I hesitated before answering on the third ring. “Yes, Tristan?” I responded calmly.
“Nora,” he said, his voice sounding entirely drained of energy. “I honestly never believed you would actually produce those old formation documents in court today.”
“And I never believed you would go into court and tell our young sons that I abandoned them,” I replied coldly.
A long silence stretched over the phone line before he spoke
again. “I panicked, Nora.”
“What exactly were you panicking about losing?” I asked.
“Everything I spent my life building,” he admitted quietly.
I looked around my simple kitchen, seeing Mason’s unfinished homework on the counter and Lucas’s sneakers resting near the door. Those everyday items reminded me that the most valuable parts of my existence had never appeared on any corporate financial statement.
“You showed up with three high powered attorneys and asked a judge to take my children away from their home,” I pointed out firmly.
“I didn’t realize it would turn into such an ugly mess,” he murmured.
“It became an ugly mess because you chose to make it one, Tristan,” I said directly.
He exhaled slowly. “So what do you actually want from me now?”
“I want complete honesty, with the court, with the boys, and with yourself,” I answered.
He hesitated for a moment before asking
the real question on his mind. “And what are you planning to do about your majority stake in the company?”
There it was, the core of his true concern. It was not an apology for his behavior, nor a question about his sons’ emotional state, but rather the fate of his public image and company.
“I have not made up my mind yet,” I stated plainly.
“The board of directors will completely panic if these equity records leak to the press,” he warned anxiously.
“Then perhaps the board ought to learn how the company was actually created in the first place,” I suggested coolly.
His tone softened unexpectedly. “You sound completely different than you used to, Nora.”
“That is because I am completely different now,” I replied.
