Billionaire’s Last Bargain

Chapter 24: Shadows Before the Party

6:30 AM – Aria’s POV

The sky outside was tinted in steel gray — like the city knew something was coming.

Aria sipped coffee in silence, standing barefoot in the kitchen. Leo was still asleep, the pancake syrup from yesterday still sticky on the fridge handle. A memory, warm and golden, clung to her chest. Every few seconds her mind looped yesterday’s moments like a broken film.

The birthday invitation.

Dominic’s softened eyes.

The warmth in Leo’s laugh.

But the warmth had edges now. Razor-sharp. She could feel it.

Something was wrong.

Her phone buzzed.

Unknown Number:

“You should be ashamed. Your son is a publicity stunt now?”

“Nice choice in baby daddies. The world’s most powerful liar.”

“Dominic Blackwood’s son? Enjoy the paternity circus.”

Her stomach clenched. One message after another poured in—vicious, anonymous, and cruel.

Then her sister Lena

Lena: Turn on the news. Now.

She reached for the remote and clicked over to a local morning segment.

“In an exclusive breaking story, Blackwood Industries CEO Dominic Blackwood has been accused of concealing a secret child from the public for over five years…”

The photo splashed across the screen wasn’t from the birthday party invite.

It was a grainy surveillance shot from the rooftop — Leo in Dominic’s arms.

Her stomach turned to ice.

“...and sources claim a custody battle may be unfolding behind closed doors with the child’s mother. The identity of the woman remains unconfirmed, but some believe she may be the same individual spotted leaving Blackwood’s penthouse two nights ago…”

The screen showed her next.

A blurred image of her stepping out of a car, hair windswept.

She sat down hard, her coffee sloshing over the rim.

She clicked open the news link one had sent:

“Blackwood Baby Scandal: Source Confirms Custody Battle Brewing.”

Below it was an image of Leo’s face, blurred—barely—but still recognizable.

They’d crossed the line.

This wasn’t a leak.

This was a war.

“Dominic!” she shouted, her voice cracking.

He was there in seconds, shirt still unbuttoned, tie forgotten.

“What happened?”

She shoved the phone toward him. “They leaked it. Leo. His face, his name—everything.”

His expression darkened. “This wasn’t the media… This was Gemma.”

7:15 AM – Dominic’s POV

Gemma’s threat had been whispered days ago, but it echoed now like prophecy:

“It ends when she walks away.”

He should’ve seen it coming.

But he hadn’t expected her to go after Leo.

He stood in his office moments later, barking orders into his encrypted phone.

“Get the cyber team to scrub every site. Contact Leo’s school, tighten security. Issue cease and desist to every outlet using his photo.”

Then, to Legal: “Move up the emergency custody hearing. I want full physical custody filed by tonight.”

But before he could end the call, another notification hit.

PRESS ALERT:

“EXCLUSIVE: Former Blackwood Partner Claims Blackmail, Hidden Pregnancy, and Emotional Abuse.”

She’d done it.

Gemma had gone scorched-earth.

And if they didn’t handle this right—it could burn Aria, too.

“You had one job,” Dominic growled.

His PR lead. “We ran point on internal staff and concierge. Someone sold the photo. It didn’t come from inside the company—”

“Then it came from outside,” Dominic cut in. “Gemma.”

“Possibly.”

Dominic’s jaw locked. “What’s the legal team saying?”

A grim voice cut in via speakerphone. “She’s petitioned for temporary guardianship—on the grounds that Leo’s safety is compromised due to your ‘media circus.’”

Dominic stared at the wall. The lines on his face deepened.

“She’s not his mother,” he said coldly. “She’s not anything.”

“Unfortunately, she’s claiming otherwise. An amended filing was submitted in the early hours of this morning—claiming Leo called her ‘mommy Gemma’.”

A silence dropped like stone.

“He didn’t,” Dominic said darkly. “He never would.”

“Doesn’t matter. Public opinion’s her real weapon.”

7:30 AM – Gemma’s POV

Gemma sat cross-legged on the chaise, sipping champagne from a flute she didn’t need to earn. The morning light caught her silk robe just right — camera-ready even in war.

Her assistant tapped on the door.

“Your statement’s been drafted.”

Gemma slid her sunglasses down the bridge of her nose and read it slowly.

I will always protect the child I’ve come to love. I stepped in when others weren’t there. And I have no regrets.

She smirked.

It was just enough implication without real legal admission. She’d played this game before — wives, board seats, billionaires.

But this?

This was legacy.

She tapped out a message to her publicist.

“Let’s leak the Vegas photo. The one from the hotel mirror. I want the world to know she was always in the background.”

She wasn’t going to lose to Aria twice.

9:00 AM – Aria’s POV

The photo was everywhere.

Aria stared at it on her phone: a mirror shot from five years ago. Blurred. Barely framed. But her face was unmistakable — watching Dominic and Gemma as they passed through the hotel lobby.

The caption beneath it on one tabloid:

"The mistress before the miracle? Aria Monroe seen lurking years before love bloomed. Was this really fate… or a long game?"

Her hands shook.

This wasn’t just character assassination.

It was erasure.

Leo’s story—their story—twisted into entertainment.

10:00 AM – Dominic’s POV

“She wants emergency hearing rights?” he said through gritted teeth.

“Yes. Wednesday.”

“That’s Leo’s birthday.”

“Exactly. It’s a move. A power play.”

He dragged a hand through his hair. “We can block it?”

“We can try. But she has her own team now—and it’s loud.”

Dominic looked out the window, jaw tight. “Then I’ll be louder.”

He ended the call and walked to the kitchen.

Aria was sitting at the island, phone still in her hand. Her eyes were bloodshot. Her silence louder than any accusation.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

She didn’t look up. “It’s not your fault.”

“It is. I let her near us.”

Aria’s voice was quiet, but certain.

“No,” she whispered. “You didn’t let her near me. She’s my sister… adoptive sister, but sister nonetheless.”

Her fingers curled tightly around the coffee mug.

“I wanted to believe there was still something good in her. That the girl who braided my hair when I was scared would never become the woman who would weaponize a child, our child Dominic.”

Dominic didn’t speak—because he knew that pain. The pain of being wrong about someone you once trusted with your life.

“I was wrong,” Aria said. “But not about Leo. Not about you.”

10:05 AM — Lena’s POV

Lena watched the broadcast from the hospital apartment, coffee forgotten on the table.

Gemma sat across from a “concerned interviewer” on a morning show, eyes glossy, voice soft.

“I only ever wanted Dominic to be happy… to have a family. I thought I could give him that. I was wrong. He was never mine.”

Cue the tears. The sigh.

“And now there’s a child. A child who deserves stability. Not a revolving door of chaos.”

Lena scoffed.

The phone rang.

It was Aria.

“She’s winning,” Aria said quietly.

“No. She’s loud. That’s different.”

11:45 AM – Dominic’s POV

“Good morning,” he began, standing behind a podium emblazoned with the Blackwood crest.

“I want to make one thing clear: Leo is my son. I will not comment further on the false narratives swirling around this situation — except to say this:

Family is not built through leaks, lawyers, or lies.

Family is chosen. And I choose him. Every day. From now until my last breath.”

Cameras flashed. Someone asked about Aria.

Dominic met the lens head-on.

“And the woman you’ve seen beside me? Her name is Aria Monroe. She’s not a headline. She’s my partner. My son’s mother. And the one person in my life who never asked me to be anything more than human.”

12:00 PM — Leo’s POV

Leo sat in his classroom, drawing planets. His favorite was Neptune—it was blue like his mom’s eyes when she smiled.

He didn’t understand why the teacher kept checking the hallway. Or why the counselor kept asking him how he felt.

He just wanted to go home.

To pancakes.

To quiet.

To the way Mom and Dad looked at each other when they thought he wasn’t looking.

2:45 PM

Dominic sat in the conference room, Aria beside him. Her hand clutched his beneath the polished table.

“This isn’t just about custody now,” their lawyer said. “Gemma’s claims triggered an investigation into your corporate governance and Leo’s safety. If she pushes for visitation—”

“She won’t get it,” Aria snapped.

Dominic squeezed her hand.

“Not if we stay ahead,” he said. “We fight like hell. For him.”

5:00 PM — Aria’s POV

She sat in Leo’s room that night, watching him sleep.

Her mind raced: headlines, court dates, false narratives…

But when Leo turned in his sleep and whispered, “Mommy,” the rest didn’t matter.

She walked out to the hallway.

Dominic stood there, still in his suit, staring down at a printed copy of the morning’s article.

“Don’t let her take this from us,” Aria said quietly.

“I won’t,” he replied, voice cracked. “I lost you once. I’ll burn the world down before I let her take either of you.”

8:30 PM — Press Office of Blackwood Industries

OFFICIAL STATEMENT:

“Blackwood Industries is aware of the fabricated and harmful statements circulating regarding Mr. Blackwood’s private life. Legal action is being pursued. The wellbeing of his family remains his top priority.”

But beneath the surface, chaos churned.

Dominic — Later That Night

He stood at the rooftop edge, overlooking the city Leo would grow up in.

“I wanted to believe there was still something good in her,” Aria had said earlier, “That the girl who used to braid my hair when I was scared wouldn’t become the woman who’d weaponize a child, our child.”

He’d had no words then.

Only fury.

Only guilt.

Only resolve.

Midnight – Aria’s POV – Rooftop

The city glittered below like a constellation trapped in glass.

Aria stood at the rooftop edge, wrapped in a soft throw blanket, the wind biting at her cheeks. She needed air. Space. Quiet.

Dominic found her there.

He didn’t say anything right away. Just stood beside her in the dark.

Finally, she broke the silence.

“She’s not going to stop, is she?”

“No.”

“She’ll try to turn everything into a fight.”

He nodded.

Aria took a shaky breath.

“I just wanted him to have one normal birthday.”

“He still can,” Dominic said. “If we fight together.”

She looked at him then. Really looked at him.

Eyes weary.

But sure.

And maybe, just maybe… that was enough for tonight.

The lie had been exposed.

The press was circling.

Custody was in motion.

Gemma was unraveling.

But beneath it all—Aria and Dominic stood side by side.

Not as perfect.

But as a family.

Two parents.

One war.

And a child whose birthday might become a battlefield.

But love was still standing — even if the world wanted to bury it.

And war was no match for love with nothing left to lose.