Chapter6
466 Words
Some fires are lit with good intentions. But they still burn everything in their path.
Maxwell stood behind the podium, cameras flashing, reporters eager to get his attention.
He hadn’t made a press appearance in months. Not since his failed engagement to Selene Voss.
Now, he looked straight into the lens, adjusted his cufflinks, and said:
“Today, I am terminating all business ties with Voss Global Industries, effective immediately.”
Gasps erupted.
“Why?” someone shouted.
Maxwell’s voice was calm. Dangerous. “Because integrity matters more than profit. And because harassment, surveillance, and blackmail are crimes even when they come from the rich.”
He left the podium without another word.
Back at Xaviers Tower, Eva stared at the screen in shock.
“You went public?” she said when he returned.
Maxwell tossed his jacket aside. “That’s usually what a war declaration looks like.”
Eva’s stomach rumbled. “You don’t understand what they’re capable of. Do you?”
“I do now,” he said grimly. “And they picked the wrong woman to toil with.”
But Eva wasn’t looking at him. She was looking at the tablet in her hand.
On it was a message from an encrypted email address.
Subject:
“You should’ve stayed hidden. Your deal has a deadline.”
Attached was a photo.
Eva.
Pregnant.
Sitting in a dark hotel lobby.
Across from Aldrich Voss.
Flashback: Four Years Ago
Aldrich slid a contract across the table.
“You disappear. You don’t contact Maxwell. In exchange, we’ll cover your hospital bills and make sure your son is born safely. But if you break the agreement… I promise, Eva, we will make your child disappear before he says his first word.”
Eva’s fingers trembled over the pen.
She was four months pregnant. No support. No money.
She signed.
Back in the present, Eva dropped the tablet.
Maxwell picked it up. Read the message. Saw the photo.
Then he looked at her. “You made a deal with Aldrich?”
She nodded slowly. “To save Elijah. To protect you. I never meant for it to go this far.”
Maxwell’s voice went cold. “You signed a contract to disappear.”
“I was pregnant and terrified.”
“And you didn’t think I had a right to know?”
Eva’s voice cracked. “I thought if I stayed away, I could keep you both safe.”
Maxwell turned away.
“I don’t need protection.”
“No,” she said. “But Elijah does.”
Maxwell stared out the window, shoulders tense.
And in that silence, a deeper question bloomed.
If Aldrich sent that photo today…
What else did he keep?
And how far was he willing to go… to erase the mistake of their child?
- Writer
