Chapter 4 - WEAPONIZING THE IMPERIAL
Twenty minutes later, the dark Lincoln Continental screeched to a halt outside 14th Street.
Sebastian took the stairs three at a time, his heart hammering against his ribs like a drum. When he reached apartment 3B, the door opened before he could even knock.
Nadia stood in the doorway, looking small, pale, and completely exhausted.
Without a word, Sebastian stepped inside, wrapped his large arms around her, and pulled her tightly against his chest.
Nadia stiffened for a fraction of a second—five years of built-up distance screaming at her to pull away. But as the warmth of his coat wrapped around her, and as she smelled the familiar scent of rain, cedarwood, and tobacco that had once meant safety to her, her resolve broke. She buried her face in his neck and let him hold her while her shoulders shook with quiet, silent sobs.
"I’m here," Sebastian whispered into her hair, his arms locking around her like iron bands. "I’ve got you. I’m sorry. I am so, so sorry for everything she did to you."
"She’s... she’s so cruel, Sebastian," Nadia choked out, her voice muffled against his sweater. "She threatened Dad again. She said she’d take the kids."
"She won't touch a hair on their heads," Sebastian said, pulling back slightly to look down into her eyes, his hands resting on her face, his thumbs gently wiping away her tears. "She doesn't have the power she thinks she has. She built her empire on fear. I built mine on facts."
He led her over to the couch, sitting down beside her and keeping one hand firmly around hers.
"What are we going to do?" Nadia asked, looking at the mountain of evidence still sitting on the kitchen table. "If she goes to the press, if she drags the children into a public circus—"
"She won't go to the press," Sebastian said with chilling calm. "Because before the sun rises tomorrow, I am taking away every single platform she owns."
He pulled out his phone and hit speed dial. "Victoria. Activate Phase One."
On the other end, Victoria Vance’s crisp voice answered immediately. "The injunctions are ready, Mr. Ashton. We have frozen the offshore proxy accounts under the Federal Money Laundering Prevention Act. The board of Ashton Global has just received the emergency summons for an 8:00 AM emergency session."
"Include the medical board files," Sebastian added coldly. "Every bribe my mother made to threaten Nadia’s father five years ago—send it directly to the State Attorney General’s office."
"Consider it delivered," Victoria said, and hung up.
Nadia stared at him in utter shock. "You're... you're turning her over to the Attorney General?"
"She committed wire fraud, corporate forgery, blackmail, and illegal surveillance," Sebastian said, his eyes burning with an intense, unyielding coldness. "She didn't just break our hearts, Nadia. She committed major felonies to enforce her control over this family. I gave her thirty years of my loyalty because she was my mother. She forfeited that right the day she made my children sleep in hiding."
Nadia looked at him, seeing for the first time the true scale of the man he had become. He wasn't just her husband who used to forget where he left his car keys; he was a king who was burning his own kingdom down to protect his queen.
"Sebastian," she murmured softly, her fingers tightening around his. "What happens to Ashton Global? What happens to your company?"
"I don't care about the company," Sebastian said simply.
"That's a lie," Nadia said softly. "You built that company with your blood. It was your father's legacy before she took it over."
"My father’s legacy died when he let her run his life," Sebastian replied, turning to look at her, his expression softening instantly. "My legacy is in the other room, sleeping under a dinosaur blanket."
Nadia felt a lump form in her throat.
Before she could answer, a small creak echoed from the hallway.
Both of them turned.
Standing in the doorway was Eli, wearing his red pajamas, holding his broken wooden fire truck in one hand and rubbing his sleepy eyes with the other.
"Mommy?" Eli muttered, blinking against the soft living room light. "Why is the bread man here in the middle of the night?"
Sebastian’s posture instantly melted. The ruthless corporate titan vanished, replaced by a father who looked almost terrified of being caught.
"Eli," Nadia said gently, wiping the last traces of tears from her cheeks and gesturing for him to come over. "Come here, baby."
Eli walked slowly across the room, his eyes darting between Nadia’s red face and Sebastian’s intense gaze. He climbed onto the couch between them, setting the broken truck on Sebastian’s lap.
"Did you bring the glue?" Eli asked bluntly.
Sebastian smiled—a genuine, warm, slightly crooked smile that Nadia hadn't seen in half a decade.
"I didn't bring the glue yet, Eli," Sebastian said gently, picking up the small truck. "It’s very late. But I promise you, when you wake up tomorrow morning, I will be right here. And we will fix it together."
Eli looked at him suspiciously. "Are you going to disappear like the rain?"
Sebastian felt a sharp, agonizing stab in his chest. He reached out and gently laid his hand on the little boy’s head, his fingers threading through the soft, dark hair that was so identical to his own.
"No," Sebastian said, his voice thick with emotion. "I am never disappearing again. I’m staying right here."
Eli looked at his mother for confirmation. Nadia nodded slowly, a teardrop slipping down her cheek, though this time she smiled through it.
"Okay," Eli said simply. He leaned back against the couch cushions, pulled his knees up, and within three minutes, his breathing evened out into deep, trusting sleep.
Sebastian looked down at his son sleeping beside him, then looked across at Nadia.
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"We have a long fight ahead of us tomorrow," Nadia whispered softly.
"It’s not a fight," Sebastian corrected quietly, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and drawing her close as the first faint grey light of dawn began to touch the Manhattan skyline. "It’s an execution. And when it’s over, we’re coming home."
