Chapter 189 A RETIREMENT PLAN

Chapter 189 A RETIREMENT PLAN
NOAH’S POV

BREAKING NEWS!!!– BILLIONAIRE PLAYBOY NOAH WEST SPOTTED WITH HUSBAND IN LAVISH SHOPPING SPREE.

Photos flood the screen of my phone, some of them blurry, others clearer and unmistakable.
It's if me and Shawn holding hands as we walk down a mall I secretly opened for Shawn.

And what better publicity than the elusive Billionaire and his flash marriage husband?

I'll give him the mall later this year when he's forgotten about it as a surprise, the actual birthday surprise I planned for him.

EXCLUSIVE TAKE!– NOAH WEST DEFIES BOARD OF DIRECTORS, CONSOLIDATES POWER AMID INTERNAL CONFLICT.

The next headline scrolls up a little bit more aggressively but it's true about what's been happening these past few weeks since we got back.
They're not wrong anyway.

BUSINESS TODAY– NOAH WEST SET TO INHERIT CHAIRMAN TITLE AHEAD OF FORMAL INAUGURATION

And there it is. The one final news I've been waiting for all week.
The one piece of news that's the one reason for this unusual call early in the morning.

Chairman.

Not a future or potential chairman, but a set in stone one.

Decided.

I lean back slightly against the kitchen counter, the phone still in my hand as the headlines cycle through one after the other.

It’s almost amusing how quickly the narrative shifts.

Not too long ago I was the irresponsible billionaire who married a golddigger but now we're love birds and I'm soon to be the Chairman.

Across from me, Shawn sits quietly on the counter, watching me so I lean over and give him a small kiss.

He hasn’t said anything yet but I can feel the question sitting on his tongue just waiting for him to say it.

The phone is still warm against my ear as the call hasn’t ended but on the other side, my father is breathing heavily and angrily.

“You think this is funny?” his voice finally comes through with a snapping tone.

I didn't answer immediately.

Instead, I glance back down at the screen at my name and the headlines just saying and doing things I want them to.

I smile at that.

“No,” I say calmly. “I think it’s long overdue, don't you think so, Father?”

Silence.

“You ungrateful–” he cuts himself off with his breath hitching slightly before his voice rises again in fury.

“Do you have any idea what I built for you? What I was about to hand over to you?”

I tilt my head slightly to consider his statement.

“You didn’t build it for me,” I reply, my tone even. “You built it for yourself and Mom helped all the way.”

“That’s where you’re wrong!” he snaps. “Everything I’ve done–every decision, every sacrifice–was to make sure you had power and authority. A future!”

“And now I have it,” I cut in smoothly. “So you can stop shouting and be happy.”

That lands hard.

I can hear it in the way his breathing stutters and he stalls for a long time.

“You think this is the end?” he says finally but sounding more dangerous. “You think you can just waltz in and take everything from me?”

“I’m not taking anything,” I reply. “I’m stepping into what was always mine, the role you've prepared but never allowed me to have.”

“Yours?” he laughs bitterly. “Without me, you’d be nothing. I made you.”

There it is, that one line of his that seems to be his favorite.

I exhale softly in boredom.
It's been years, can't he think of something else?

“If you finish that sentence,” I say lightly, “I’ll call Mom and tell her.”

Instant silence from his end as if someone cut the line even though I can hear his breathing hitch.

It’s almost impressive, the effect she still has on him after all this while and after everything.

“…Why,” he says slowly and carefully, “would you bring your mother into this?”

I shrug, even though I know he can’t see it.

“Because you won’t like what happens if I do.”

His breath tightens and I hear it.
He's no more angry, but only cautious.
That's interesting.

“You know she doesn’t need stress,” he says with his voice lower and more measured. “She needs peace and stability. You wouldn’t–”

“I don’t care,” I interrupt him and I mean it.
I've let him get away with a lot of things because of that same lousy excuse but I don't care anymore.

“I’m done pandering to you,” I continue. “You’ve had your run. It’s over, let it go.”

Another pause from him before he sighs loudly and less resolutely.

“This isn’t finished,” he says eventually.

“No,” I disagree softly. “It is.”

The line goes dead as he hangs up.

I lower the phone slowly, staring at the darkened screen for a moment before setting it aside.
I should have done this and threatened him with Mom a long time ago.

Across from me, Shawn finally speaks.

“What leverage does your mother have over him?”

His voice is quiet and cautious so I glance up at him.

For a second, I consider lying and saying something funny like she's related to a Mafia Family but I know that's absurd.

And there’s no point lying about something I don't know.

“I don’t know,” I say honestly.

His brows pull together slightly in confusion.
“You don’t know?”

I shake my head once.

“No.”

It’s the truth. For some reason my mother's identity is an elusive one but it's strong enough to cause fear in my father even after all these years.

“My father has always been afraid of her,” I continue. “For as long as I can remember.”

“If he’s that afraid of her…” he starts slowly, “then why didn’t she stop him?”

I don’t respond immediately because I already know where this is going.

“And sending you away,” Shawn continues as his voice starts tightening up slightly. “Those training and those operations. Everything you went through–!”

His jaw clenches.

“Why didn’t she stop that?”

Awwn. He cares about me.
I want to kiss him so badly but now's not the time so I lean back slightly and cross my arms.