Chapter 3 - THE GLASS TOWER
Nora stood her ground, her boots clicking softly on the polished hardwood as she stepped into the boardroom.
For eight months, she had imagined this moment. She had imagined screaming at him in a courtroom, pounding on his chest in a parking lot, begging him for help while holding unpaid hospital bills. But standing here now, under the high lights of Julian Calloway’s boardroom, surrounded by corporate attorneys and security guards, she felt a strange, icy calm settle over her bones.
"Hello, Devin," Nora said, her voice clear and unwavering. "Lily wanted to meet her father."
Devin’s face drained of blood. He looked frantically at Julian, then back at Nora, his mind desperately spinning excuses.
"Julian, whatever she told you, she's lying!" Devin stammered, stepping toward Julian with raised hands. "She's an ex-girlfriend from over a year ago! She's mentally unstable! She’s been stalking me for months, trying to extort money from me—"
BANG.
Julian set his coffee cup down on the mahogany table with enough force to send a shockwave through the room.
"Careful, Devin," Julian warned, his gray eyes flashing with a terrifying, lethal sharpness. "You are speaking about my new Special Liaison. And more importantly, you are speaking about a child whose medical records I personally reviewed at four o'clock this morning."
Julian pulled a thick leather binder from his desk and tossed it into the center of the table.
"Your name is on the hospital’s preliminary paternity notification from the night Lily was admitted to the NICU, Devin," Julian said. "You were served four separate legal notices at this office address over the past five months. And every single time, you used company resources to intercept the mail and delete the internal HR flags."
Devin swallowed hard, his hands beginning to shake. "Julian, it was a personal matter—"
"It became a corporate matter when you used Calloway Industries' firewall to block a job applicant," Julian interrupted, standing up slowly. He towered over Devin, his presence effortlessly commanding the room. "It became a corporate matter when you used company legal retainers to threaten a nursing home into firing her so she couldn't afford a lawyer to pursue child support."
Nora gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. "What?"
Julian turned his gaze to Nora, his expression softening slightly. "Our legal team tracked the IP addresses this morning, Nora. Devin didn't just abandon you. He called your supervisor at the nursing home and threatened them with a frivolous compliance lawsuit if they didn't terminate your contract. He wanted you broke. He wanted you so desperate you wouldn't have the resources to bring a paternity suit against him."
A cold, sickening realization washed over Nora.
It hadn't been bad luck. It hadn't been an unfortunate series of coincidences. Devin had systematically dismantled her life, piece by piece, to protect his executive reputation and his six-figure salary.
"You monster," Nora whispered, looking at Devin with pure disgust.
"Nora, listen to me!" Devin pleaded, taking a step toward her, his eyes wide with panic. "I did it for us! I was trying to secure my partnership! If the board found out I had an out-of-wedlock child with a nursing assistant while I was negotiating the merger, they would have passed me over! I was going to send you money once the deal closed! I swear!"
"Touch her," Julian said softly from across the room, "and my security guards will throw you through that glass window."
Devin froze, his hand hovering in the air inches from Nora's shoulder.
Julian stepped around the table, stopping beside Nora. He looked down at Lily, who was beginning to stir in her car seat, her tiny hands reaching up into the air.
"Devin Vance," Julian announced, his voice echoing with absolute finality. "You are terminated effective immediately for severe breach of ethics, corporate fraud, and misuse of company assets. Our legal team has already filed a motion with the district attorney. Your bank accounts have been frozen pending the forensic audit."
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"You can't freeze my accounts!" Devin shrieked, his composure completely shattering. "I have bills! I have a lease on the penthouse!"
"Then I suggest you call a wrong number at midnight," Julian replied coldly. "Security, escort Mr. Vance from the building. If he steps foot on Calloway property again, have him arrested for criminal trespass."
