Chapter 244 244

Chapter 244 244
Elias

The visitor's room was sterile and quiet, save for the distant hum of fluorescent lighting. A long table stretched between two bolted-down chairs, one of which I was already seated in, arms resting loosely across my lap, ankle balanced on my knee in a practiced pose of ease. But I wasn't here for comfort.
The door at the far end creaked open, and two guards entered first, followed by her.
Margaret.
I almost didn't recognize her.
Gone was the perfectly styled blonde hair, the designer heels, the sleek, icy exterior she wore like a second skin. In their place was a shapeless khaki uniform, her hair pulled back in a limp, graying bun. Her face—usually smoothed with expensive creams and expert makeup—was bare, the lines around her eyes and mouth more defined than I'd ever seen. The years she tried so hard to erase were catching up fast.
She looked… ordinary. Older.
And yet, the smugness still clung to her. When her gaze landed on me, she gave me a smug smile and sauntered over, taking the seat opposite.
"Elias," she greeted as she took her seat, lifting her chin with a sharp tilt, expression triumphant. "I knew you wouldn't be able to resist."
I let my gaze drift over her, deliberately slow. "You clean up terribly, Margaret. I suppose prison life doesn't agree with your skin."
Her smile didn't falter. If anything, it widened.
"No, it doesn't." She leaned close, folding her arms on the table as she swept me head to toe. "You, on the other hand, look like you could use some sleep. What's the matter? Being an asshole is too much work?"
I leaned back in my chair, arms crossing loosely. "Not as much work as being an evil, manipulative bitch."
She let out a soft, humorless laugh. "Still quick with the insults, I see. But don't flatter yourself. I know why you're here."
"Oh?" I raised a brow in mock surprise.
She folded her hands on the table, her wrists still cuffed. "Because you know what I know. And you're terrified I'll talk. That I'll let the world know what the illustrious Sinclair family has been hiding. It must kill you to think of how one little slip from me could tank your precious company. Your pristine family name. A few words from me and your comfortable castle will come tumbling to the ground."
There it was. The card she'd been dying to play.
I let her talk, offering nothing more than a faint, unreadable smile.
"You're a lot like your father," she went on, clearly pleased with herself. "Cold. Calculating. Willing to do anything to protect the family name. I admire that, actually. That's what makes you dangerous. It's also what makes you predictable."
She leaned forward slightly, eyes gleaming. "So go ahead. Ask me what I want in exchange for my silence."
I tilted my head. "You done?"
Margaret blinked, thrown for just a moment. "Excuse me?"
I sat up, uncrossing my arms and leaning forward, my expression sharpening until all traces of amusement were gone.
"Go ahead," I said evenly. "Tell your story. Leak whatever little secret you're clinging to like it's a grenade. Do it. Publish it. Shout it from the rooftops. I won't stop you."
The smugness slipped. Not all at once, but enough for the mask to crack.
"What are you talking about?" she asked, voice harder now.
"I'm saying," I said quietly, "you have nothing I'm afraid of. Not anymore. You think I came here to beg, or bargain? I came here for one reason only. And that's to tell you, to go fuck yourself."
Her eyes narrowed. "You're bluffing."
I smiled coldly. "No, Margaret. I just have no more fucks to give."
Margaret's lips parted, then closed again. Her fingers curled tightly into her cuffs as if trying to grip onto control she no longer had.
When she finally spoke, her voice had lost its venom and turned brittle with desperation.
"Wait," she said, her tone attempting to steady itself. "You don't really want this to get out. Even if you're not afraid for yourself, what about the company? What about Maya? Do you think she can handle more scandals after everything she's been through? You want to drag her through another media circus?"
I gave her a blank stare.
She tried again, her voice sharpening. "You think you're so untouchable. That nothing I say will matter. But the world loves a scandal, Elias. It doesn't care if it's true. All it takes is one whisper. One headline and you'll have investors running for the hills."
She leaned in, lips curling again. "Help me. Pull some strings. Get me out of here quietly, discreetly. You have the power. And in exchange, I disappear. For good. You'll never hear from me again."
I didn't move. Didn't blink.
"And why would I believe that?" I asked coolly.
"Because I'm your wife's mother," she said, voice rising, wild and breathless. "Because I'm your children's grandmother. Whether you like it or not, we're family."
That was it.
The line she shouldn't have crossed.
I leaned forward slightly, and this time, the smile on my face was gone, replaced by something colder than steel.
"You don't get to say her name," I said quietly.
Margaret froze.
"You don't get to invoke family," I continued, voice dangerously calm, "after what you did to your own daughter. After you left my unborn children to die."
"Elias - "
"Shut up and let me speak!" I snapped. The word cut sharp and final.
"She is no longer your daughter. She's not your anything. And as for my children; don't you ever mention them again. You forfeited that right the moment you tried to destroy their mother."
Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. I rose slowly to my feet.
"I suggest you start getting comfortable," I added, buttoning my jacket with clinical precision. "You're going to be here a long time. Enjoy your stay."
That's when she snapped.
"You arrogant bastard!" she shrieked, lunging forward so fast that the metal chair clattered back with a crash. "You think this is over? You think you've won?"
The guards were on her before she could make it halfway across the table. She kicked and thrashed, screaming incoherently as they pinned her down.
"Get your hands off me! I'm not finished! You hear me, Elias?! You'll regret this! You'll regret all of it!"
I watched the spectacle in perfect stillness, expression unreadable.
Until the moment they started dragging her toward the door and she gave me one last look of desperation.
Then I smiled.
A slow, deliberate smile of satisfaction.
She caught it just before they hauled her out, her shrieks echoing down the corridor until the door slammed shut behind her.
Alone once more, I adjusted my cuffs, exhaled slowly, and turned for the exit.
Time to get back to my family.