Chapter 8 - Mask of the Matriarch
Seeing the board waver, Victoria realized she was losing control of the room. She dropped her haughty demeanor and took a slow, calculated step toward Mason and Noah, her eyes glistening with manufactured tears.
"Boys, please," Victoria pleaded, her voice cracking with theatrical sorrow. "You don't understand the burden I’ve carried. I made hard choices to protect this company from predators who wanted to tear it apart after your mother died. Yes, mistakes were made. Yes, Robert was foolish and reckless with the accounts. But Sarah... Sarah kept you away from me out of jealousy!"
She pointed a manicured, trembling finger at me.
"She hated that Evelyn chose me to run the family business! She weaponized you against me! If you sign this acquisition with me today, I will give you half of the proceeds. Two hundred million dollars. You will never have to work another day in your lives. You can leave this rundown city, leave that tiny apartment, and live the life you were born to live."
The board members watched in silence. Two hundred million dollars was enough to buy anyone's loyalty, enough to erase any grudge.
Noah and Mason exchanged a look. For a terrifying second, my heart squeezed tight in my chest. Had thirteen years of poverty left a scar so deep that the glitter of gold could heal it?
Noah took a step toward Victoria. Her face lit up with triumphant relief.
"You really don't get it, do you?" Noah whispered.
Victoria’s smile faltered. "What?"
"When Mason had pneumonia when we were nine, Aunt Sarah stayed awake for four days straight by his hospital bed, putting wet towels on his head and praying," Noah said, his voice ringing with absolute conviction. "When we didn't have enough money for lunch, she packed her own food for us and told us she had already eaten at the clinic. She washed our clothes by hand when our washing machine broke down, and she never once complained."
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Mason stepped up beside his brother, closing the distance between them and Victoria until she was forced to lean back.
"You think we stayed with her because we had no choice?" Mason said, his voice dropping into a low, deadly register. "We stayed with her because she is our mother. Blood made you our relatives, Victoria. But sacrifice made her our family. Keep your two hundred million dollars. We're taking everything."
