Chapter 269
Devon’s POV
Silence stretched between us, heavy with decades of unspoken disappointments and resentments.
Then a cough echoed from the French doors.
I turned to see my father standing there, leaning heavily on his cane. His face was impassive, but his eyes gleamed with the sharp intelligence that had built Kane Tech from nothing—and destroyed countless lives in the process.
"Father." I kept my voice neutral. "I didn't know you were home."
"Evidently." He moved onto the terrace with slow, measured steps, each tap of his cane deliberate. "I heard raised voices. Your mother claimed you were just discussing..." He glanced at Eleanor. "What was it, dear? Wedding arrangements?"
Eleanor's face went carefully blank. "Arthur, I was just explaining to Devon—"
"I heard enough." His gaze shifted to me, sharp despite his illness. "You're getting married. To the Stevens girl, I presume? About time. The merger will strengthen our position in—"
"No." I met his eyes directly. "Not Mandy Stevens. Aria Harper."
The tap of his cane stopped abruptly.
"Harper." He said the name like he was identifying something unpleasant on his shoe. "William Harper's daughter? The one whose father is currently out on bail? Whose family business is circling the drain?" His voice hardened. "That Harper?"
"Yes."
His cane struck the stone with sharp emphasis. "Absolutely not."
"It's not your decision."
"The hell it isn't!" His voice rose, triggering a coughing fit that left him wheezing. When he recovered, his eyes blazed with cold fury. "I won't allow you to marry some gold-digging socialite from a broken family. The Kanes have a reputation—"
"That you've spent forty years destroying," I said flatly. "Don't pretend this is about reputation, Father. This is about control."
"It's about not being an idiot!" He moved closer, anger overriding his usual careful movements. "That woman is a liability. Her father's trial will drag on for months, maybe years. Every headline will link her name to murder, scandal, corporate fraud. And you want to tie Kane Tech to that circus?"
"I want to marry the woman I choose," I said evenly. "What Kane Tech thinks about it is irrelevant."
"Irrelevant?" He laughed, harsh and bitter. "You ungrateful—I have dedicated my life to this family. Sacrificed everything to give you this life, this name, this legacy. And you're willing to piss it all away for a piece of—"
"Finish that sentence," I interrupted, voice dropping to something dangerous, "and I will put you in the ground myself, illness or not."
The threat hung in the air between us. My mother gasped.
My father's face went from red to purple. "How dare you threaten me! I'm your father—"
"You're the CEO emeritus of a company I control," I corrected coldly. "That's the only relationship that matters anymore. And if you ever speak about Aria that way again—if you ever so much as imply disrespect—I'll remove you from the board permanently. Is that clear?"
"You can't—"
"I can. I own fifty-three percent of voting shares. You taught me that control is everything, Father. Congratulations—I learned the lesson well."
His hand tightened on his cane, knuckles white. "If you do this—if you marry that Harper girl—you'll regret it. The board won't stand for it. Your investors won't tolerate the liability. I'll make sure—"
"You'll make sure of what?" I moved closer, using my height advantage deliberately. "That everyone knows you're willing to sabotage your own son over a marriage you don't approve of? That'll play beautifully in the press, Father. I'm sure the shareholders will love the family drama."
"Devon, please." My mother's voice shook. "Your father's health—this stress—"
"Should have thought of that before threatening my fiancée." I straightened my tie, pulse hammering but voice steady. "The wedding is Saturday. You can attend or not—your choice. But understand this: if either of you makes any move against Aria, if you try to sabotage this marriage in any way, I will burn every bridge between us. Permanently."
"You're choosing her over your family?" Eleanor's voice cracked.
I looked at them—my mother with her calculated concern, my father with his barely contained rage. The people who'd raised me to see relationships as transactions, emotions as weaknesses, love as a liability.
"I'm choosing to build my own family," I said quietly. "One that isn't based on manipulation and control."
My father's face contorted with fury. "Get out. Get out of my house."
"Gladly." I turned toward the garden path, then paused. "Oh, and Father? Try to interfere with my wedding, my marriage, or my wife in any way, and I'll trigger the clause in your retirement contract. You know the one—the morality clause that voids your pension if you engage in conduct detrimental to Kane Tech's interests. I'm sure I can find enough evidence of your past... indiscretions to make it stick."
The color drained from his face.
I left them there on that terrace—my mother rigid with shock, my father trembling with impotent rage. Their perfectly manicured prison, their carefully constructed facade of family unity, cracking under the weight of truth.
Marcus was waiting by the car, expression carefully neutral.
"Where to, sir?"
"Manhattan. The penthouse." I loosened my tie, hands not quite steady. "And Marcus? Call my lawyer. I want a prenuptial agreement drafted tonight—generous terms, ironclad protections for Aria and any children. Make it clear that she's protected regardless of what my family tries."
"Yes, sir." He pulled onto the road. "Should I also increase security?"
"Double it. My parents will try something—they always do when they don't get their way." I stared out at the passing landscape, my mother's manicured gardens fading in the rearview mirror. "And Marcus? Make sure no one from my family gets near Aria without my knowledge. No surprise visits, no chance encounters. Nothing."
"Understood, sir." He hesitated, then added quietly, "For what it's worth... I believe you're making the right choice."
I didn't answer, too busy replaying Aria's face in that ultrasound room. The desperation in her voice when she'd asked me to marry her. The way her hand had moved to protect her stomach, as if she could shield our child from the cruelty of the world with that simple gesture.
She thought I'd rejected her. Thought my single word meant dismissal or avoidance.
She had no idea it meant yes to everything.
Yes to marriage. Yes to legitimacy. Yes to building something real instead of the hollow arrangement we'd pretended satisfied either of us.
Yes to her, to us, to the terrifying future we were creating.
The city skyline appeared ahead, glittering in the late afternoon sun. Somewhere in that maze of steel and glass, Aria sat in Lucas's car, probably analyzing that one word from every possible angle, driving herself crazy with uncertainty.
"Faster," I told Marcus. "I need to get back to her."
Because I'd already left her alone too long. And if there was one thing I'd learned about Aria Harper, it was that her mind was her own worst enemy when left to run wild with possibilities.