Silence on the other end. I could picture Sebastian's face, that pinched expression he got when I was about to suggest something monumentally stupid.
“It might work,” I continued. “But I need you to trust me."
"Xavier..." Sebastian's voice was heavy with exhaustion. With doubt. With years of bailing me out of messes, of watching me fail, of waiting for me to finally grow up. "This isn't a game. We're talking about the company. About everything Father built. If you make this worse?—"
"I know." I gripped the phone tighter. "I know what's at stake. I got us into this mess, and I'm going to get us out of it. But I need you to trust me. Please."
The silence stretched. I could hear Sebastian breathing, could practically feel him weighing the risks.
"What's your plan?" he finally asked.
"Cole's arrogant. He thinks he's already won. If I can get him talking—really talking, bragging about how clever he was—and we record it, we'd have proof of deliberate manipulation. Gerald said that could void the contract."
"You want to trick him into confessing."
"I want to give him the opportunity to gloat. He'll do the rest himself."
More silence. Then, "It's risky."
"I know."
"If he suspects anything?—"
"He won't. He thinks I'm an idiot. Let him keep thinking that."
Sebastian exhaled slowly. "What do you need from me?"
"Just back me up tomorrow at the board meeting. Follow my lead. And make sure Gerald has everything ready to move fast if this works."
"If it doesn't work, we lose everything."
"If we do nothing, we lose everything anyway." I started the car. "Trust me, Sebastian. Just this once.”
A long pause. Long enough that I started composing my backup argument.
“Alright. Don't make me regret this.”
“I won't.”
I meant it. For the first time in my life, I actually meant it.
I hung up and pulled out of the estate, driving through the dark streets toward Kim's apartment. The city lights blurred past, and for the first time since Sebastian's phone call in Hawaii, I felt something other than despair.
Hope. Fragile and uncertain, but there.
Kim's building looked the same as always—slightly shabby, the lobby light still flickering. Cole's rejected gifts had been cleared from the hallway, but I could see a few crushed flower petals ground into the carpet near her door.
She opened before I could knock, like she'd been waiting.
"Hey." Her eyes searched my face. "Are you okay?"
"Getting there." I stepped inside, closing the door behind me. "Where's Zoe?"
"Living room. She's been asking about you."
I found Zoe on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, watching some cartoon with a stuffed elephant tucked under her chin. She looked up when I entered, and her whole face transformed.
"Xavier!" She scrambled off the couch and launched herself at my legs. "You came back!"
