The dining room was silent, save for the scrape of silverware on fine china. Florida didn't stand; she didn't need to. Her voice, raspy with age and authority, carried to every corner.
"The stock is stagnant," Florida announced, her eyes sweeping over her progeny. " The market is bored. We need a narrative. A legacy."
She paused, letting the tension build.
"I have decided to amend the Trust. The first couple to produce a great-grandchild-a legitimate heir-will receive a fifteen percent controlling stake in Harrington Media Group."
The air left the room. Fifteen percent. That was billions. That was absolute power.
Sterling, Flint's cousin, immediately raised his glass. "We're already trying, Grandmother. We've seen the best specialists in Zurich."
Florida turned her gaze to Flint. It was a heavy, expectant look. "Flint. You are the CEO. You are the eldest. I do not expect you to be second in this race."
Flint's hand tightened around the stem of his wine glass until his knuckles turned white. He needed that stake. Without it, the board could oust him.
"Don't worry, Grandmother," Flint said, his voice smooth. "It's all part of the plan."
Jonna kicked him under the table. Hard.
Flint turned to her, his eyes narrowing in a warning glare. Play along, his expression said.
Rage, hot and blinding, flooded Jonna's chest. He was cheating on her, he ignored her, and now he was pledging her womb to a business deal. He saw her as livestock. For a split second, her training warred with her fury. The Fixer in her screamed to use this information privately, to leverage it. But the woman he had betrayed, the woman now trapped with a secret pregnancy, wanted to burn it all down. She made a choice. It wasn't a logical one, but it was hers.
She pushed her chair back. The screech of wood against the floor was deafening.
Jonna stood up. Every eye at the table locked onto her.
"Actually, Grandmother," Jonna said, her voice clear and ringing. "You don't need to worry about Flint."
Flint reached for her wrist. "Jonna, sit down."
She yanked her arm away. She pulled her phone from her clutch and unlocked it. She brought up the photo-the pregnancy test from the mistress, carefully cropped to hide the sender's name.
She turned the screen toward Florida.
"Flint is an overachiever," Jonna said, a bright, brittle smile plastered on her face. "Look. Your great-grandchild is already on the way."
A gasp rippled through the room. Eleanor, Flint's mother, dropped her fork.
"However," Jonna continued, turning to look Flint dead in the eye. "The mother just hasn't arrived yet. She's probably still at the hotel."
The silence was absolute. It was the silence of a bomb that had detonated but the sound hadn't caught up yet.
Florida's face turned a dangerous shade of purple. A bastard child. A scandal.
Flint stood up so fast his chair tipped over. He snatched the phone from Jonna's hand. He looked at the screen, recognizing the carpet in the background of the previous photos.
He looked at Jonna with pure shock. Not just that she knew, but that she had nuked him. He subtly motioned to the head of his security detail near the door, a flick of his fingers that ordered a complete lockdown of the room. No phones, no leaving.
"Congratulations, Flint," Jonna whispered, loud enough for the table to hear. "You won the contest. You lost the marriage."
She turned to Florida and bowed slightly. "I want a divorce. I'll let him and his 'heir' have the house."
Chaos erupted. Eleanor screamed. Florida slammed her fist on the table.
Jonna stood in the center of the storm, feeling strangely light.
