Chapter 5 - The Custody Petition
Ethan stared at the text alert on my phone, his face turning from pale to a deep, dangerous red.
"She didn't..." he whispered, his hands trembling with rage. "She swore to me she wouldn't do this."
"She did it, Ethan," I said, stepping right up to him, my voice dripping with venom. "Because that is what Eleanor Montgomery does. She treats human beings like corporate assets. She couldn't get the Hastings merger, so now she wants to use my sons as her new bargaining chips for the family legacy."
Ethan pulled out his own phone, his fingers flying across the screen as he dialed his mother's private line. He put it on speakerphone.
It rang twice before Eleanor’s smooth, icy voice filled the quiet living room.
"Ethan?" Eleanor said calmly. "Have you come to your senses? Where are you? The lawyers are drafting the press releases—"
"Cancel the custody petition, Mother," Ethan snarled, his voice deeper and more terrifying than I had ever heard it.
There was a brief pause on the line. "Ethan, don't be naive. That woman kept my grandsons hidden from this family for five years! She stole the future of the Montgomery dynasty! The court will easily grant us emergency access given her unstable—"
"I SAID CANCEL IT!" Ethan roared into the phone, slamming his hand down on the marble island so hard it rang like a bell.
I watched him, my eyes narrowing.
"If you move one inch against Maya or those boys, Mother," Ethan said, his voice dropping into a razor-sharp whisper, "I will resign from the board of Montgomery Global tonight. I will sell my entire twenty-five percent voting stake to Vance Global. Do you understand me? I will hand the keys to our family business directly to Maya."
Silence fell over the phone line. I could almost hear Eleanor’s mind racing, calculating the catastrophic financial fallout of such a move.
"You... you wouldn't dare," Eleanor gasped, her calm facade finally cracking. "You would ruin your own family for that girl?!"
"She isn't 'that girl.' She is the mother of my children," Ethan spat. "And if you ever come near them again, I will burn everything you built to the ground. Withdraw the petition by midnight, or my resignation hits the wire at 12:01 AM."
Ethan hung up the phone without waiting for a reply.
He stood breathing heavily, staring at the blank screen before turning to look at me. His gray eyes held a fierce, desperate clarity.
"I meant what I said, Maya," Ethan said softly. "I’m done letting her run my life."
I studied him carefully, weighing his words against five years of pain. "A gesture is nice, Ethan. But a phone call doesn't undo five years of absence."
"I know," Ethan said, taking a slow step back toward the elevator. "I don't expect you to forgive me today. Or next week. Or even next year. But I am going to fight for those boys. Not in court... but by showing you I can be the man they deserve."
He pressed the elevator button. As the doors slid open, he turned to look at me one last time.
"Get some sleep, Maya," he said quietly. "You won't have to worry about my mother tonight. I'll handle her."
The elevator doors closed, leaving me alone in the silent penthouse.
May you like
Sarah stepped out from the office corner, holding her tablet. "That was... unexpectedly impressive, Boss."
"Talk is cheap, Sarah," I said, turning back toward my desk. "Prepare the offensive plan for Monday morning. If Eleanor Montgomery wants a war over company shares, I'm going to buy her out before she even knows what hit her."
