THE THIRD DAY
By the third day, I had fully restored my centre.
8:15
I got up.
Took a shower.
Styled my hair.
Did my makeup.
And smiled at myself.
It’s all right, baby.
It’s all right.
The reflection nodded.
I put on a pencil skirt.
Stilettos.
And a cashmere top.
BREAKFAST
I called the entire household staff together
and spoke to them directly.
I took a deep breath.
“I understand that all of you are worried.
“But we have to face the reality of the situation.
“Right now, we need to streamline our spending
and, honestly,
make severe cuts to the budget.
“We still don’t know exactly what will have to be cut
or how we’re going to do it.
“But I needed you to hear it from me
and know where we stand.”
The room broke into anxious murmurs.
But my people straightened.
My eyes stung with tears.
I was proud of myself.
One mistake did not cancel out all my experience.
I was still their leader.
They might have been called household staff,
but they were my team.
And my team would stand by me until their last breath.
The truth was, they knew the loyalty ran both ways.
They knew I would do the same for them.
I nodded and continued.
“Anyone who is temporarily taken off duty…”
I looked up
and took in every face in the room.
“Only temporarily, guys.
“Because we are going to fix this
and get our life back.
“We just have to get through this first.”
I nodded to myself
and continued.
“Anyone who is temporarily taken off duty will be placed in a good household, where I will personally monitor how you are treated.
“I will make sure you are treated properly,
paid properly,
and never worked beyond what is fair.”
My people nodded.
A broad smile spread across my face.
“Then there is no reason to panic.
“I keep my word,
and I take responsibility.
“I am not sending any of you out into the unknown.
“And the moment we have solved this,
you will return to our family that very same day.”
I looked around the room.
“And now, if you’ll allow me,
I would like all of us to eat together—
as the family we have always been.”
“Or rather, with whatever is left of the family—aaaaahhhhhh!”
Mushu wailed, bursting into theatrical tears.
I rolled my eyes.
My guys walked into the room.
I smiled,
and we all burst out laughing.
Every one of them had one hand bandaged.
Under the current circumstances,
it had become a powerful anchor.
A reminder that I was still exactly who I had believed myself to be.
And that my people still had my back completely.
The household staff sat down at the table.
I gave the guys a sharp look
and hissed at them.
They tore themselves away from their papers
and got up to serve the women at the table.
Right now, the women were not staff.
We were all family.
And I had raised my boys to know how to look after the girls.
The guys flushed
and immediately rushed to correct themselves.
I nodded in satisfaction.
“All right.
“Everything we need is on the table.”
I shifted awkwardly in my seat
and swore.
“Now we have to keep track of who eats what
and how much.
“That is how broke we are now.”
Deep breath.
“Guys!”
They froze.
“Mother of God, come on! Faster!”
We had to discuss business right there over breakfast
because the medical team had to leave for surgery.
Hollywood was already whining that their belly buttons hurt
and that the situation required the intervention of a palm reader from Bali.
The cowboys were worried that their wives were going to start giving them hell.
I swore.
“Are there any normal men left!?”
They put their phones down at once.
The matter was settled.
No one else was allowed to panic until lunch.
Until then,
they were all entirely at my disposal.
Two boys came into the room late.
Both young and handsome.
Twenty-three.
Twenty-five.
I smirked.
Now that was strength.
After everything.
After seeing what I was capable of,
these boys had not pissed themselves.
No.
They were still here.
And they were ready to fight for me.
For us.
For the family.
A smile spread across my face against my will.
I stood
and bowed to each of them.
I needed to apologise.
“I underestimated both of you.
“I allowed your age to cloud my judgement.
“Forgive me.”
They stood straight.
But the corners of their mouths kept twitching.
“Tristan.
“Luke.”
The guys rushed to embrace the new blood,
pouncing on them
and starting a mock fight with the boys.
I smiled
and lifted my eyes to the sky.
See?
I didn’t die.
God smirked.
I snorted.
You’re such an idiot.
God laughed,
the way all boys do.
“All right.
“Guys.”
I cleared my throat.
“Guuuuuys! Enough!”
They became adults again at once.
“Baby—” Nick began.
“Wait.”
The household staff lowered their eyes, visibly moved.
I pressed my palms together in a grateful gesture.
“Thank you so much, guys.
“Let me say this one more time.
“Everyone knows we’re in deep shit.
“So those of you who have chosen to stay, be ready.
“The standards will be exactly what they were before.
“No sulking.
“No whining.
“And no blaming me later for the conditions you are agreeing to now.
“Otherwise, leave now.”
The household staff nodded.
But two of the men on staff chose to leave.
Hmm.
“All right.
“Everyone back to work.
“Clear the table.
“Guys.”
They stood.
We stepped out onto the terrace.
I lit a cigarette.
The guys followed suit.
I swore.
Damn it. What kind of habit is this?
Smoking?
Good God.
I suddenly felt ashamed of myself.
You’re supposed to be a lady,
and now you’re going to smell like a man.
Right.
So I stripped down to my lingerie.
If I was already a fallen woman,
I might as well commit to it.
And there I am,
standing in luxurious lingerie.
Champagne silk and lace.
Diamonds glittering at my ears.
My curls gleaming in the sunlight.
“Guys?”
They swallowed hard.
The Arabs went pale.
I realised I adored embarrassing my boys until they were practically ready to faint.
Nothing—good God, nothing—gave me as much pleasure as embarrassing them.
Making them lose their train of thought
and turn red.
After all, no one had cancelled my full breasts
and soft little belly.
I took a drag.
“All right, guys.
“What are we looking at?”
They stood waiting,
documents in hand.
My head was spinning.
Damn it.
Where was Jonathan?
He would have untangled this in minutes.
The politicians were on the verge of tears.
They still could not process the betrayal.
I forced myself to breathe more deeply.
Sometimes power itself is the most vulnerable thing in the room.
“Tristan.”
He raised his head.
I gestured with my cigarette.
Tristan produced a tissue
and handed it to the politicians.
Which only made them dissolve into even more theatrical sobbing.
The guys and I exchanged a look.
Right…
All right, then.
I looked at the table.
“Damn it, is the staff planning to move at all today?
“I need to work.”
“Relax,” Teddy said.
I laughed.
Of course.
“Sorry, my friend,
but sometimes the rumours get it right.
“You can’t hide Texas.
“It’s in the blood.”
He let out a booming laugh,
his moustache twitching with it.
I smiled.
At first glance,
he seemed almost ordinary.
A checked shirt.
Jeans.
Cowboy boots.
Nothing remarkable.
Except the eyes.
Fine lines spread in a delicate web around them
and reached lightly towards the corners of his mouth.
His lower lip was slightly fuller than the upper one.
A sign of deep sensitivity.
Hmm.
A straight nose.
Ambition.
“If his wife doesn’t cut his balls off first,” Hades said.
I took another drag.
“Ted is a man of his word, and…”
I smiled.
“And hopelessly in love with me.”
I lowered my eyes
and felt myself blush.
The truth was,
all my guys were in love with me.
It was common knowledge.
No one ever discussed it openly.
As long as the system functioned
and those feelings did not interfere with the work,
everyone understood that the mechanism was better left untouched.
It was an unspoken law.
Everyone knew it.
Besides,
no one dared challenge Caleb directly.
My mind began to flood.
Caleb.
My heart clenched.
I slapped myself across the face in my mind.
My mind snapped back online.
Don’t lose your shape.
I nodded.
The decision had been made.
He was with someone else.
Case closed.
I cleared my throat
and asked for limoncello.
A chair cracked.
I understood at once.
The spirits were angry.
I stared up at the sky.
“Hey.
“I am grieving here,
in case you hadn’t noticed.”
The guys politely pretended not to notice.
At last,
the drinks arrived.
“All right, guys.
“What’s everyone having?”
A few chose cocktails.
Most went for vodka or whisky.
The new blood declined alcohol.
I smiled.
“Well done, guys.
“Well done.”
Then stacks of documents began flying across the table.
I smiled.
These were my boys.
My pride.
Damn it.
Real elite.
If I slipped,
they would replace every inch of ice beneath my feet
and have the entire planet rebuilt
if that was what I wanted.
The thought made me blush.
What had I done to deserve boys like these?
I truly had no idea.
18:01
I was hungry.
None of us had eaten since morning.
The brainstorming had to produce a decision.
Decision number one.
Address the parents directly
and lay out the situation clearly.
No lies.
Just tell them exactly how things are.
I swallowed.
Damn it.
All right.
If that doesn’t work—
The guys started running the numbers.
At **18:50**,
the lawyers arrived.
The judges followed.
Then the royal family.
Even with all the power and money my guys had,
the amount was still beyond reach.
I began to cry.
Damn it.
These men were ready to take the shirts off their own backs
and walk around naked
just so I would not be upset.
And even that was not enough.
I understood what was hurting them.
The resource they relied on most—
money—
was not enough.
I stood
and slammed my hand down on the table.
“All right!
“Guys!”
They snapped to attention.
Exhaustion in their eyes.
Tears.
Grief.
And then I understood.
They had not betrayed only me.
They had betrayed the family.
These men had trusted those people too.
They had relied on them too.
I swore.
Good God.
I was being so selfish.
Everything was about me.
Me, me, me.
Thinking only about myself.
“All right!
“Sebastian!”
He appeared, as always, out of thin air.
I had long since accepted the fact
that the two of us had an almost mystical connection.
“Right.
“Here is what we are going to do.
“Bring everything sweet we have.
“Champagne after that.
“And crack open the entire vintage reserve.
“I am not going into mourning.”
The guys were barely holding themselves together.
I felt so sorry for them.
“All right.”
I slammed my hand down on the table again.
“Guys!
“Here is how this is going to work.”
I clasped my hands behind my back
like a squad commander.
“Yeah. Commander of the frog squad,” Hades said.
“Oh, shut up.”
“Guys.
“Here is how this is going to work.
“First.
“Am I an idiot?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because this is not my fault.
“I did everything I could to vet those people.
“I was not blind.
“I trusted them.
“Then we let them into our lives.
“That is normal.
“What would have been abnormal
was letting every one of them into our lives
and then keeping them under constant watch forever.
“No.
“Once the vetting is over,
access to the family has to become real.
“No continuing to look at them sideways
once they are in.
“Next.
“Could I have seen this coming?”
I paused.
“I don’t know.
“But the fact remains.
“I did not see this blow coming.
“Does that make me a bad leader?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I am human.
“It was a blow.
“I learned what I needed to learn from it.
“That is all.
“Next.
“Does this mean no one can be trusted now?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“You are here.
“I am here.
“The household staff are here.
“The children are here.
“That means good people exist.
“Which means trust still makes sense.
“Those particular people simply proved themselves unworthy.”
I struck the table again.
“Guys, this matters.
“Right now, the mind is vulnerable.
“We have to give it the right conclusion to hold on to.
“This does not mean the world is bad.
“It does not mean people cannot be trusted
and all the rest of that shit.
“No.
“These eight people betrayed us.
“That is all.
“Eight people.
“Not the world.
“We have to distinguish between the two.”
They nodded.
“Can the people closest to us destroy us?”
“Technically, yes.
“But, guys, here is what matters.
“Closeness gives a person access
to every vulnerable place.
“In practical terms,
they have almost unrestricted access to you.
“The same knife can protect you
or kill you.
“But—
but, guys—
you are here.
“I am here.
“The children are here.
“That means it is not everyone.
“And it is not always.”
They nodded.
I raised one finger in front of my face.
“Guys, this would be like me saying:
‘That is it.
I will never trust anyone again.
And you—
you are no longer my family.’”
They stared at me in shock.
“Exactly.
“That is my point.
“You cannot punish good people
for what bad people have done.
“That is wrong.
“You have to separate one from the other.
“Traitors exist.
“People close to us can become traitors.
“But their existence
does not make everyone an enemy.
“No.
“Guys, we need to shift the focus.
“Not:
‘The people closest to us abandoned us,
so no one can be trusted.’
“No.
“The truth is:
betrayal exists in the world.
“You cannot prepare for it.
“But we are still here.
“And we are proof
that trust is still possible.”
I took a drag.
“Am I naïve?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I choose to believe in high standards.
“Not everyone can live up to them.
“That is my choice.
“It is not blind faith.
“Being rare does not mean people like me do not exist.
“There are simply not many of us.
“That is all.
“So.
“One more time.”
I took another drag.
“The world has not collapsed.
“We are still strong.
“We are still together.
“Which means the family has not collapsed.”
The guys sat a little straighter.
“That’s it, guys.
“Now.
“Champagne for everyone.
“No whining.
“Adjust your dicks.
“We have a problem to solve.”
The speech had been inspiring.
But the pain remained real.
The guys were wounded.
Their hearts had genuinely been ripped out of their bodies.
I swore.
“Listen, guys.
“I have an algorithm.
“It works.
“And it will get us through this.
“But you have to obey it.”
They nodded.
“First.
“No reflection.
“There are blows you cannot survive
by staying inside them.
“This is one of those blows.
“If we fall back into this wound,
none of us will get up again.
“There is nothing left to analyse.
“The facts are already complete.
“There are only facts.
“Eight people made their choice.
“We have to accept it.
“There is no room for feeling here.
“No closeness.
“No tenderness.
“We have to close the floodgate.
“While the wound is closing,
we cannot let emotion through.
“Second.
“A practical approach.
“The moment reflection begins,
the mind will drag us back into pain
and disappointment.
“Memories will start.
“Tears.”
The guys began to cry.
I realised I was crying too.
But I continued.
“We cannot do this, guys.
“They left.
“The betrayal is already done.
“We have to keep moving.
“Third.
“Never get stuck inside the pain.
“The past is yesterday.
“The past is last year.
“Everything that belongs in the past
must remain there.
“These betrayals happened in the past.
“So that is where they will stay.
“We are here now.
“Not there.
“We have responsibilities.
“We have obligations.
“And we continue to meet them.”
I drew a breath.
“I do not know whether we will return to this in the future.
“But while the inner child—
while the pure part of the soul—
is wounded and vulnerable,
we have to become the adult who holds it.
“The child will slowly repair itself
simply because we did not collapse.
“Because we stayed.”
The guys pulled themselves together a little.
“Do not answer the mind
when it starts dragging you back.
“The moment it begins whining—
‘But do you remember how happy we were?’
No.
Block it at once.
Again.
And again.
And again.
“And little by little,
we will climb out of this.
“That is the trap.
“The mind will try to soften what happened.
“It will say:
‘But we loved them so much.
We were a family.’
“Yes.
“That is true.
“But it is not the whole truth.
“There is another side.
“The fact that we were a family
did not carry the same sacred meaning for those people.
“They decided they were fine
moving on without us.
“That is how little—”
Tears began running down my face.
“That is how little we meant to them.
“That is how little they valued us.
“So why the hell should we sit here
remembering only the good?”
I wiped my face.
“The betrayal is already done.
“Those people are not worthy of us.
“And that is where this has to end.
“Do not replace reality with nostalgia.
“‘Oh, but it was so beautiful.’
“No.
“There were bad things too.
“And we do not need to romanticise the past.”
The guys began pulling themselves together.
I nodded.
“So.
“As I said.
“Champagne for everyone.
“The pain will pass through analysis
and getting drunk.
“The body will suffer through it
little by little.
“And while it suffers,
we will drink.
“We will solve the problem.
“And we will keep the world standing.
“Once the emotions have run their course,
we will level out again.
“And our centre will become stronger.
“Come on, guys.
“The main thing is that we still have one another.”
