Chapter 6
Julien
I wasn’t ready to see her.
Not here.
Not like this.
Not standing in my mother’s boardroom with last night hanging between us like a live wire.
The air crackled the moment our eyes met.
Serena.
She blinked once, too fast, her body reacting before her mind could catch up. That sharp inhale.
I knew that look.
She hadn’t expected me to walk through that door.
Funny.
I hadn’t expected her to be the one holding it open.
My gaze lingered a second too long, the memory of tangled sheets and pants and moans threatening to pull me under. The scent of her perfume, vanilla with a hint of brown sugar with an edge of spice, hit me like a physical touch.
I forced myself to look away before I did something stupidly outed us in front of everyone here. Judging by the look on her face it was the last thing she wanted.
My mother’s expectant smile gave me the distraction I needed. I turned toward her, dragging in a steadying breath.
The bouquet sat between us like a memory I wasn’t sure still belonged to her.
Peonies.
They used to be her favorite, back when we were still a family, and Sunday mornings meant garden clippings in glass vases by the window.
I didn’t know what they meant to her now.
But I saw the flicker in her eyes before she tucked it away.
The kind of reaction that makes you wonder if you’ve done something right… or just reminded someone of everything that’s gone wrong.
My mother’s manicured fingers hovered over the stems before drawing them close.
“You remembered.”
Her voice was soft and careful. The kind of tone that used to make me believe she gave a damn.
I didn’t answer.
What was there to say?
The silence thickened, stretching until even the air conditioning seemed to hesitate.
She cleared her throat, the sound like a stage cue, and turned toward the room with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
But my eyes were now back on Serena.
I turned just in time to watch her place the bouquet beside my mother’s seat. Her hands were steady, and her movements were exact. There was no wasted motion, no hesitation, just cool precision, like she was handling evidence at a crime scene.
No smile.
No glance my way.
Just another task executed with flawless efficiency.
The flowers weren’t hers, but she positioned them with the same detached focus.
My mother didn’t even look at them. Just adjusted her diamond cufflinks and launched into the meeting like the bouquet had teleported there.
They moved in terrifying sync.
Fluid.
Wordless.
A perfectly coordinated attack.
I was the variable they hadn’t accounted for.
That’s when I understood.
Serena wasn’t a temporary hire or a low-level employee.
She didn’t just work there; she ran the place with her body language alone.
She ran the place.
I’d had her naked, gasping, coming apart under me, and somehow missed the goddamn crown on her head.
My mistake.
She shifted, just barely.
A soft adjustment in her seat, like something tugged deep in her hips.
Fingers pressed against the edge of the table, tightening for a half second before she released them.
Then came the slow, measured breath slipping past parted lips like it had something to hide.
Controlled.
But not effortless.
Like her body had flinched before she could stop it.
Still sore.
The knowledge hit low and hot.
No mistaking it. I remembered exactly how that ache started.
The way her back arched when I slid inside her for the first time.
How her teeth sank into that full bottom lip, trying to cage the sounds spilling out.
The way she said my name, over and over, like a curse she didn’t want lifted.
And now she sat there.
Buttoned up. Composed.
Every inch the professional.
Like I hadn’t rearranged her entire nervous system.
I stretched my legs slowly, letting my foot tap her beneath the table. Watched her jaw tighten.
She could lie with her words.
Could avoid my gaze.
Could sit there looking like a damn untouchable queen.
But her body?
Her body was still speaking my language.
And right now, it was telling me everything she wouldn’t.
My attention returned to my mother, almost forgetting she was in the room.
The exchange between us felt more stilted than I had pictured it would.
Years of estrangement didn’t disappear with a bouquet or a forced smile.
She was trying, though.
I guess… so was I.
I took a breath, holding it down, caging the memories clawing their way up my throat.
Mom’s warm greeting was the closest we’d been in a long time.
Still, something inside me twisted tight.
This wasn’t going to be easy.
Nothing about this day would be.
She eased into her seat, smoothing invisible wrinkles from her skirt, flashing that soft, practiced smile to the room.
Serena, meanwhile, flipped a switch like it was nothing. Business-mode locked in.
Focused.
The room finally quieted as my mother cleared her throat, voice steady but softer than I remembered.
“I am filled with so much gratitude and pride to stand here today with all of you.”
The words were simple.
But the weight behind them wasn’t.
Calm and measured.
Nothing like the woman who once packed her bags and left my father to deliver the excuse:
She just needed a little space.
For the first time, I saw her.
Not as the mother who left.
Not as the wife who walked away.
But as a woman in her element.
Commanding a room full of people who looked at her like she hung the damn stars.
And I realized, this wasn’t just pride swelling in the air.
It was distance. Years of it. The kind that hardens and hollows out without you even noticing.
“I never dreamed I’d make it this far,” she said, her smile straining against the tightness in her voice. “Working alongside such incredible people.”
A slight tremor slipped past her mask.
Barely there.
But I caught it.
Serena caught it too.
She reached out, her hand finding my mother’s like it had always belonged there.
Just a gesture.
Barely a touch.
But it punched a hole through my chest.
I shifted in my seat, jaw clenching hard enough to crack.
Because even now…
I wouldn’t know how to reach for her.
Not like that.
Not even as a courtesy.
She burned down a family.
And built a kingdom in the ashes.
My mother’s gaze swept the room until it snagged on me. And for just a second, She faltered.
Not just like she remembered who I was. But like she remembered what she left behind.
The air in the boardroom turned viscous as my mother’s voice softened, her words unraveling at the edges like the hem of a well-worn dress.
“Though I’ve loved every part of this journey…”
Her hand fluttered to her collar, fingers dancing across silk before stilling. A nervous tell I hadn’t seen since childhood.
“...the time has come for me to step down as CEO.”
Silence pooled like spilled ink.
Across the mahogany table, Serena’s pen clicked once in the quiet. Our gazes collided, electricity arcing between us before she wrenched hers away. Her shoulders squared, bracing against some invisible impact only she could see.
My mother drew herself up, spine straightening like a soldier preparing for battle.
“This isn’t a decision I make lightly,” she said, her voice gaining strength. “But it’s necessary. For the company’s future.”
Then, her eyes found mine, right on the word future.
The room tilted.
Suddenly, I was twelve again, standing barefoot in the hallway, watching taillights disappear down the driveway.
Her lips parted, the words falling like a gavel:
“I’ve chosen my son… Julien.”
The announcement detonated through the room.
A chair screeched.
Someone gasped sharp, sucking sound, and the rest blurred into white noise.
Me.
After twenty years of silence… she chose me.
My vision tunneled, pulse hammering against my temples.
Across the table, Serena’s mask slipped, revealing something raw and wounded beneath.
The realization struck like a physical blow.
She was hurting.
There was devastation in her eyes.
Betrayal, sharp and clean as a blade.
The room stilled in an awkward, suffocating silence.
I felt their stares, curious, skeptical, some even pity, pressing against my skin like a weight I couldn’t shrug off.
A beat passed.
Then the room filled with hushed whispers.
Claps rang out, slow and hesitant, like no one was sure whether to celebrate… or console.
But I stayed frozen.
Mind racing.
What. The. Fuck.
I thought I was here to tour my mother’s company. Maybe grab a polite lunch. Trade small talk about the years we’d lost.
It had struck me as odd when she invited me to a company meeting, but I brushed it off, chalking it up to some forced "family bonding" thing.
Now I was standing in the wreckage of her plans. A pawn being promoted to king without even knowing I’d been placed on the board.
My pulse roared in my ears.
Why the hell would she do this?
Why blindside me in front of a room full of strangers without a warning?
Through the blur of it all, my focus came back to her.
Serena.
Her eyes find mine.
Carefully blank.
But the fury simmering underneath is unmistakable.
Her jaw tightens.
Fingers flex against the edge of the table like she’s two seconds from flipping it over or tearing me apart with words she’s not ready to say out loud.
She wanted this.
She earned it.
And now my mother had snatched it from her hands and shoved it into mine—an estranged son who didn’t even ask for it.
I sit there, drowning in the silence between us, while the truth presses hard against my ribs:
Whatever just happened…
It wasn’t a promotion.
It was a theft.
And somehow, I’m the weapon.
The room hummed around me—murmured speculation, the screech of chair legs against hardwood—but it all dissolved into white noise beneath the blade of Serena’s stare.
This wasn’t pride shining in those dark eyes.
Wasn’t reluctant acceptance.
This was ice.
This was steel.
Her gaze sharpened with every second, fortifications slamming into place so fast I could almost hear them locking.
Fragments of whispered conversation sliced through the air as people left the room:
“Everyone knows it should’ve been her.”
“She deserved it.”
The knot in my gut pulled taut.
I didn’t need the full picture to understand what stood before me.
Serena sat motionless, spine rigid, fingers curled so tight her knuckles bleached white. Every line of her body screamed the truth—she’d poured herself into this company, brick by fucking brick, only to watch it handed to the prodigal son who’d been absent for years.
To me.
I dragged a palm down my face, the stubble scraping against my skin.
I hadn’t campaigned for this.
Hadn’t earned it.
Yet here I stood, a crown shoved onto my head, while the rightful queen sat across from me with fire in her eyes and betrayal etched into every tense muscle.
Serena didn’t flinch. Didn’t blink.
Just lifted her chin another fraction, shoulders rolling back like she was strapping on armor.
And I?
I finally understood.
This wasn’t just a title change.
This was the first domino.
And when it fell, everything between us would crumble with it.
She’s for sure not coming back to my hotel tonight.