Chapter 4: First Strike
852 Words
The morning after the gala, my phone wouldn’t stop ringing. Messages from old contacts. Business emails. And one from Ethan.
“I need to see you. And the children. Please, Zara. I made the biggest mistake of my life.”
I stared at the text for a long time. Part of me — the old Zara — wanted to answer. The girl who used to cook his favorite meals and wait for him to come home. But that girl died in the rain five years ago.
I blocked the number.
“Mommy, who was that man at the party?” Alex asked while eating breakfast. The triplets were sitting at the table in our new apartment, swinging their legs.
“He’s someone from Mommy’s past,” I said carefully. “Don’t worry about him.”
But I was worried. Ethan’s mother’s threat kept playing in my head. She had power. Connections. If she tried to take my kids, I needed to be ready.
Marcus came over later that morning. He looked excited. “Your team did the research. Vance Enterprises is weak. Bad deals. Too much debt. We can start buying shares quietly. In a few weeks, we make the big offer.”
“Good,” I said. “I want to crush them step by step.”
The next few days were crazy. I went to meetings during the day and spent evenings with the kids. They loved the big park near our apartment. Watching them run and laugh made everything worth it. But at night, I lay awake thinking about Ethan’s face when he saw them. The shock. The regret.
Was it real? Or just another game?
On Thursday, I got a call from my lawyer. “Someone filed papers trying to question your custody. Anonymous for now. But it smells like the Vances.”
My blood boiled. “Fight it. Hard.”
I called Marcus. “Accelerate the plan. I want to hit them where it hurts.”
Two weeks later, we made our first big move. TechEdge bought a large chunk of Vance shares through different companies. The news hit the business world like a bomb. Vance stock dropped fast.
I sat in my new office, watching the numbers fall on my computer. It felt good. But not good enough.
My phone rang. Unknown number. I answered.
“Zara.” Ethan’s voice. Tired. Desperate. “Please stop this. We can talk. I’ll give you anything. Just let me see my children.”
I laughed coldly. “Anything? Like how you gave me a hundred dollars and three trash bags? No, Ethan. You don’t get to see them. Not until I decide you’ve suffered enough.”
He was quiet for a long moment. “I was stupid. My mother… she pushed me. She hated you from the beginning. She told me things about you that weren’t true. I believed her. I’m sorry.”
My hand tightened on the phone. “Too late for sorry.”
I hung up.
That night, as I was tucking the kids into bed, the doorbell rang. The nanny went to check. When she came back, her face was pale.
“There’s a man outside. He says he’s their father. He won’t leave.”
My heart stopped. I walked to the door and opened it.
Ethan stood there in the hallway. Rain was falling again, just like that night. His hair was wet. His eyes looked broken.
“Zara,” he said softly. “I just want to see them. Five minutes. Please.”
Behind me, I heard little footsteps. Mia peeked out. “Mommy, who is it?”
Ethan’s eyes filled with tears when he saw her. “Hi, sweetheart…”
I stepped in front of her quickly. “Go back to bed, baby.”
I closed the door a little, facing Ethan. “You don’t get to do this. You don’t get to show up and play dad after five years. Leave. Or I’ll call security.”
He didn’t move. “I love you. I never stopped. I was blind. Let me make it right. Marry me again. We can be a family.”
For a second, my old feelings tried to come back. The love I once had. The dreams. But then I remembered the cold floor, the rain, the trash bags.
“No,” I said. My voice was steel. “You had your chance. Now I’m going to take your company. Your pride. Everything. And if you or your mother come near my children again, I’ll destroy you completely.”
I slammed the door in his face.
But as I leaned against it, my legs felt weak. The kids were calling for me. And deep down, I knew this was only the beginning.
The next morning, Marcus brought worse news.
“Ethan’s mother just transferred a lot of money to some shady lawyers. They’re preparing a custody battle. And they’re digging into your past… and mine.”
I looked at the photo of my triplets on my desk.
The real war had started.
And I had to win. For them.
- Writer
