Chapter 8 - THE INHERITANCE
I dropped to my knees on the grass, ignoring my emerald gown, and opened my arms.
Leo didn’t hesitate. He ran as fast as his little legs could carry him and threw himself into my embrace, burying his tear-stained face into my shoulder.
“Why are the police taking Grandpa?” Leo cried, his tiny fingers gripping the fabric of my dress. “Why is Daddy crying?”
For years, I had been the one sneaking into the guest house to read Leo bedtime stories when his nanny was asleep. I was the one who bandaged his scraped knees while Sebastian partied and Beatrice hosted galas. They treated Leo exactly how they had treated me—like an inconvenience. A secret to be managed.
“It’s okay, Leo,” I whispered, pressing a kiss to his curls. “Everything is going to be okay. I promise.”
Sebastian finally snapped out of his shock and marched toward us. His face was red with humiliation.
“Get away from him, Mariana,” Sebastian snarled, reaching out to grab the boy. “He’s my son.”
Before Sebastian’s hand could even touch Leo, Alexander stepped between them. He didn’t yell. He didn't raise his hands. He simply looked at Sebastian with the cold, immovable force of a mountain.
“I suggest you step back, son,” Alexander said quietly. “Before I have the police arrest you for assaulting a minor.”
“He’s my kid!” Sebastian shouted, though he took a step back.
“You’ve never been a father to him,” I said, standing up and pulling Leo securely behind my legs. “You haven’t even looked at him in three days, Sebastian. Beatrice was planning on sending him to a boarding school in Switzerland next month just to get him out of the way for your new life with Renata.”
Sebastian opened his mouth to argue, but nothing came out. He knew it was true.
Renata walked over, her expression unreadable. She looked at Sebastian, the man she had pretended to love for ten months.
“The police are going to want to talk to you, Sebastian,” Renata said coldly. “About how much you knew regarding the scaffolding collapse. If I were you, I’d focus on finding a very good defense attorney, not playing dad for the cameras.”
Sebastian’s bravado shattered. He looked at the flashing cameras, at his mother weeping on the grass, at the police cars driving away with his father. Defeated, he turned and walked toward the estate, his shoulders slumped. He didn't look back at Leo once.
I knelt back down to Leo. I wiped the tears from his cheeks.
“Leo,” I said softly. “Do you want to come with me?”
He sniffled, clutching his bear tightly. “To your room by the laundry?”
My chest ached at the innocence in his voice. “No, sweetheart. Not to that room. Never again. To a real home. Where you can play outside whenever you want, and no one will ever tell you to be quiet.”
Leo looked up at Alexander. Alexander Vance, the ruthless billionaire, knelt down in the dirt in his custom suit. He smiled gently at the boy.
“I have a house with a very big garden,” Alexander told him. “And I think Mariana is going to need someone brave to help her explore it. What do you say?”
Leo looked back at me and nodded slowly. “Okay.”
I stood up, holding Leo’s hand.
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For the first time in my life, as I walked away from the Greenwich estate, I didn't look back. The massive house that had once felt like an impenetrable fortress now just looked like what it truly was: a cold, empty tomb.
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