Knee For Me, CEO

Chapter 2 - The Taste of Blood

"Get out, Isabella."

Sebastian’s voice was a low, dangerous growl. He didn't look at his fiancé. His eyes were glued to the digital image on his phone, the pixels of that little boy’s face burning into his retinas.

"What? Sebastian, that woman just humiliated me in front of the board of governors! You can't seriously expect me to just…"

"I said out!" Sebastian roared. He slammed his fist onto the mahogany table, sending a crystal vase of lilies toppling over. The water soaked into the expensive carpet, a dark stain spreading like a shadow.

Isabella flinched. She had seen him cold, and she had seen him ruthless, but she had never seen him unhinged.

She gathered her silk skirts, her face twisting into a mask of indignation. "Fine. But don't expect me to be there when that b***h drags your name through the mud tomorrow."

The heavy oak doors clicked shut. Sebastian was alone.

He slumped into his chair, the weight of the evening crushing the air from his lungs. Five years. He had spent eighteen hundred days telling himself that Aria was a thief.

He had looked at the bank records, the forged signatures on the offshore accounts, and the witness statements from his own security team. He had chosen the empire over the girl.

Now, the girl was back, and she had brought a storm with her.

He zoomed in on the photo. The boy was laughing, his head tilted back in a way that made Sebastian’s heart seize. It was the exact same angle he saw in his own reflection every morning.

"A child," he whispered to the empty room. "You were pregnant in that hellhole, and I never knew."

The guilt didn't just sting. It felt like an acid bath. If that boy was five, the timeline was indisputable.

Aria had been carrying his heir while she was being processed into a state penitentiary. While she was sleeping on a thin mattress and eating slop, she was growing a Crowne.

He grabbed his desk phone and punched a single digit.

"Sir?" his head of security, Elias, answered immediately.

"I want everything," Sebastian commanded. "I don't care about the Thorne Group’s portfolio. I want to know where Rose Thorne sleeps.

I want to know who that boy is. And Elias? If a single word of this leaks to the press, I’ll bury you myself."

Across town, the Presidential Suite of the Grand Hyatt was bathed in the soft glow of a nightlight.

Aria sat on the edge of the oversized bed, watching the rhythmic rise and fall of Leo’s chest. He was clutching a stuffed wolf, his thumb hooked into the corner of his mouth. In sleep, he looked so much like Sebastian that it physically hurt to look at him.

"Mama?"

Leo’s eyes fluttered open. They weren't amber like hers. They were that piercing, storm cloud grey that had once promised her forever.

"I'm here, baby," Aria whispered, smoothing the hair back from his forehead. "Go back to sleep."

"Did you find the bad man?" Leo asked, his voice thick with drowsiness.

Aria’s hand paused. She had never told Leo the truth about his father, only that they were coming back to the city to take back what was stolen. In Leo’s world, it was a fairy tale. In hers, it was a m******e.

"I found him," Aria said, her voice turning to ice. "And he’s just as small as I remembered."

"Are we going home soon?"

"This city is our home, Leo. We’re just clearing out the weeds first."

She kissed his brow and stepped out onto the balcony. The city lights stretched out before her like a carpet of fallen stars. Below, she could see the silhouette of the Crowne Plaza, the crown jewel of Sebastian’s achievements.

She took a sip of the bitter espresso Marcus had left for her. Her mind was already three moves ahead. Tomorrow wasn't just about a meeting. It was about the first strike.

08:00 AM.

The boardroom of Crowne Industries was suffocating. The air conditioning was humming at full blast, yet the directors were sweating through their bespoke suits.

Sebastian sat at the head of the table, his eyes bloodshot. He hadn't slept. He had spent the night reading the Thorne Group’s history, or lack thereof.

They had appeared out of thin air eighteen months ago, fueled by an anonymous trust based in Switzerland.

The doors swung open.

Aria didn't walk in; she invaded. She was wearing a suit the color of fresh blood, her heels clicking a rhythmic death march. Behind her, three lawyers and Marcus followed like a personal guard.

"You’re two minutes late, Sebastian," she said, pulling out the chair directly opposite him. "I almost started the liquidation without you."

"Rose," Sebastian said, his voice gravelly. "Or should I call you Aria?"

The directors shifted uncomfortably, whispering among themselves.

Aria didn't blink. She leaned forward, resting her chin on her interlaced fingers. "You can call me your Boss. As of six o'clock this morning, the Thorne Group has acquired the remaining debt of your shipping division. You are officially in default."

A murmur of panic broke out.

"That's impossible," the CFO stammered. "We had a grace period."

"You had a grace period with the bank," Aria countered, her gaze never leaving Sebastian’s. "But the bank sold your soul to me for fifty cents on the dollar.

I’ve called the loan. You have twenty four hours to pay three hundred million dollars, or I take control of the Board."

Sebastian watched her. He wasn't looking at the numbers. He was looking at the way she held her pen. She used to chew the cap when she was nervous. Now, she held it like a dagger.

"Everyone out," Sebastian said quietly.

"Sir?" the CFO gasped.

"I said get out! Now!"

The room cleared in seconds. The lawyers looked to Aria, who gave a sharp nod. Once the doors were sealed, the silence was deafening.

"Where is he?" Sebastian asked, his voice trembling with a mix of fury and longing.

Aria’s mask didn't slip. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"The boy, Aria! The photo!" Sebastian stood up, his chair screeching against the floor. He threw his phone onto the table, the image of Leo glaring up at her. "He’s mine. You went to prison with my son, and you let me believe he didn't exist?"

Aria laughed. It was a hollow, jagged sound.

"Your son?" She stood up too, her eyes blazing with five years of suppressed agony. "He stopped being yours the moment you signed the affidavit that branded me a criminal.

He stopped being yours when you didn't show up to the trial. He stopped being yours when you let Isabella move into the house you promised me!"

"I thought you were guilty!" Sebastian shouted back. "The evidence was in your handwriting!"

"Then you never knew me at all!"

She walked around the table, stopping inches from him. The tension between them was electric, a volatile mix of hatred and a desire that neither would admit to.

"You want to be a father, Sebastian? Fine. You can see him."

Sebastian’s heart leaped. "When?"

"When you’re standing in the breadline," Aria whispered. "When I’ve taken every penny, every brick, and every ounce of pride you have.

When you are as hollow and broken as I was when I gave birth to him on a concrete floor with a guard watching through a glass window."

She grabbed her folder and turned to leave.

"Aria, wait!"

He reached out, grabbing her wrist. The contact was like a lightning strike. For a second, the years melted away. He saw the girl who used to bake him burnt cookies and laugh at his bad jokes.

Aria looked down at his hand as if it were a poisonous snake.

"Don't touch me with the hand that signed my warrant," she said, her voice deadly quiet.

She wrenched her arm away and walked toward the door. But as she reached the handle, she paused.

"By the way, Sebastian. Isabella has been skimming from the charity accounts for years. That’s how she paid for the ring you bought her.

You might want to check the ledgers before the police arrive this afternoon. I’d hate for you to have to sign two sets of arrest papers in one lifetime."

She stepped out, leaving him standing in the ruins of his own boardroom.

Sebastian stood frozen. He looked at the phone, then at the door. He felt like he was drowning in a sea of lies he had helped build.

He didn't check the ledgers. Instead, he grabbed his coat and followed her. He saw her exit the building and get into the black SUV.

He didn't call his driver. He jumped into his own car and followed her at a distance. He followed her through the city, past the luxury hotels, and toward a quiet, gated park on the outskirts of the residential district.

He watched from behind a row of hedges.

Aria was there, but she wasn't the "Rose Thorne" monster from the boardroom. She was kneeling on the grass, her arms open wide. A small streak of lightning in a denim jacket ran into her embrace.

"Mama! Look what I found!"

The boy held up a bright yellow dandelion.

Sebastian felt a tear prick his eye. It was his nose. His brow. His son.

He took a step forward, a branch snapping under his foot.

Aria’s head snapped up. Her eyes found his across the clearing. The moment was frozen. The mother, the son, and the man who had betrayed them both.

But before Sebastian could speak, a second car pulled up to the curb. Two men in dark suits stepped out, and they weren't his men.

They weren't looking at Aria. They were looking at Leo.

One of them pulled a silenced pistol from his jacket.

"Aria, get down!" Sebastian screamed.