The CEO's One-Night Mistake

Chapter 4: Custody War

The lawyer's office smells like money and broken families. Expensive leather, mahogany desk, and a view of Jakarta that costs more than my kos for a year.

Mr. Hartono, Kieran's lawyer, doesn't look at me. He looks at the file in front of him. My file. Rio's file.

"Mr. Drake is filing for full custody of Rio Anindita," he says. His voice is bored. Like he's ordering lunch. "He's also filing for a paternity test, which we both know is a formality."

My hands are shaking in my lap. I clench them together. "He can't do that."

"He can. And he will. He's the father. He's a billionaire. You're a single mother who hid his child for five years. No judge in this country will side with you."

"Rio is sick! He has a heart condition. He needs me!"

"Mr. Drake can provide the best cardiologists in Singapore. The best hospitals. The best everything." Hartono finally looks up. His eyes are pitying. "Ms. Anindita, you're not thinking clearly. This is the best outcome for the child."

"He doesn't even know Rio! He met him for five minutes!"

"And in those five minutes, he decided Rio is his. Kieran Drake doesn't lose." He slides a paper across the desk. "This is a settlement offer. Mr. Drake will grant you visitation rights. Two weekends a month. Supervised. You will sign away all parental rights. In exchange, he'll set up a trust fund for you. Five billion rupiah. Enough to live comfortably for the rest of your life."

Five billion. The number is so big it doesn't feel real. It could pay for Rio's treatment forever. I could quit. Never work again.

And never be Rio's mother again.

"Go to hell," I whisper.

"Excuse me?"

"I said go to hell. And tell Kieran he can take his five billion and shove it." I stand up. My legs are shaking but my voice isn't. "Rio is my son. I raised him alone for four years. I held him through every surgery. Every fever. Every nightmare. Kieran wasn't there. He doesn't get to show up now and buy him."

"You're making a mistake."

"The mistake was not telling him five years ago. I'm not making another one." I walk to the door. "Tell Kieran I'll see him in court."

---

Kieran is waiting for me in the lobby. He leans against a marble pillar, arms crossed. He looks like he owns the building. Because he probably does.

"How was your meeting with Hartono?" His voice is casual. Deadly.

"Did you really think I'd take your money?"

His jaw ticks. "It was a generous offer."

"It was an insult." I stop in front of him. I have to crane my neck to look at him. I hate that. I hate how small he makes me feel. "You don't get to buy my son."

"He's my son too."

"Biologically. But you weren't there when he took his first step. When he said his first word. When he coded in the hospital and I thought I'd lost him." My voice breaks but I keep going. "You were probably in board meetings. Or in bed with some model. You don't get to claim him now."

Something flashes in his gray eyes. Pain? Guilt? It's gone too fast.

"I will have him, Ara." He says my name like a threat. "One way or another. You can make this easy, or you can make it hard. But the outcome will be the same."

"Over my dead body."

"Don't tempt me." He steps closer. Too close. I can smell his cologne. I can see the flecks of silver in his gray eyes. "You stole five years from me. Five years of his first words. His first steps. His first everything. You don't get to steal anymore."

"I was protecting him!"

"From what? A father who would have given him the world?"

"From a father who told me, to my face, that he never wanted kids! That he would never settle down! What was I supposed to do, Kieran? Show up at your office with a baby and say 'surprise'? You would have thrown money at me to go away!"

"Yes," he says simply. "Five years ago, I would have."

The honesty knocks the air out of me.

"But now?" he continues. "Now I've seen him. Now I know he exists. And now, I will move heaven and earth to have him in my life. Do you understand me?"

He's not yelling. That's the terrifying part. His voice is quiet. Controlled. Absolute.

"Kieran, please. We can co-parent. We can figure this out. But don't take him from me. I'm all he knows."

"You should have thought of that before you lied to me." He straightens his sleeve. The conversation is over for him. "My lawyers will contact you about the court date. I suggest you get your own. Though it won't help."

He walks away. He doesn't look back.

And I stand in the middle of his expensive lobby, crying, while rich people walk around me like I'm invisible.

---

Rio is building a Lego tower when I get home. He looks up and smiles. The biggest, brightest smile. And it has Kieran's dimple in the left cheek. I never noticed it before.

"Mama! Look! It's a castle for us!"

I sit on the floor next to him and pull him into my lap. I bury my face in his hair and breathe him in.

"Mama sad?" he asks, patting my cheek.

"A little, baby. But I'll be okay."

"Did Bad Boss yell at you?"

I almost laugh. Almost. "Yeah. He did."

"We don't like him," Rio says firmly. "He makes Mama cry. We don't like people who make Mama cry."

My heart breaks and heals at the same time. "He's... complicated, baby."

"Is he gonna be my new papa?"

The question stops my heart. "Why would you ask that?"

"Because he has my eyes. And he looked at me like you look at me. Like I was the only one."

Kids. They see everything.

"No, baby. He's not your papa. He's just... someone Mama knew a long time ago."

"Oh." Rio goes back to his Legos. "Okay. I still don't like him."

I hold him tighter. I have to fix this. I have to find a way. I can't lose him. I won't survive it.

My phone buzzes. Unknown number.

I answer. "Hello?"

"Ms. Anindita. This is Sarah Chen, from Drake Holdings Legal. Mr. Drake wants to see you. His penthouse. Tonight. 8 PM. Alone."

"It's not a request, is it?"

"No, ma'am." Click.

I look at Rio. He's humming, building his castle. His castle for us.

What does Kieran want now? To threaten me more? To offer more money?

Or to meet his son properly?

The thought terrifies me. Because if Kieran spends time with Rio... if Rio gets attached...

I'll lose him anyway.

End of Chapter 4