Chapter 1 - The Shadow of Vale Tower
The stone arches of Bethesda Terrace loomed over us like the remnants of an ancient cathedral, casting cold gray shadows across the wet pavement. Sebastian stood frozen, his designer coat hanging loose as the biting November wind whipped between us. Beside him, Clarissa Hart stared at my three toddlers with an expression curdling from aristocratic distaste into pure, unadulterated panic.
""My grandfather knew,"" Sebastian repeated. The words seemed torn from deep inside his chest, hollow and raw.
""Don't do this, Sebastian,"" Clarissa hissed, grabbing his forearm with manicured nails that dug into the cashmere. ""Look at her! She’s an opportunist from your past trying to derail our engagement announcement. Anyone can claim a child has family eyes. You don't know who she slept with after you broke things off!""
Before the poison could leave her mouth, Owen let out a startled whimper, hiding his small face against the rough wool of my coat. That broke my silence.
""Keep your mouth shut, Clarissa,"" I said, my voice dropping into an icy register I hadn't used in four grueling years. ""You know nothing about the seven months I spent wearing his ring, and you know even less about how I’ve kept these children fed while your fiancé played prince of Manhattan.""
Sebastian didn't look at Clarissa. He reached out, his long fingers trembling visibly, but stopped inches away from touching Owen’s soft brown curls. ""Maya... the letters. You said you wrote letters. Where did you send them?""
""To the penthouse on 72nd Street,"" I answered, each word tasting like old ash. ""To your private office on the sixty-fourth floor of Vale Tower. I sent copies by certified mail. Every single one came back marked 'Refused by Addressee.' When I ran out of money for rent, I stood in the marble lobby of your family’s headquarters with my swollen belly showing under a threadbare coat, begging Marcus Vance to let me upstairs.""
Sebastian’s jaw clenched so hard a muscle twitched violently along his cheekbone. ""Marcus told me you had taken a settlement check from the trust and relocated to London. He showed me a wire confirmation.""
""I never saw a single dollar from the Vale estate,"" I snapped, leaning over the stroller to shield Noah and Ivy from the tension crackling in the air. ""I worked double shifts at a diner in Queens until my water broke at thirty-three weeks. I nearly died on that delivery table while your family drank champagne in the Hamptons. And now you expect me to believe you were completely innocent?""
""I signed the divorce papers because my grandfather showed me surveillance photos of you meeting an architect in Boston,"" Sebastian whispered, his eyes wide, haunted by a sudden realization. ""He swore you were planning to take half the trust and leave.""
A cold laugh tore from my throat. ""I never left the state of New York until after the babies were born. Adrian Vale manufactured a ghost, Sebastian. And you believed him because, deep down, you always thought a girl from Brooklyn wasn't worthy of your family crest.""
""Sebastian, stop listening to her!"" Clarissa tugged him back, her voice climbing an octave. ""The press is at the Loeb Boathouse waiting for our photo call. If anyone sees you standing over a triple stroller talking to your ex-secret-wife, the Vale-Hart merger is finished!""
Sebastian turned his head slowly, looking at Clarissa as though he were seeing her for the first time in his life. The cold, calculating heir who had ruled Wall Street for a decade vanished, replaced by an inferno of rage.
""Get in the car, Clarissa,"" he said, his tone deathly quiet.
""What?""
""Take the town car and go to the Boathouse alone. Tell them the event is postponed.""
""You can't be serious!"" she gasped, looking around the terrace as tourists began lingering, sensing drama. ""Your grandfather will ruin you for this!""
""Let him try,"" Sebastian snarled. ""Get out of my sight before I say something that ends your father’s firm by tomorrow morning.""
Clarissa stumbled back, shocked by the venom in his voice, before spinning on her designer heels and hurrying toward the East Drive.
Sebastian turned back to me, the anger dropping from his features, leaving only ruin. ""Maya... please let me look at them.""
""No,"" I whispered, gripping the rubber handle until my knuckles turned white. ""You don't get to step into their lives because of an epiphany beside a fountain. You gave up that right when you walked away.""
May you like
I turned the heavy stroller and began pushing it up the incline toward Central Park West. But as my boots hit the wet leaves, Sebastian's low voice trailed behind me, carrying an oath that made the hair on my neck stand up.
""I gave up my right to you, Maya. But Adrian Vale stole my children. And I will burn down everything he built before I let him keep them from me.""
