Chapter 2 - The Wrath of the Patriarch
The silence in the NICU was absolute, thick and suffocating. Dominic stared at me, his perfectly styled hair suddenly looking a little less immaculate, his confident posture faltering for just a fraction of a second. He let out a sharp, forced laugh that echoed awkwardly against the sterile walls.
"Your grandfather?" Dominic scoffed, exchanging an amused glance with Natalie. "Audrey, your grandfather is a retired mechanic who lives in a trailer park in Ohio. What is he going to do? Drive his pickup truck through the hospital lobby? You are truly losing your mind."
Natalie giggled, wrapping her arms protectively around her own pregnant belly. "Let her have her delusions, Dom. It’s the stress. Her brain is probably misfiring from the medication. Let’s just leave before she starts screaming and embarrasses herself."
I didn't blink. I didn't cry. I simply held the phone in my hand and stared at the man I had mistakenly given three years of my life to. "You never asked about my family, Dominic. You only ever cared about the trust fund you thought you were entitled to. You saw a lonely girl with a modest inheritance, and you thought you had found an easy target."
Before Dominic could formulate another insult, the heavy double doors of the neonatal intensive care unit swung open with a forceful, mechanical hiss.
The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees.
Striding through the doorway was a man who commanded the very air he walked through. He was in his late seventies, wearing a bespoke three-piece charcoal suit that cost more than Dominic’s entire medical supply inventory. He walked with a silver-tipped cane, his posture straight, his piercing blue eyes scanning the room with the lethal precision of a hawk hunting its prey.
Flanking him were four massive men in dark suits—the hospital’s elite private security detail, reserved only for high-profile executives and board members. Behind them walked Dr. Aris Thorne, the Chief of Medicine, looking pale and terrified.
"Mr. Sterling," Dr. Thorne stammered, rushing to keep up. "We didn't know you were on the premises, sir. If you had called ahead..."
"I don't need to call ahead to visit my own hospital, Aris," Arthur Sterling’s voice boomed, rich and terrifyingly calm. He stopped at the foot of my chair, his gaze softening instantly as he looked at my pale, exhausted face, and then through the glass at Liam and Chloe.
Dominic’s jaw unhinged. The color drained from his face so fast he looked like a corpse. He knew that name. Anyone in the medical supply business in the state of New York knew the name Arthur Sterling. He owned the largest network of private hospitals on the East Coast.
"Audrey..." Dominic choked out, his eyes darting frantically between me and the billionaire patriarch. "What... what is this?"
My grandfather turned slowly to face Dominic. The warmth in his eyes vanished, replaced by an arctic, merciless glare.
"You must be the parasite," my grandfather said quietly. The insult hung in the air, heavy and sharp. "I told my granddaughter three years ago that you were a social-climbing opportunist. But she has a kind heart. She believed in you. A mistake she will not make twice."
Natalie, oblivious to the sheer magnitude of the power dynamic shifting in the room, stepped forward indignantly. "Excuse me? Who do you think you are talking to? Dominic is a successful businessman, and we are legally—"
"Silence," my grandfather snapped. He didn't even look at her; he merely flicked his wrist. The command was so absolute that Natalie actually snapped her mouth shut, stepping backward in shock.
My grandfather looked at the signed divorce papers sitting on the bedside table. He picked them up, scanning the contents. A dark, terrifying smile curved his lips. "You forced a woman who just gave birth to premature twins, who is heavily medicated and recovering from near-fatal hemorrhaging, to sign away her assets? And you believe this will hold up in court?"
"She... she signed it voluntarily!" Dominic stammered, stepping back as the security guards subtly moved to block the exits. "We had an agreement!"
"You have nothing," my grandfather corrected him smoothly. He turned to the head of his security detail. "Marcus. Escort this man and his mistress off my property immediately. If they ever step foot within five hundred yards of this hospital, or my granddaughter, have them arrested for trespassing."
"Wait, you can't do this!" Dominic shouted, panic finally breaking through his arrogant facade as two massive security guards grabbed him by the arms. "My company provides the surgical equipment for this wing! I am a vendor!"
"Not anymore," Arthur replied coldly. "I own this network. As of this exact second, all contracts with Vanguard Medical Supplies are permanently terminated. You are blacklisted. Good luck selling your cheap plastic catheters to anyone in this state."
Natalie let out a high-pitched shriek as a guard grabbed her elbow. "Get your hands off me! I am pregnant!"
"Before you throw her out," I said, my voice cutting through the noise. It was quiet, but it carried across the room. I pointed to the ivory cashmere coat draped over Natalie’s shoulders. "Take my coat off. You haven't earned the right to wear my children's initials."
Natalie gasped, clutching the lapels. "You gave this to me! Dominic said—"
"Take it off," my grandfather commanded, his voice rumbling like thunder.
Trembling, her face flushed with extreme humiliation and rage, Natalie shrugged off the custom coat and let it drop to the floor. The guards hauled them out of the NICU. Dominic’s desperate, pleading screams echoed down the hallway until the heavy doors finally sealed shut.
May you like
My grandfather picked up the ivory coat, dusted it off, and gently draped it over my shoulders. He knelt beside my chair, taking my trembling hand in his.
"You're safe now, my darling," he whispered, looking at the tiny babies fighting for their lives in the incubators. "I’ve got you. And I promise you, by the time I am done with him, he will wish he had never been born."
