us. His smile tightened.

"Well, well," he boomed, making a show of approaching us. "Look what the cat dragged in. I didn't realize they were letting charity cases into the VIP lounge."

Vivian laughed on cue. I unscrewed the cap on my water and waited.

His eyes flickered down to Noah, who hadn't looked up from his tablet. "Still playing with your toys, I see," Arthur said, his voice dripping with false pity. "Some things never change. Leo, on the other hand, was just accepted into the Sterling Academy's Youth Scholars program. They're fast-tracking him. A mind like his can't be held back by a normal curriculum."

Leo twisted the hem of his tailored blazer. His eyes moved from the exit to the producers and back again.

"That's nice, Arthur," I said, my voice quiet but cutting through his bluster.

Arthur waited. When I said nothing else, he stepped closer.

"It’s more than nice, Chloe. It’s genetics. It’s a superior product," he said, gesturing from himself to Leo, then waving a dismissive hand towards Noah. "Unlike that. A defective unit. You’re wasting your time trying to polish a stone that will never be a diamond."

Noah's finger stopped halfway down the screen.

I moved between them and pressed my palms over the outside of Noah's headphones.

"Look at Leo, Arthur. Really look at him. He's ten, and you're treating him like a press release. Keep pushing him this way and he'll break. That will be on you."

Arthur's face reddened. "How dare you."

He was cut off by a piercing shriek from the hallway outside.

A junior assistant rushed through the door.

"Mr. Langford, it's Leo. He smashed a press camera in the hall. He's screaming, and we can't calm him down."

The room went quiet. Arthur looked behind him, then at the open door. Leo was no longer there.

He ran into the hallway. Vivian followed, one hand holding her necklace in place.

I took my hands off Noah's headphones. Several people nearby were already checking their phones.

Noah tilted his tablet toward me.

Helix Corp had dipped on the live market feed.

Arthur's keynote was canceled. By the end of the day, footage of Leo's breakdown had replaced every planned summit interview.

Two days later, an email landed in my inbox. The sender was a discreet, high-level corporate headhunter known for finding miracle workers for desperate C-suites.

*Subject: Confidential Inquiry - Unprecedented Opportunity*

*Ms. Morgan,*

*I am writing on behalf of a major publicly traded corporation facing significant internal and market challenges. My client is prepared to offer a record-breaking compensation package for a meeting with the principal strategist behind N.C. Capital.*

*He is seeking the person who sees patterns his own team has missed.*

*He believes this person can save his company.*

*He believes you are the only one who can get him a meeting.*

The client was Helix Corp. Arthur had asked a headhunter to find the strategist behind N.C. Capital, and the headhunter had come to me.

I forwarded the email to Noah.