Chapter 10 - The Betrayal Inside My Empire
His name was Henry Cole.
My vice chairman.
My mentor.
The man who had given me my first serious investment when I was twenty-seven.
Victor had not built the financial network alone.
Henry had approved transactions.
Hidden losses.
Redirected money.
When I confronted him, he didn't deny it.
"You built too fast," he said.
"So you stole from me?"
"I protected the company."
"By stealing?"
"By moving capital where it needed to go."
"Into Clara's accounts?"
Henry went silent.
That was enough.
Federal investigators became involved.
Within seventy-two hours, Henry resigned.
Within two weeks, he was charged.
Blackwood Holdings lost billions in market value.
News networks called it the collapse of my empire.
I watched their coverage from the blue cottage while changing Mateo's diaper.
Strangely, I wasn't afraid.
A year earlier, losing billions would have felt like death.
Now Mateo sneezed formula onto my shirt and Samuel laughed.
Perspective arrived in ridiculous ways.
The board begged me to return full-time.
I refused.
"I'll stabilize the company. I won't sacrifice my sons to save a stock price."
For the first time, I understood something Aurelia had tried to teach me.
An empire wasn't something you owned.
It was something that could own you.
I restructured the company.
Sold unnecessary divisions.
Installed independent oversight.
Returned stolen funds.
Created whistleblower protections.
And appointed people who were willing to tell me no.
Lina joked that I had finally learned to hire adults.
She graduated from nursing school six months later.
I attended with the twins.
When her name was called, Mateo screamed.
The entire auditorium laughed.
Lina found us afterward.
"You brought them?"
"They're your loudest supporters."
She hugged both boys.
Then she hugged me.
It lasted one second longer than either of us expected.
We stepped apart.
Something had changed.
Neither of us mentioned it.
Not yet.
That evening, we went to the cottage.
I cooked.
Badly.
Lina rescued dinner.
The twins fell asleep.
We sat beside the lake.
"Do you ever think about leaving?" I asked.
"Your company?"
"This family."
She looked surprised.
"Why would I?"
"Because we dragged you into something terrible."
"No. Clara dragged everyone into something terrible."
"Still."
She looked across the water.
"Aurelia asked me to stay until you came back."
"Back from where?"
"Wherever grief took you."
"And?"
She smiled.
"I think you're back."
I looked at her.
For the first time, I saw Lina not as Aurelia's protector.
Not as my employee.
Not as the young woman Clara falsely accused.
Just Lina.
Strong.
Funny.
Stubborn.
Kind.
And beautiful.
That frightened me.
Because loving someone again felt like betraying Aurelia.
Lina seemed to understand.
"You don't have to figure anything out tonight."
"I know."
"Good."
She stood.
Then Samuel began crying through the monitor.
Lina laughed.
"Your boss is calling."
I went inside.
That night, after everyone slept, I opened one of Aurelia's birthday letters.
I wasn't supposed to.
It was labeled for Mateo and Samuel's first birthday.
But beneath it was another envelope.
For Damian, when he thinks loving again means forgetting me.
I stared at it.
Of course.
Aurelia had anticipated even this.
I opened the letter.
May you like
And the first sentence made me cry.
My stubborn husband, if your heart is opening again, don't you dare close it because of me.
