The heiress he never saw

Chapter four

Chapter 4

Maya met her grandfather at seven in the morning.

Not in his office, at the dining table on the penthouse floor, the one they only used when it was just family. Secretary Jin brought tea and left without being asked and Grandfather poured Maya's cup himself the way he had done since she was small,

"The board called me at six," he said,

"I know,"

"They want an answer by Friday,"

"I said I would think about it,"

Grandfather wrapped both hands around his cup and looked at her over the rim the way he did when he was deciding how much to say, "Elena Silvercrest gave an interview this morning, it aired an hour ago,"

Maya set down her cup, "What did she say,"

"That the merger collapsed because of internal corruption, she didn't name you directly but she didn't have to, anyone who knows the situation knows exactly who she meant,"

"She's trying to get ahead of the story,"

"She's trying to control it before you do," Grandfather said, "a woman who is finished goes quiet, Elena is not quiet,"

Maya looked at the window, the city was bright this morning, early light sitting on glass and steel,

"David warned me last night," she said,

"David is right, Elena has been in this city her whole life, she has connections we don't fully know yet and now she has a personal reason, that is more dangerous than any business motive,"

Maya was quiet for a moment, she looked at her tea.

"Lucas called eleven times last night," she said,

Grandfather said nothing,

"I blocked him after the bar, he called from a different number, then from the office line, I let that one ring,"

"Good,"

"Is it," she said, and she was not really asking him, she was asking herself, "he left a voicemail, I didn't listen to all of it but I heard enough, he sounded like someone who hadn't slept in days,"

"Maya,"

"I know," she said, "I know, don't,"

He didn't, he refilled her cup and they sat in the quiet the way they used to when she was young and something had hurt her and he understood that words would only make it louder.

After a while she said, "I'll call Richard this morning and confirm the position,"

"Good,"

"And I want a full profile on Elena, her financial holdings, her connections, every family and firm she has ties to in this city, I want to know her network before she has time to use it,"

Grandfather nodded, "Noon,"

Maya stood, smoothed her jacket, finished the last of her tea standing, "One more thing, in the voicemail Lucas said he hired someone to find me after I left, that's how he found out about the hospital, about the miscarriage,"

Grandfather's expression did not change but something behind his eyes moved,

"He's been carrying that for months," Maya said, "I don't know what to do with that so I'm putting it down for now,"

"That is wise,"

"It doesn't feel wise, it feels like cowardice,"

"Sometimes they look the same and both are necessary," Grandfather said.

Maya kissed the top of his head the way she did as a child and walked out,

Richard met her in the lobby at nine, his tie was slightly off centre, for Richard that meant the night had been genuinely bad,

They took the elevator to his office, he closed the door and sat down and spent a moment looking at his desk like he was organising something inside himself before he spoke,

"Lucas came to see me last night,"

Maya waited,

"He was angry and ashamed and those two things were fighting each other and he didn't know which one to lead with," Richard looked up, "he asked me if I thought he could fix it,"

"What did you tell him,"

"That some things don't get fixed, they get carried," Richard said, "and that the first thing he needed to do right now was nothing, that any move he made would be the wrong one,"

"Did he listen,"

"He never listens," Richard said, just tiredness in it, the plain tiredness of a man who has spoken true things for years and watched them slide off, "but he heard it,"

Richard opened a drawer and slid a single sheet of paper across the desk, the formal offer, CEO position, her name at the top,

Maya read every line, Richard waited without filling the silence, she appreciated that about him, he understood that some things needed to be read properly.

She sat with the pen in her hand for a moment, just one moment, feeling the full weight of what this was, what it meant, what it would cost her to stay inside this world instead of walking away from it,

Then she signed.

Richard looked at her signature and nodded once, "Welcome,"

"Thank you," Maya stood, "Richard, one more thing,"

"Elena called me this morning," he said before she could ask, "she was very polite, the way she gets when she is not feeling polite at all, she said she hoped there were no hard feelings,"

"And,"

"And then she said she hoped you understood that some games don't end at the boardroom door,"

The office was very quiet.

Maya held his gaze for a moment, then picked up her bag and walked out,

Her phone buzzed in the elevator, David,

Elena had lunch with Victor Ade today, two hours, I was there, they didn't look like people catching up.

Maya stared at the message, Victor Ade controlled four of the largest investment firms in the city, old money, old connections, the kind of man who could make things very difficult for a newcomer with a freshly signed contract and no allies outside her grandfather's circle.

She typed back, when did this happen

An hour ago, she went straight from your building to his restaurant, Maya. She moved fast.

The elevator reached the lobby, Maya stepped out into the morning, people moved around her on the pavement, the city indifferent and loud.

She stood still for one moment, feeling the shape of what Elena was building without being able to see all of it yet,

Then she walked to her car,

Elena had made her first move within an hour of losing everything.

That was not grief, that was not anger, that was strategy, and a woman who moved that fast had not started planning tod

ay,

She had started the moment she walked out of that boardroom.