Chapter 78 78
Mave’s first day at the elite private preschool Eleanor had insisted on enrolling him in. Uniform crisp: navy blazer with the gold crest, little khaki shorts, tie already crooked from his excited tugging.
Backpack shaped like a rocket ship slung over one shoulder. He bounced on his toes in the foyer while Lucas adjusted the tie for the third time.
Lucas crouched to eye level, voice calm.
“Ready, champ? I’m dropping you off today. Then Mommy can pick you up later, okay?”
Mave’s face lit up—then immediately crumpled.
“No!” he shouted, stomping one small foot. “I want to go with Mommy! Not her!”
He pointed accusingly at Olivia, who stood near the front door in her tailored blazer and heels, arms already folded, expression icy. She’d volunteered to ride along—claimed it was “family bonding”—but everyone knew it was surveillance.
Olivia’s lips thinned.
“‘Her’? Sweetheart, I’m—”
“I want my mommy!” Mave’s voice cracked into a wail. Tears welled fast. “Mommy! Mommy!”
The sound carried straight up the grand staircase.
Blair appeared at the top landing within seconds—still in her robe, hair in a messy bun, clearly not expecting to be summoned this early. She hurried down, bare feet silent on the marble.
“Baby, what’s wrong?”
Mave broke away from Lucas and ran to her, throwing himself against her legs.
“I don’t wanna go with Daddy and the scary aunty! I want you! You take me!”
Blair knelt, smoothing his curls.
“Sweetheart, Daddy’s going to drop you off. It’ll be fun. I’ll be right here when you get back.”
Mave shook his head violently, tears streaming.
“No! All of us! Like in the car when we go to the park! Mommy, Daddy, and me! In the back! Together!”
Olivia let out a sharp, incredulous breath.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Lucas straightened slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. His eyes met Blair’s over Mave’s head—silent question, silent resignation.
Blair sighed.
“Mave… honey…”
“I won’t go unless we all sit in the back together!” Mave sobbed, clinging tighter. “Please, Mommy! Please!”
The foyer staff pretended to be invisible.
Olivia’s voice cut through like glass.
“This is ridiculous. He’s four. He can sit in a car seat like a normal child. Lucas, we have meetings at nine. Tell him no.”
Lucas looked at his son—red-faced, trembling, utterly determined—and then at Blair.
Blair met his gaze.
“He’s scared, Lucas. First day. New school. New everything.”
Lucas exhaled through his nose—long, defeated.
“Fine.”
Mave sniffled, peeking up.
“Really?”
Lucas nodded once.
“Yeah, buddy. We’ll all go in the back. Together.”
Olivia’s jaw dropped.
“You’re serious.”
Lucas didn’t answer her. He just scooped Mave up—rocket backpack and all—and headed for the garage.
Blair followed, robe swapped hastily for jeans and a sweater the staff had left folded nearby. Olivia trailed last, heels clicking like gunfire, fury rolling off her in waves.
The black SUV waited—driver already behind the wheel.
Lucas opened the back door.
Mave scrambled in first, claiming the middle seat, patting the leather on either side.
“Mommy here! Daddy here!”
Blair slid in on the left, pulling Mave onto her lap for the first few minutes. Lucas climbed in on the right—long legs folded awkwardly in the generous space—arm resting along the back of the seat, not quite touching Blair but close enough that their shoulders nearly brushed.
Olivia stood outside the open door for a full five seconds, staring at the cozy little family tableau like it personally offended her.
Lucas glanced up.
“Liv. We’re late.”
She slammed the door behind her as she got in the front passenger seat—back ramrod straight, arms crossed so tight her knuckles whitened.
The driver pulled away smoothly.
Mave immediately relaxed, leaning against Blair’s chest, one small hand reaching across to grab Lucas’s sleeve.
“See?” he whispered happily. “Now it’s good. All together.”
Blair kissed the top of his head, murmuring,
“All together, baby.”
In the front seat, Olivia stared straight ahead, jaw clenched.
Under her breath—barely audible—she hissed:
“This is bullshit.”
Neither Lucas nor Blair responded.
But in the back seat, Mave hummed a little tune—the getting-ready song Blair used to sing—while his parents sat on either side of him, shoulders almost touching, pretending the tension didn’t exist.
For the length of the drive to school, at least, the three of them were together.
And for Mave—that was everything.
The black SUV glided to a smooth stop at the curb in front of the preschool gates—
The driver opened the rear doors.
Lucas stepped out first, then reached back to lift Mave down. Blair followed, smoothing the boy’s blazer collar one last time.
“Ready, hero?” she asked softly.
Mave nodded, eyes wide but excited now that they were all together.
“Ready! I’m gonna tell everyone about my rocket backpack!”
Lucas took Mave’s small hand. Blair took the other. They walked through the gates as a unit—Lucas on the right, Blair on the left, Mave swinging between them like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Olivia trailed a few steps behind, heels clicking sharply on the cobblestone path, lips pressed into a thin line. She kept her distance, arms folded, pretending to check emails.
None of them noticed the man.
He stood not too far—about thirty feet away, half-hidden behind a tall ornamental hedge near the parking area. Dark jacket, baseball cap pulled low, phone raised casually like he was scrolling.
But the lens was trained on them—, professionally zoomed capturing frame after frame: Lucas crouching to adjust Mave’s tie again, Blair kissing the top of the boy’s head, the three of them walking hand-in-hand toward the classroom doors.
Click. Click. Click.
Perfect shots. Clear faces. Timestamps. Coordinates embedded in metadata.
The man lowered the phone slightly, thumb swiping through the burst of images. A slow, satisfied smile curled under the brim of his cap.
He tapped out a quick message on a burner app—
I told you—Boss Brooks is 2 steps ahead and has always been. Look at him. Playing perfect daddy while the wife and the side-piece orbit. We have to do something serious. Taking him out of the picture permanently is the only way she gets what she wants. Kid stays with her. Brooks legacy ends. Your word?
He pocketed the phone, adjusted his cap, and melted back into the crowd of parents—another anonymous face in a sea of luxury SUVs and nannies.