Chapter 5 - THE DECISION OF A CHILD
Vanessa’s shock rapidly morphed back into sharp, venomous anger. She couldn't accept defeat—not to a woman who wore an apron, not in a house she intended to rule.
She raised a finger, pointing it directly at Grace’s face.
"She doesn't belong in this family, Leo!" Vanessa shouted, her voice echoing down the hallway. "You are a Vance! Your son is a Vance! You cannot let a peasant maid sit at your table and act like she owns this estate! Ask anyone in the city—she does not belong here!"
Leo didn't raise his arm. He didn't raise his voice.
He slowly reached behind him, taking Noah’s small hand into his broad palm, gently pulling his three-year-old son out from behind his legs so the boy stood in front of him.
Leo crouched down on one knee beside his son, putting himself at Noah’s eye level. He rested his hand on Noah’s shoulder.
"Noah," Leo spoke softly, his tone completely changing into a father’s warm, patient guidance. "Look at me, buddy."
Noah wiped a tear from his nose with his sleeve, looking into his father’s dark eyes. "Yes, Daddy?"
"Who makes you feel safe when the storms come off the ocean?" Leo asked softly, pointing subtly toward Grace.
Noah didn't hesitate for a single second. He turned his head, reached out with his small hand, and grabbed Grace’s gloved fingers, pulling her hand toward his cheek.
"Mama Grace," Noah said clearly, his small voice resolute and absolute. "She holds me."
Leo stood up slowly, reaching his full six-foot-three height once again. He turned his dark, lethal gaze back onto Vanessa.
"My son decides who makes him feel safe," Leo said, his words falling like iron weights on the Carrara marble. "Not you. Not the city. Him."
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Vanessa stared at the father, the child, and the nanny standing united against her. Her face twisted in desperation. She looked past Leo’s shoulder, her eyes darting toward the grand winding marble staircase at the far end of the living room, as if pleading for an authority higher than Leo’s to intervene.
Leo caught her gaze. His eyebrows pulled together in a tight, dangerous line as he slowly turned his body around to look at the stairs.
