Chapter 154 THE ULTIMATUM

Chapter 154 THE ULTIMATUM
~CLAIRE'S POV~

"You got me, you bastard," I said, my voice barely louder than the wind off the river.

Richard's smile widened. It didn't reach his tired, bloodshot eyes. He looked like a man holding a winning lottery ticket while standing on a sinking ship.

"I knew you'd stay," he whispered.

"Don't flatter yourself. I stayed to hear the joke. So tell me, Richard. What grand, rotten secret is going to make me run back to a man who threw me away?"

He leaned against the wooden bench, crossing his arms. "Alexander didn't build his empire by shaking hands and attending charity galas, Claire. He built it in the dark."

"Everyone has skeletons," I said flatly.

"Alexander doesn't have skeletons," Richard corrected. "He has fresh graves."

My stomach tightened. I kept my face blank. "Get to the point."

"Underground gambling rings. Extortion. Smuggling in Macau." Richard ticked them off on his fingers. "And the bodies, Claire. The people who got in his way didn't just get fired. They disappeared. My father spent millions covering up his tracks."

"I don't believe you."

"You don't want to believe me," Richard said. "But ask yourself why my father wouldn't claim him. It wasn't just because he was a bastard. It was because when Alexander was sixteen, he nearly beat a boy to death. He spent a year in a locked psychiatric ward. Mandatory therapy. Padded walls. The man you sleep next to is a violent, unstable animal."

I stared at him. Eleanor had hinted at the violence. The attempted murder charge. It was real.

"And here is the best part," Richard leaned in, his breath hitting my face. "I have the files. My father kept everything. The police reports, the bank transfers, the cover-ups. I have it all locked in a secure vault."

"Why are you telling me this?" My voice shook. I hated that it shook.

"Because I want my wife back."

I barked a harsh, disbelieving laugh. "You are insane."

"I am serious." All the humor dropped from his face. "Leave him. Come back to me. We put Monica in jail, we rebuild the company, and we start over. Just you and me."

"And if I say no?"

"Then I leak the files to the FBI and the press tomorrow morning," Richard said coldly. "Alexander loses the company. He loses his reputation. And he spends the rest of his life in a federal prison."

The cold wind sliced through my blazer. I couldn't breathe. He had us. He actually had us trapped.

"You would destroy your own family's legacy just to spite him?" I asked.

"I would burn the world down to get you back, Claire."

I looked at his desperate, manic eyes. He meant it. He had nothing left to lose, which made him the most dangerous man on the planet. I needed a weapon. I needed to hit him with something so heavy it would shatter his delusion permanently.

"You can't have me back," I said, my voice dropping to a harsh whisper.

"I can, and I will."

"I am pregnant, Richard."

He froze.

The wind howled. The river crashed against the concrete wall. I watched the words hit him, waiting for the disgust. Waiting for the rejection. I waited for him to walk away in shame.

Richard stared at my stomach. Then, he looked up at my face.

And he smiled.

It was the most terrifying smile I had ever seen.

"I don't care," he whispered.

My blood turned to ice. "What?"

"I don't care," he repeated, stepping closer. "I always wanted a baby with you, Claire. I will accept the child. We will raise it as ours. No one ever has to know it belongs to that bastard."

"You are out of your fucking mind!" I shouted, backing away.

"I am giving you a choice!" he yelled back. "You have five days, Claire! Five days to pack your bags and come home. Or the father of your baby goes to a maximum-security prison forever!"

Tires screeched on the pavement behind us.

Gravel flew into the air as a massive black SUV swerved into the park, the headlights blindingly bright. The doors flew open before the car even stopped moving.

Ilynos stepped out first.

But Alexander was faster.

He moved like a shadow, his green eyes burning with absolute murder. He didn't even look at me. 

He was locked onto Richard.

"Alexander, no!" I screamed.

Richard didn't back down. He just looked at me, a smug, twisted grin on his face. "Five days, sweetheart," he whispered. He turned and slipped into the dark tree line before Alexander could reach him.

"Richard!" Alexander roared, starting after him.

"Alexander, stop!"

I ran. I didn't think. I just threw myself at him, wrapping my arms tightly around his waist, burying my face in his chest.

He froze. His arms hovered for a second before they crushed me against him. He was shaking with rage. His heart beat against my cheek like a war drum.

"Did he touch you?" Alexander demanded, his voice rough and breathless. "Did he hurt you?"

"No," I sobbed, gripping his shirt so hard my knuckles ached. "No, I'm fine."

"I'm going to kill him. Ilynos, find him!"

"No, let him go!" I pulled back just enough to look into his terrified, furious eyes. If Alexander went after him, Richard would leak the files. 

Alexander would go to prison. He would lose everything.

I had to protect him. Even if it meant lying to him.

"I'm fine," I lied, forcing a smile onto my face. I wiped my eyes and hugged him tighter, resting my head against his heart. "I just want to go home, Alexander Please."

He held me, burying his face in my hair. "What did he say to you, Claire? Why are you crying?"

I closed my eyes, the weight of the five-day countdown pressing down on my chest like a tombstone.

"Nothing," I whispered into his shirt. "He didn't say anything that matters."