Chapter 12 - STAYING IS NOT A PROMISE
I wanted to say yes.
“Scared people can stay today.”
“Tomorrow?”
“We can talk tomorrow.”
Alexander sat beside us. “Noah, Emma does not owe us forever.”
He continued. “She gets to choose where she works and where she lives.”
Noah’s eyes filled. “But I love her.”
“I know.”
“Then she has to stay.”
Alexander swallowed. “No. Love doesn’t make people belong to us.”
Noah looked at me. “Do you want to go?”
Nobody had asked me that clearly all night.
I thought about my niece. My rent. My life outside Sterling House.
Then I thought about Noah hiding behind curtains because adults discussed my disappearance like furniture removal.
“I don’t want to vanish.”
“That’s not the same.”
“No.”
Enough time to build a transition plan with Dr. Feldman. Enough time for me to decide without Eleanor making the decision for me.
“Mrs. Sterling told me the boy had to be separated before he ruined everything.”
Eleanor stood. “That is a lie.”
Alexander stared at her. “Is it?”
“No.”
“Did you tell Caroline Noah was ruining everything?”
“I said tonight could ruin the family’s future.”
“What future?”
Eleanor’s voice broke. “The company.”
Alexander looked almost disappointed. “What does Noah calling Emma Mommy have to do with Sterling Holdings?”
“The Caldwell deal.”
Vanessa’s father. The bank. The international acquisition.
Without Caldwell financing, Sterling Holdings would lose its bid.
Alexander laughed quietly. “You put Noah on a stage to close a loan.”
“I tried to protect what your father built.”
May you like
“My son is not collateral.”
Then Eleanor said, “You say that now. Wait until the board removes you tomorrow morning.”
