Page 34 of Kisses and Paperclips

There was devastation in her eyes.

Betrayal, sharp and clean as a blade.

The room stilled in an awkward, suffocating silence.

I felt their stares, curious, skeptical, some even pity, pressing against my skin like a weight I couldn’t shrug off.

A beat passed.

Then the room filled with hushed whispers.

Claps rang out, slow and hesitant, like no one was sure whether to celebrate… or console.

But I stayed frozen.

Mind racing.

What. The. Fuck.

I thought I was here to tour my mother’s company. Maybe grab a polite lunch. Trade small talk about the years we’d lost.

It had struck me as odd when she invited me to a company meeting, but I brushed it off, chalking it up to some forced "family bonding" thing.

Now I was standing in the wreckage of her plans. A pawn being promoted to king without even knowing I’d been placed on the board.

My pulse roared in my ears.

Why the hell would she do this?

Why blindside me in front of a room full of strangers without a warning?

Through the blur of it all, my focus came back to her.

Serena.

Her eyes find mine.

Carefully blank.

But the fury simmering underneath is unmistakable.

Her jaw tightens.

Fingers flex against the edge of the table like she’s two seconds from flipping it over or tearing me apart with words she’s not ready to say out loud.

She wanted this.

She earned it.

And now my mother had snatched it from her hands and shoved it into mine—an estranged son who didn’t even ask for it.

I sit there, drowning in the silence between us, while the truth presses hard against my ribs:

Whatever just happened…

It wasn’t a promotion.

It was a theft.

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