Chapter 4 - THE BOARDROOM BARGAIN
I didn’t reply to Eleanor’s text. I shoved the phone deep into my pocket, gripping the wooden train so hard my knuckles popped.
I knelt down until I was eye-level with the boy.
“What’s your name, buddy?” I asked softly.
“Sam,” he said. He pointed to his brother, who was slumping against the plastic bench, his breathing growing heavier. “That’s Leo. He’s tired today.”
“I know, Sam,” I whispered, swallowing the massive lump in my throat. “I’m going to fix it. I promise you.”
I stood up and looked at Clara. “I need you to take Leo up to the preoperative floor right now. Don’t let them discharge him.”
“Julian, they won’t prep him without the valve or the money.”
“Just get him in the bed,” I said, my voice leaving no room for argument. “I am going to get his valve.”
I turned on my heel and walked out of the hospital, into the freezing rain.
My driver was waiting by the curb in the black town car.
“To the wedding venue, sir?” he asked, holding an umbrella over my head.
“No,” I said, sliding into the back seat. “To the Vance Tower.”
It took twenty minutes to reach my mother’s corporate headquarters. I bypassed security, ignored my frantic assistant, and kicked open the heavy oak doors of the executive boardroom.
My mother, Victoria Vance, sat at the head of the long mahogany table, sipping sparkling water. Eleanor sat to her right, already wearing her white silk wedding gown, looking like a porcelain doll.
“Julian,” my mother said smoothly, setting her glass down. “You’re late for your own wedding.”
“Where is the transfer authorization for the valve?” I demanded, walking slowly down the length of the table.
Eleanor smiled perfectly. “Julian, darling. You’re stressed. We just need to finalize the merger today. After the ceremony, my father will gladly release a generous charitable donation to the hospital.”
“A donation?” I laughed, but there was zero humor in it. I reached into my breast pocket, pulled out the velvet box, and tossed it onto the polished wood. It skidded and stopped right in front of Eleanor.
“There’s the ring,” I said. “The wedding is off.”
My mother stood up, her eyes flashing with cold fury. “Don’t be an idiot, Julian. You are thirty minutes away from securing the largest biomedical monopoly in North America. You are not throwing it away for a gold-digger and her sickly bastard.”
The room went dead silent.
I slowly walked around the table until I was standing inches from my mother.
“You forged my signature on custody relinquishment forms,” I said, my voice dead calm. “You blackmailed a pregnant woman.”
“I protected this family’s legacy!” she snapped. “And if you walk out that door without Eleanor, I will make a phone call to Child Services. Clara is currently sitting in a hospital with no money, no insurance, and a dying child. She is completely unfit. I will have those boys in the foster system by midnight.”
I stared at the woman who raised me, realizing I didn't know her at all.
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Then, Eleanor’s father stepped out from the shadows of the adjoining private office. He tossed a thick, manila envelope onto the table.
“It doesn’t matter, Victoria,” he said coldly. “The boy doesn’t have until midnight. If Julian doesn't sign the marriage certificate in the next hour, I’m ordering the hospital to discharge Leo. Let's see how long his heart lasts on the subway.”
