Chapter 4 - The Puppet Master
We sat at my large kitchen island while the snow outside turned into a blinding blizzard. I had given Jason a warm fleece pullover from my guest room, and he sat hunched over a mug of black coffee, his laptop open between us.
"Donald Vance engineered the entire crisis," Jason said, pulling up old internal corporate audits from five years ago. "Look at these dates, Claire. Donald intercepted your brother's medical file through a private investigator he hired to spy on you. He didn't just present the files to me—he edited the bank statements to make it look like you were transferring Sterling Energy's proprietary battery schematics to an offshore account."
"Why?" I asked, staring at the screen. "Donald was already making millions as your chief legal officer."
"Because as long as you and I were married, we held fifty-one percent of the voting shares jointly," Jason explained, his fingers flying across the keyboard. "If we stayed together, we had absolute control over the company. But our marriage contract had an infidelity clause inserted during our second year—a clause Donald advised me to include."
A cold pit formed in my stomach. "If one spouse committed proven marital infidelity, their half of the joint stock option defaulted to a neutral corporate trust managed by... the chief legal officer."
"Donald," Jason finished grimly. "The moment we divorced under grounds of alleged infidelity, Donald gained temporary voting control over your twenty-five percent stake in the company. He used that leverage to approve the offshore licensing deals that diluted my own shares, effectively making him the shadow chairman of Sterling Energy."
I leaned back against the counter, shaking my head in sheer disbelief. "He used my dying brother to break our marriage, steal my company equity, and manipulate you into turning against me."
"He destroyed my life," Jason whispered, looking up at me, his dark eyes filled with a sickening mix of self-loathing and rage. "He made me destroy the only woman I ever loved... and he kept me from seeing my boys be born."
"Don't do that," I warned him sharply. "Don't lay this all at Donald's feet, Jason. Donald put the trap in front of you, yes. But you walked into it with your eyes wide open. You trusted a reptile in a suit over your own wife because your pride was too fragile to accept that I had a life and a family burden outside of your corporate orbit."
Jason bowed his head, accepting the blow without defense. "You're right. I was broken long before Donald set that trap. I was obsessed with control."
Suddenly, footsteps echoed down the timber staircase.
"Mom?"
It was Leo. He stood at the bottom of the stairs, wearing his blue superhero pajamas, holding a stuffed bear, blinking sleepily into the bright lights of the kitchen.
Jason froze. He turned his head slowly, staring at his middle son as if looking at a miraculous apparition.
"Leo, sweetie, why are you awake?" I asked softly, stepping around the island.
"I had a bad dream about thunder," Leo muttered, rubbing his eyes. He looked over at Jason, his small eyebrows knitting together. "Why is that man wearing Uncle Marcus's sweater?"
Jason swallowed hard, a thick knot visibly moving in his throat. He dropped to one knees on the hardwood floor, keeping a respectful distance, his voice dropping into the softest, most tender tone I had ever heard from him.
"I... I was cold, little guy," Jason whispered, his eyes shining with unshed tears. "I was out in the snow."
Leo took two cautious steps forward, inspecting Jason’s face. "You have the same nose as my brother Ethan. And my mom says Ethan has a nose like a stubborn bear."
A choked laugh escaped Jason’s lips, followed immediately by a quiet, trembling sob that he tried desperately to hide behind his hand. "Yeah? A stubborn bear?"
"Yep," Leo said solemnly. He reached into his pajama pocket, pulled out a small crumpled sticker of a golden star, and extended it toward Jason. "Here. You look sad. Gold stars make Ethan feel better."
May you like
Jason extended his trembling palm, allowing Leo to drop the cheap sticker into his hand. He looked down at the tiny gold star as if it were the most valuable asset he had ever acquired in his entire multi-billion-dollar life.
"Thank you, Leo," Jason whispered, pressing his lips against the tiny piece of paper. "Thank you."
