Chapter 6 - SLOANE TOLD ME WHY PRESTON NEEDED MY BABY TO BE HIS
Sloane requested a meeting.
I almost refused.
Gabriel advised me to listen.
We met in a private conference room.
Her confidence was gone.
She looked tired.
“I didn't know about Northstar.”
“I believe you.”
That surprised her.
“Why?”
“Because if you knew, you'd have used it against me sooner.”
She almost smiled.
Fair.
Then she placed a document on the table.
“Preston needed the baby to be his.”
“Most husbands prefer that.”
“No.”
She pushed the document toward me.
“This is different.”
It was a draft financing amendment.
A clause referenced qualified family continuity.
I looked at Gabriel.
His expression sharpened.
Sloane explained.
“Charles Caldwell's family holding company has succession restrictions.”
I knew that much.
“What I didn't know,” she continued, “was that Preston's voting control increases when he has a biological heir.”
I read.
There it was.
Upon verified birth of a direct descendant, Preston gained accelerated voting rights over shares held in a family vehicle.
“How much?”
“Enough to remove his father.”
My stomach tightened.
Preston wasn't merely excited about becoming a father.
He needed our child to win control of Caldwell Strategic.
“And if the baby wasn't his?”
“He wouldn't get the votes.”
I looked at Sloane.
“Why are you telling me?”
“Because he lied to me too.”
Not noble.
Human.
“He told me he was leaving you after the baby was born.”
“Convenient.”
“He said the marriage needed to remain intact until then because of family optics.”
“And you believed him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Her eyes met mine.
“For the same reason you did.”
That hurt.
Because she was right.
Different lies.
Same man.
Then Sloane said something unexpected.
“I’m sorry about the scan.”
I said nothing.
“I wanted to hurt you.”
“I know.”
“I thought if you saw us together, you'd stop pretending the marriage mattered.”
“I wasn't pretending.”
She looked ashamed.
“I know that now.”
Forgiveness did not arrive.
But clarity did.
Sloane was responsible for her cruelty.
May you like
Preston was responsible for his.
I didn't need to make one woman the villain so a man could become less guilty.
