The thirty-first week, Christabel made a choice.
Not between her mother and her family.
Between revenge and survival.
And the decision changed everything.
---
She stood in the garden.
The flowers were blooming. The fountain was running. The city was spread out below her.
Damien found her there.
"You've been out here for hours."
"I've been thinking."
"About what?"
"About my mother. About the past. About what comes next."
"And?"
"And I've decided."
"Decided what?"
She turned to face him.
"I'm not going to let her destroy us."
---
"Then what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to destroy her first."
He walked to her.
Took her hands.
"Are you sure?"
"I've never been more sure about anything."
"This isn't like the business wars. This isn't like the enemies we've faced before. This is your mother."
"She stopped being my mother the day she faked her death."
"She's still your mother."
"She's a stranger who shares my blood." Christabel pulled her hands away. "And she threatened my daughter."
---
Damien was quiet for a moment.
The city hummed below them.
"What do you need from me?"
"Everything."
"You have everything."
"Then stand beside me. Fight with me. Don't try to protect me from this."
"I won't."
"Promise?"
He touched her face.
"I promise."
---
That afternoon, Christabel called a meeting.
Not in the penthouse. In the study. The hidden one.
Sarah was there. Marco was there. Katerina was there.
Damien stood by the window.
Christabel sat at the head of the table.
"My mother wants to destroy me," she said. "She wants to take my company. My empire. My family."
No one spoke.
"I'm not going to let her."
---
"What's the plan?" Sarah asked.
"The plan is simple. We find her. We stop her. We end this."
"How?"
"Katerina is going to help us."
Katerina looked up.
"How?"
"By setting up a meeting. A real one. Not in a warehouse. Not on her terms. On ours."
"She'll never agree."
"She will if you tell her I'm ready to surrender."
"Surrender?"
"I'm going to pretend to give her what she wants. The company. The empire. Everything."
"And then?"
"And then I'm going to take it all back."
---
Marco leaned forward.
"She's not going to trust you."
"She's not going to trust me. But she's going to trust her greed."
"Her greed?"
"She wants what I have. She's wanted it for years. If she thinks she can get it without a fight, she'll take the bait."
"And if she doesn't?"
"Then we find another way."
---
That night, Christabel put Lena to bed.
Not Damien. Her.
She read her daughter a story. Not a baby book. A real story. One of her favorites.
"There was a woman who was afraid of becoming her mother," she read. "Until she realized that she was nothing like her mother. And that was her greatest strength."
Lena stared at her.
"Bah," she said.
"That's right," Christabel said. "Bah."
---
Damien was in the doorway.
"She said it again."
"She said it to me."
"She said it to both of us."
She closed the book.
Set it on the nightstand.
"She's going to be different."
"She's going to be just like you."
"God help the world."
"God help anyone who tries to make her into something she's not."
---
They stood over the crib together.
Lena was asleep. Her tiny chest rose and fell.
"I'm scared," Christabel said.
"Of what?"
"Of becoming her. Of losing myself. Of hurting the people I love."
"You're not going to become her."
"How do you know?"
"Because you're afraid of becoming her. She was never afraid of anything."
---
The next morning, Katerina called.
"She agreed to the meeting."
"Where?"
"A hotel. Downtown. Neutral ground."
"When?"
"Tomorrow. Noon."
"Who else will be there?"
"Just her. And you."
Christabel was quiet for a moment.
"Okay."
---
Damien took the phone.
"I'm coming with you."
"No."
"Christabel—"
"If she sees you, she'll know it's a trap."
"Then I'll stay out of sight."
"She knows what you look like. She knows everyone who works for us."
"Then I'll wear a disguise."
She almost smiled.
"A disguise?"
"I'll do whatever it takes to protect you."
---
The next day, Christabel went to the meeting.
Alone.
Or so it seemed.
Damien was in the building. Two floors up. Watching through cameras he had installed the night before.
Sarah was in the lobby. Marco was outside. Katerina was waiting in the car.
Everyone was in place.
Everyone was ready.
---
Her mother was sitting in a chair by the window.
Looking out at the city.
"You came," her mother said.
"I came."
"I didn't think you would."
"I almost didn't."
"What changed?"
Christabel sat across from her.
"I decided I was tired of being afraid."