Chapter 3 - The Forced Exile
Natalie stepped forward slowly, her heels sinking slightly into the plush carpet, her tears finally spilling over her lashes and running down her pale cheeks. "Grayson... I never wanted to leave you. I never stopped loving you. I found out I was pregnant exactly five days after your father's memorial service. I was so terrified, but so hopeful. I went straight to the Sterling estate to tell you the news, but Elliot was waiting at the gates."
She reached inside her camel coat and pulled out a worn, black leather-bound journal, placing it on the conference table right beside the scattered inheritance papers and the wax-sealed file.
"He threatened my entire family, Grayson," Natalie sobbed, her hands trembling uncontrollably over her pregnant belly. "He showed me fake bank statements claiming you were drowning in millions of dollars of underground gambling debt. He told me you were just using me for money. Then he dropped his mask. He said if I didn't take a cash settlement and leave New York City immediately, he would use his authority as acting CEO to bankrupt my father's architectural firm, frame him for corporate fraud, and make sure you spent the rest of your life in a federal prison!"
Grayson felt a cold wave of pure, unadulterated hatred wash through his veins. Every muscle in his body burned. He took a violent step toward Elliot, his fists balling so tightly his knuckles turned stark white, but Harold immediately planted a firm, unyielding hand against Grayson’s chest.
"Control yourself, Grayson!" Harold ordered in an authoritative boom. "You act with physical violence in this office right now, and you give his lawyers the exact leverage they need to lock you out forever. Let the law and the truth do the damage."
Elliot smoothed down the front of his navy suit, trying desperately to reassemble his polished corporate persona, though the bright red stain of blood on his lip completely ruined the illusion. "This is a pathetic fabrication. Natalie is a gold-digger who realized Grayson had been cut out of the primary fund. She came to my office asking for two million dollars to terminate the pregnancy, and I paid her off out of my own personal account just to clear a distraction away from this firm!"
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"Liars always leave an indelible paper trail, Elliot," Harold said with a cold, mocking smile. He reached into his leather briefcase and pulled out a second document staple-bound in blue legal paper. "This is a verified wire transfer log from Sterling Enterprise's offshore slush account in Grand Cayman, sent directly to a private, undisclosed medical facility in rural Vermont—signed electronically using your master administrative key. You weren't paying her to go away out of charity; you were paying a corrupt clinic to alter her medical registration so Grayson would never trace his unborn heir."
Elliot’s eyes darted frantically toward the double doors of the office. For the first time in his calculated life, the prodigal adopted son realized there was nowhere left to hide.
