Chapter Sixteen
Crown
Julian sat in my chair.
That was his first mistake.
The head of Devereaux Holdings had occupied the same seat during board meetings for seventy-eight years. My grandfather sat there before Victor. Victor sat there until I removed him.
Now Julian leaned back as if the company already belonged to him.
Jayla stopped beside me when we entered.
“That’s your chair?”
“Yes.”
“You want me to push him out of it?”
I looked at her.
“I’m offering emotional support.”
Despite myself, I smiled.
She saw it.
“Full smile,” she whispered. “I knew you had teeth.”
Every board member looked toward us.
Jayla wore a cream suit she had selected herself. My grandmother’s ring rested on her finger again—not because she had forgiven me, she reminded me, but because our public arrangement remained useful.
I didn’t care why she wore it.
I cared that she had chosen to stand beside me.
Julian rose slowly.
“Malachi. I wasn’t certain you’d attend.”
“You scheduled a vote to remove me.”
“You’ve been distracted.”
“I’ve been cleaning up your mistakes.”
His eyes moved toward Jayla.
“And you brought the source of them.”
I stepped between them.
Jayla caught my sleeve.
“Stand beside me,” she whispered. “Not in front.”
I remembered Evelyn’s letter.
I moved.
Jayla faced Julian.
“I’ve survived men more frightening than you.”
“You don’t know me.”
“I know you sat in somebody else’s chair before earning it.”
Dorian coughed to hide his laughter.
Asha placed evidence packets before every board member.
“The petition for suspension is based on allegations that my brother’s personal decisions endangered this company,” she said. “These records show the vehicles used in the attack against Ms. Bennett were purchased through corporations controlled by Julian Devereaux.”
Julian didn’t look at the evidence.
“Fabricated.”
“The signatures are yours.”
“Stolen.”
“The money came from your private account.”
“Accessed illegally.”
He had prepared an excuse for everything.
The board chairman called the meeting to order.
Julian presented photographs from Saint Lucia, the attack on my estate, and reports connecting Jayla to the stolen archive. He described me as unstable, violent, and obsessed with a woman I barely knew.
The final accusation was closer to the truth than I liked.
“Devereaux Holdings cannot survive another scandal,” Julian concluded. “Malachi has brought his criminal conflicts into our legitimate businesses. He must be suspended while these matters are investigated.”
The chairman looked toward me.
“Your response?”
I stood.
Jayla’s fingers brushed mine beneath the table.
A small reminder.
I was not alone.
“The attacks began because Julian and Lenora Devereaux attempted to obtain evidence concerning Victor’s crimes,” I said. “Suspending me will not protect this company. It will place the people responsible in control of it.”
“Where is Lenora?” someone asked.
“Alive.”
The room erupted.
Julian remained still.
Too still.
“You knew,” I said.
“I heard rumors.”
“You met her three days ago.”
Asha distributed Berkeley’s photograph.
Julian finally lost some color.
The boardroom screens turned black.
Micah looked up from his computer.
“I didn’t do that.”
The original Devereaux crest appeared on every monitor.
Lenora filled the screen.
Her silver scar was clearly visible.
“Good morning, family.”
Several board members stood.
One crossed himself.
Lenora smiled.
“You spent decades profiting from my work while pretending I was dead. Today, we correct that mistake.”
The doors opened.
My mother entered.
For one second, I was seventeen again.
Nia had aged, but I knew her immediately. The same warm brown skin. The same eyes. The same careful way she pressed her thumb against the side of her finger when nervous.
Asha made a sound beside me.
Noelle began crying.
Micah simply stared.
My mother looked at all of them before her gaze found me.
“Malachi.”
I couldn’t speak.
Julian pulled out the chair beside him.
Nia sat.
The betrayal moved through the room before she said anything.
The chairman cleared his throat.
“Mrs. Devereaux, your legal identity has been verified. As Sebastian’s surviving spouse, you control his voting shares.”
“I understand.”
“We are considering the temporary suspension of your son.”
“I understand that too.”
Asha stood.
“Mom?”
Nia’s face cracked when she looked at her.
“My baby.”
“Don’t call me that while sitting beside him.”
Nia lowered her eyes.
Julian appeared pleased with himself.
“Call the vote,” he said.
Board members voted one by one.
Five supported my suspension.
Four opposed it.
Three remained.
My mother controlled all three.
The chairman looked at her.
“Mrs. Devereaux?”
Nia met my eyes.
“I vote in favor of the suspension.”
Noelle sobbed.
Micah left the room.
Asha stared at our mother as if she no longer recognized her.
The chairman struck the table.
“The petition passes. Effective immediately, Malachi Devereaux is suspended as chief executive and chairman pending a full investigation.”
Julian smiled.
“You can leave my chair now.”
I stood.
Dorian moved closer in case I chose violence.
I wouldn’t give Julian what he wanted.
Jayla rose beside me.
Nia reached toward us.
“Malachi, wait.”
I looked at her hand.
She stopped.
“You wanted us to meet together,” I said. “You came here instead.”
“I had no choice.”
“There is always a choice.”
Jayla’s words.
Nia’s eyes filled.
“Lenora has Rochelle.”
Jayla froze.
“What?”
“She took her after Rochelle stole the keys. If I didn’t vote with Julian, Lenora promised to kill her.”
Jayla moved toward my mother.
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
Julian stood.
“This meeting is concluded.”
I turned toward him.
“If Rochelle dies, you die after her.”
The confidence left his face.
“Threatening me in front of witnesses won’t help your investigation.”
“That wasn’t a threat designed to help me.”
Jayla took my hand.
“Not here.”
I allowed her to lead me from the boardroom.
For the first time since I was eighteen, I held no position inside the company carrying my name.
My mother had returned only to take it from me.
Reporters waited outside. They shouted questions about my suspension and the state of our engagement.
Jayla stopped before the cameras.
I expected her to remove the ring again.
Instead, she took the microphone from Dorian.
“Mr. Devereaux was suspended because he refused to surrender evidence protecting victims of his family’s crimes,” she said. “The people responsible believed removing his title would make him powerless.”
Camera flashes erupted.
Jayla looked at me.
“They’re about to learn his power never came from a chair.”
She gave the microphone back and walked toward the car.
I followed.
That night, I locked myself inside the east wing.
I aligned every object in my bedroom. Then I realigned them.
My mother’s face remained inside my head.
Her vote.
Her tears.
Her claim that Lenora had Rochelle.
A knock sounded.
“Go away.”
The door opened.
Jayla entered.
“I said go away.”
“I heard you.”
“You ignore instructions.”
“Consistently.”
She closed the door but remained beside it.
“Do you want me to leave?”
I did.
I didn’t.
“No.”
She approached slowly.
“I’m sorry about the company.”
“It’s a building filled with people who change loyalty based on percentages.”
“You loved it anyway.”
“I built it.”
“And you’ll get it back.”
“I don’t want reassurance.”
“Good, because I can’t promise that.”
She sat on the floor near the bed.
“What are you doing?”
“Being here.”
“You can use a chair.”
“I like the floor.”
“That’s irrational.”
“So is organizing pens during an emotional crisis.”
I looked at my desk.
Every pen was perfectly aligned.
Jayla patted the floor beside her.
I should have refused.
Instead, I sat.
For several minutes, neither of us spoke.
“My mother chose them,” I finally said.
“She chose Rochelle.”
“She still sat beside Julian.”
“Both things can be true.”
“I don’t know how to forgive her.”
“You don’t have to decide tonight.”
“I don’t know whether I want to.”
“That’s allowed too.”
I looked at her.
“Why are you here?”
“Because you came when I said red door.”
“That was different.”
“No. You found me when I was afraid. I’m returning the favor.”
Her hand rested between us.
I placed mine beside it but didn’t touch.
Jayla turned her palm upward.
An invitation.
I linked our fingers.
Her body remained relaxed.
“You asked to kiss me in Saint Lucia,” she said.
“I remember.”
“I said no.”
“I remember that too.”
“You respected it.”
“That shouldn’t make me exceptional.”
“It doesn’t.”
Her answer should have irritated me.
Instead, it made me trust what came next.
“But it made me feel safe,” she whispered.
I didn’t move.
Jayla shifted closer.
“May I kiss you?”
My chest tightened.
“Yes.”
She touched my face first, giving both of us time to change our minds.
Then her lips met mine.
The kiss was soft and brief.
No performance. No demand. Nothing taken.
She pulled back and searched my face.
“How was that?”
“I need more information.”
She laughed quietly.
“You’re impossible.”
“Insufficient information creates unreliable conclusions.”
“This is not a business analysis.”
“Then kiss me again.”
Jayla did.
The second kiss lasted longer.
I kept one hand against the floor and the other loosely around hers, allowing her to decide the distance between us.
When she moved back, her forehead rested against mine.
“This doesn’t make the engagement real,” she said.
“No.”
“It doesn’t mean you control me.”
“I know.”
“And I still expect the loan paperwork.”
“Asha will prepare it.”
She smiled.
Outside that room, Julian had my company, Lenora held the archive, Rochelle was missing, and my mother had returned from the dead carrying seventeen years of explanations.
But Jayla sat beside me, holding my hand because she chose to.
For that single moment, I didn’t need to control what happened next.
I only needed to remain worthy of her choice.