Chapter 5 - The Cartwright Ultimatum
Before Victoria could recover her footing, the heavy oak front doors swung open again without warning.
A tall, imposing man in a tailored charcoal suit marched into the foyer, followed by a trembling young woman in a designer silk dress. Arthur Cartwright. Patriarch of Cartwright Enterprises and the primary reason my mother had tried to orchestrate this corporate marriage in the first place.
“Victoria!” Arthur boomed, his face red with fury. “What is the meaning of this disaster? My daughter was made a laughingstock at the conservatory last night! And now I hear rumors that my board seats are being jeopardized because your son went AWOL?”
Victoria spun around, her social armor instantly snapping back into place as she tried to manage the catastrophe. “Arthur, please! This is merely a temporary domestic misunderstanding—some mentally unstable opportunist has appeared with children claiming—"
“I am not an opportunist, Mr. Cartwright,” Mara interrupted, her voice ringing out through the grand hall with surprising strength. She stepped forward, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with me. “And these boys are the legal heirs to the Whitaker name. DNA testing will confirm it within twenty-four hours, but honestly, all you have to do is look at them.”
Arthur Cartwright stopped dead in his tracks. He turned his gaze from Mara to the four boys standing by the marble pillar. Max was currently tugging on Mason’s sleeve, both of them sporting the exact same stubborn scowl that Arthur had seen across boardroom tables from me for years.
Arthur’s eyes widened. He slowly turned his gaze toward Victoria, his expression turning thunderous.
“You lied to me,” Arthur said, his voice dangerously low. “You told me Julian was entirely unattached, that there were no prior entanglements or hidden heirs that could complicate our merger.”
“Arthur, listen to reason—!” Victoria pleaded, her hands trembling as she reached out toward him.
“The merger is off, Victoria,” Arthur snapped, holding up a hand to cut her off. He adjusted his tie, glaring with pure disgust at my mother. “Cartwright Enterprises does not partner with fraudsters and blackmailers. Consider our business relationship permanently terminated.”
With that, Arthur turned on his heel and walked out the door, slamming it shut behind him so hard the crystal chandelier overhead rattled violently.
Brielle Cartwright, standing near the doorway, looked at me with a mixture of profound relief and annoyance. “For what it’s worth, Julian,” she muttered quietly, “I never wanted to marry you anyway.” Then she turned and followed her father out to the car.
May you like
The silence that rushed back into the foyer was deafening.
Victoria stood alone in the center of the massive room, her empire of lies crumbling around her feet like a house of cards. Her corporate alliance was gone; her social standing was in ruins; and her only son was looking at her not with filial respect, but with absolute, unadulterated contempt.
