Chapter 5 - The Desperate Move
Three days passed.
Ryan’s life had degenerated into a nightmare. Every bridge he had built during his five years of corporate climbing had burned to ash. His so-called high-society friends refused to answer his texts. Violet from Marketing had blocked his number after being escorted out of Vertex by security. The luxury car dealership came and took his personal sports car from the airport parking lot after his lease payment bounced.
He had three hundred dollars left on a backup debit card he had forgotten about.
Sitting in a booth at a greasy diner across from the Vertex building, Ryan watched the entrance through the rain-streaked window.
He knew he couldn't beat Elle in court. Her family’s legal team was an impenetrable fortress of top-tier attorneys. He couldn't fight her financially, and he couldn't fight her in the court of public opinion—the internet had turned her press conference speech into a viral anthem for women’s empowerment.
His only option was emotional manipulation. He needed to make her see the man he used to be. He needed to use the babies.
At 4:30 PM, a black Range Rover pulled up to the private VIP entrance at the side of the Vertex building. Two private security officers stepped out, opening the door for Elle, who carried Violet in a front-facing baby carrier while a nanny followed holding Clara.
Ryan shoved his hands into his coat pockets and sprinted across the street, dodging traffic.
"Elle!" he screamed, his voice cracking with desperation. "Elle, stop! Please!"
The security guards instantly stepped into formation, forming an impenetrable wall of muscle between Ryan and the Range Rover.
"Let him speak for a moment," Elle said calmly from behind her guards, adjusting the small pink hat on Violet's head.
Ryan stopped ten feet away, panting heavily. He looked pathetic—his hair unwashed, his suit jacket wrinkled and stained, his eyes wide with a frantic, animalistic dread.
"Elle... please," Ryan sobbed, dropping to his knees on the wet pavement right there in front of the security team. "I’m begging you. I was wrong! I was an idiot! I was intoxicated by the power and the money!"
"Get up, Ryan," Elle said flatly. "You're making a scene."
"I don't care!" Ryan cried out, looking up at her with tears pouring down his cheeks. "I don't care about the money! I don't care about Vertex! Just let me come home! Let me see my daughters! I'm their father, Elle!"
Elle looked down at him. There was no anger in her face anymore—only a quiet, profound pity.
"You didn't care about being their father when you left me alone with them for four months," Elle said softly. "You didn't care when you called them a distraction from your career. You only care now because they represent the last tether you have to my wealth."
"That's not true!" Ryan yelled. "I love them!"
"If you loved them, you wouldn't be kneeling in the wet street trying to manipulate their mother for a headline," Elle said coldly. "If you want to see your daughters, Ryan, you will do it through the family court system. You will get a job. You will go to therapy. You will prove that you are a stable, capable human being before you ever step foot near my children again."
She turned and climbed into the back seat of the Range Rover.
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"Elle! No! Please!" Ryan screamed, reaching out as the security guards closed the heavy door.
The SUV pulled smoothly away from the curb, leaving Ryan kneeling alone in the rain, staring at the red taillights as they disappeared into the evening fog.
