Chapter 8
It was over by two p.m.
James was officially the CEO of Miller Industries.
Richard was escorted out by security.
The board had voted unanimously.
And then the hard part started.
Because the press was still downstairs.
And they weren’t leaving until someone talked to them.
James stood in his new office.
Staring out the window at the Nashville skyline.
“I can’t do this,” he said. “Go out there. Face all those cameras. Tell them my mother is in a coma and I just took her company. They’ll eat me alive.”
“Then don’t give them a choice,” I said.
He turned.
“What?”
“Bring the kids.”
He blinked.
“Excuse me?”
“Bring Mia and Ethan. Go out there together. You, me, the kids. You tell the truth. All of it. No spin. No excuses. You tell them you made mistakes. That you let your mother make choices for you that you should have made yourself. That you’re sorry. And then you introduce them to their grandchildren. And you tell the world that from now on, everything you do is for them.”
Karen nodded from the corner.
“She’s right. It’s the only thing that works. The narrative right now is you’re a deadbeat dad who drove his mother to suicide. You walk out there with those two beautiful kids? Suddenly you’re a father fighting for his family. People don’t hate fathers. They root for them.”
James looked at me.
“Would you really come out there with me? After everything?”
I thought about it.
My reputation was already ruined.
The internet had already decided I was either a victim or an idiot.
Maybe it was time I decided for them.
“Let’s go get the kids,” I said.
We picked them up from Mrs. Henderson’s.
Mia wore a pink dress with butterflies.
Ethan wore a dinosaur shirt and shorts that were slightly too big.
Neither of them had any idea they were about to be on every news channel in America.
We drove back downtown.
The security team met us at the back entrance.
Walked us through the building to the front steps.
I could hear the crowd.
Hundreds of people. Shouting. Cameras clicking.
James knelt down in front of the kids.
“Okay, you two. Listen to me. There are going to be a lot of people out there. With cameras. And they’re going to yell a lot. But you don’t have to be scared. I’m right here. Claire is right here. All you have to do is stand with us. And smile if you want to. Okay?”
Mia nodded.
Ethan just grabbed his hand.
We walked out together.
James in the middle.
Me on one side.
Mia and Ethan on the other.
The noise was deafening.
“JAMES! OVER HERE!”
“CLAIRE! DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THE CHILDREN?”
“IS ELEANOR GOING TO DIE?”
James raised a hand.
Slowly, the noise died down.
He took a breath.
And he spoke.
“My name is James Miller. And I have made a lot of mistakes in my life.”
His voice was steady. Strong.
“Six years ago, I met a woman named Sarah. We fell in love. She got pregnant. And instead of standing up and being a man, I let my mother convince me she wasn’t good enough. That she didn’t belong in my world. I let my mother pay her to leave. I let her lie to me. I let her hide my own children from me for three years.”
He squeezed Mia’s shoulder.
“These are my children. Mia. She’s seven. She loves horses and drawing and wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up. And Ethan. He’s five. His favorite dinosaur is T-Rex and he thinks chocolate milk should be its own food group.”
A small laugh went through the crowd.
“I missed three years of their lives. I missed first steps and first words and birthdays. And that is entirely my fault. No one else’s. I was weak. I was scared. And I chose the easy thing instead of the right thing.”
He looked right into the cameras.
“Three days ago, I was supposed to marry Claire. The woman I love. And instead, my whole world fell apart. And I deserved it. Because I had spent three years lying to her. To everyone. And I almost lost the best thing that ever happened to me because of it.”
He looked at me.
I gave him a small smile.
“My mother is in the hospital right now. She tried to take her own life. And I don’t know if she’s going to make it. I love her. She’s my mom. But she did terrible things. And I have spent my whole life letting her make my choices for me. That ends today.”
He looked down at the kids.
“From this moment on, every decision I make is for them. I am the new CEO of Miller Industries. And I am going to run this company with honesty. With integrity. And I am going to use every resource we have to make sure no family ever has to go through what mine has.”
He took a breath.
“I know a lot of you are angry. And you have every right to be. I’m not asking for your forgiveness today. I’m just asking for the chance to earn it. One day at a time.”
He stepped back.
The crowd was silent.
Then, slowly, someone started clapping.
Then another.
Then the whole crowd.
I looked at James.
He was crying.
But he was smiling.
We went back inside.
Karen was waiting.
Her phone was in her hand.
Her face was unreadable.
“James,” she said. “You need to see this.”
She turned the screen toward us.
A live feed from the hospital.
Eleanor was awake.
She was sitting up in bed.
Talking to a reporter from Channel 4.
And she was telling her side of the story.
“I was a good mother,” she said to the camera. Her voice was raspy. Weak. But her eyes were sharp. Alive. “I only ever wanted what was best for my son. And when I found out that Sarah Mitchell was blackmailing him—threatening to go to the press with fake paternity claims unless he paid her—I did what any mother would do. I protected him.”
My blood ran cold.
“Claire was a sweet girl,” Eleanor continued. Tears spilled over. “But she was easily manipulated. Sarah got to her. Filled her head with lies. That letter at the wedding? Sarah wrote it. Not me. James was the victim here. All of this was an elaborate scheme to get my family’s money. And now my own son has fallen for it. He’s taken my company. He’s turned my grandchildren against me. And I don’t know if I’ll ever get any of it back.”
She looked directly into the lens.
“James, if you’re watching this. Please. Come see me. Let’s talk. As mother and son. Before it’s too late.”
The feed cut to commercial.
James was staring at the screen.
White as a sheet.
“That lying bitch,” Karen whispered. “She woke up from a coma and the first thing she does is rewrite history.”
I looked at James.
I could see the doubt creeping in.
The old habit.
The part of him that would always want to believe his mother.
“James,” I said softly. “Don’t.”
He looked at me.
“But what if—”
“There is no what if. You know the truth. Sarah has the birth certificates. You have the memories of visiting them in Memphis. You have the letters. She’s just doing what she’s always done. Lying. Manipulating. Trying to make herself the victim.”
I stepped closer.
“If you go to her now. If you give her even an inch. She will take everything. The company. The kids. All of it. And Sarah will die knowing her children were raised by the woman who destroyed her.”
He closed his eyes.
Took a deep breath.
Opened them.
The doubt was gone.
“Call the hospital,” he said to Karen. “Tell them I want a court order. No one talks to Eleanor Miller without my lawyer present. No interviews. No phone calls. Nothing. And get the restraining order upgraded. If she even tries to contact the kids, I want her arrested.”
Karen was already dialing.
“Already on it.”
He looked at me.
“Thank you,” he said. “For not letting me be stupid again.”
I smiled.
“Anytime.”
That night, we got the call.
Sarah’s sister.
May you like
Screaming.
Sarah was gone.
