Chapter 4 Negotiation or War?
# Chapter 4: Negotiation or War?
The conference room of Whitmore, Benson & Reed occupied the entire forty-seventh floor of a glass tower in Midtown Manhattan, offering panoramic views of the city Walter Craig had conquered. The room itself was designed to intimidate—twenty-foot ceilings, a gleaming table that could seat thirty, and walls adorned with original artwork by masters whose names even the wealthy whispered with reverence.
Walter sat at the head of the table, surrounded by three attorneys and a family court specialist. He'd barely slept in the four days since discovering the triplets, instead throwing himself into preparation with the same intensity that had built Craig Technologies into a global powerhouse.
"Ms. Annable has agreed to the meeting," Stephen Whitmore informed him, glancing at his watch. "She should be arriving momentarily."
Walter nodded, adjusting his already perfect tie. "And she's coming alone? No attorney?"
"She indicated she would represent herself," Stephen replied, a note of professional concern in his voice. "I advised against it, of course."
Walter wasn't surprised. In the days since their encounter at the café, he had learned everything possible about Jade Annable's current life. Her security company had grown impressively, specializing in penetration testing and vulnerability assessments for mid-sized businesses. She held patents on two encryption algorithms. She lived modestly by his standards but comfortably in a Brooklyn brownstone purchased three years ago. And she had raised three exceptional children entirely on her own.
Children who should have been raised as Craigs.
The thought still sent a surge of conflicting emotions through him—anger at being denied knowledge of their existence, amazement at their evident brilliance, and a strange, unexpected longing to know them better.
The intercom buzzed. "Ms. Annable has arrived, Mr. Whitmore."
Walter stood as the heavy doors opened, and Jade entered the room. Today she wore a charcoal pantsuit with a deep blue blouse—professional, elegant, and completely different from the soft-spoken nanny he remembered. Her hair was pulled back in a sleek style that emphasized her striking features. She carried a single leather portfolio and walked with the confidence of someone entering her own boardroom rather than facing an opponent with vastly superior resources.
"Ms. Annable," Stephen began with practiced cordiality, "thank you for—"
"Let's skip the pleasantries," Jade interrupted, taking a seat directly opposite Walter. "I received your proposed agreement. The answer is no."
Walter studied her face, searching for signs of the young woman he'd once known in this composed professional. "You haven't even heard our offer."
"A financial settlement in exchange for shared custody," Jade replied coolly. "With the children relocating to Manhattan and attending schools of your choosing. Primary physical custody transitioning to you within two years. Generous visitation rights for me. A trust fund for each child." She raised an eyebrow. "Have I missed anything significant?"
Stephen cleared his throat. "The offer is extremely generous, Ms. Annable. Mr. Craig is prepared to—"
"Mr. Craig is prepared to purchase what he believes he's entitled to," Jade cut in. "My children are not assets to be acquired through negotiation."
Walter leaned forward. "They're my children too, Jade."
"Biologically, yes." Her eyes met his directly. "But you forfeited any moral claim to them when you stood by and watched me be thrown out of your house based on false accusations."
"I didn't know you were pregnant," Walter countered.
"Would it have mattered?" Jade challenged. "Would you have believed me over your mother if you'd known I was carrying your child? Or would you have simply accused me of getting pregnant to extort money from the Craig fortune?"
The question struck uncomfortably close to what might have been his reaction five years ago. Before Walter could respond, Stephen intervened smoothly.
"The past is irrelevant to our current discussion," the attorney said. "The legal reality is that Mr. Craig has parental rights to these children. Rights that have been denied to him through deliberate concealment."
"Concealment?" Jade's voice remained calm, but Walter noticed her knuckles whitening as she gripped her portfolio. "I was accused of being a thief, publicly humiliated, and discarded without investigation. Mr. Craig made his choice five years ago. He chose his mother's version of events over mine. He chose to believe I was a criminal rather than consider that his mother might be lying."
"This isn't about what happened between us," Walter said firmly. "This is about Alexander, Ethan, and Olivia. They deserve to know their father."
"They deserve stability and security," Jade countered. "They deserve to continue the life they've built in the home they love, with friends they've known since kindergarten. They deserve better than being pawns in some billionaire's midlife crisis about legacy and bloodlines."
Walter felt his temper rising. "Is that what you think this is? Some sort of ego trip?"
"Isn't it?" Jade's gaze was unflinching. "You didn't even know they existed a week ago. Now suddenly you want to rearrange their entire lives to suit your schedule? Force them into the Craig mold? Perhaps parade them at your mother's charity events as the next generation of the dynasty?"
The mention of his mother brought a flash of the doubt Walter had been suppressing. He had not yet told Eleanor about the children. That conversation would come after he had established his legal position.
"The triplets are extraordinary children," he said instead. "They deserve every advantage I can provide."
"They already have every advantage that matters," Jade replied. "Love. Stability. The freedom to develop their own identities without the burden of the Craig name and expectations."
Stephen cleared his throat again. "Perhaps we should discuss the financial aspects of the arrangement. Mr. Craig is prepared to be extremely generous."
At this, Jade reached into her portfolio and withdrew a folded document. She slid it across the table toward Walter.
"Do you recognize this, Mr. Craig?"
Walter unfolded the paper. It was a check dated five years earlier, signed by Eleanor Craig, made out to Jade Annable for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
"My mother gave you this?" Walter asked, genuinely surprised.
"The day after I was fired," Jade confirmed. "Delivered to my apartment by private courier along with a legal document stating that by accepting the funds, I would waive any right to make claims against the Craig family for wrongful termination, defamation, or any other cause."
Walter stared at the check. "You didn't cash it."
"No. I did not." Jade's voice took on a harder edge. "Contrary to what you and your mother believed about me, I wasn't interested in Craig money. I was building my own company, my own life. When I discovered I was pregnant, I made the choice to raise my children independently rather than subject them to the toxic environment of the Craig household."
"You had no right to make that decision unilaterally," Walter said, his voice low with controlled anger.
"I had every right," Jade shot back. "I was protecting them from a family that values wealth and power over truth and basic human decency."
The family court specialist, who had been quietly observing, chose this moment to intervene. "Perhaps we should refocus on the children's best interests moving forward, rather than relitigating past grievances."
Jade turned to the specialist. "My children's best interests are served by maintaining the stable, loving environment they've always known. Mr. Craig is welcome to establish a relationship with them—gradually and on their terms. But I will not agree to any arrangement that disrupts their lives or diminishes my role as their primary parent."
Walter pushed aside the check, frustration building. This was not proceeding as he had anticipated. Jade was supposed to be intimidated by the legal team, the imposing surroundings, the implicit threat of prolonged court battles she couldn't afford. Instead, she sat across from him with unwavering composure, countering every point as if she had prepared for this confrontation for years.
Perhaps she had.
Stephen consulted his notes. "Ms. Annable, let me be direct. Mr. Craig is prepared to offer you double the amount on that uncashed check—half a million dollars—in exchange for a reasonable custody arrangement that acknowledges his rights as the children's father."
Jade actually laughed—a short, incredulous sound. "Mr. Whitmore, do you know what my company's valuation was in our last funding round? Twenty-seven million dollars. I don't need Walter's money. I never did."
She reached into her portfolio again and pulled out another document—a thick stack of papers bound with a clip.
"This is my counter-proposal," she said, sliding it across the table. "Mr. Craig may establish a relationship with the children through supervised visitation, gradually increasing to unsupervised day visits if the children are comfortable. No overnight stays for at least six months. No introduction to Eleanor Craig without my prior approval. The children remain in their current schools. Their primary residence remains with me. Any financial support goes directly into education trusts that neither of us can access except for approved educational expenses."
Walter flipped through the document, his frustration growing. "This treats me like a stranger who needs to earn the right to see my own children."
"That's exactly what you are," Jade said bluntly. "A stranger. The children know about you in theory, but they don't know you as a person. Trust and relationships take time to build, Walter. Even for billionaires."
Before Walter could respond, the conference room door opened and his assistant entered, looking apologetic.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, Mr. Craig, but there's a situation that requires your immediate attention."
Walter frowned. "Can it wait?"
"I'm afraid not, sir. It involves the children."
Walter and Jade both stood immediately.
"What about the children?" Jade demanded, her professional composure cracking for the first time.
The assistant looked uncomfortable. "Security at Ms. Annable's office building just called. The children apparently went there after school instead of home as planned, and they've... well, they've accessed the building's security system and locked themselves in your private server room, Ms. Annable. They're refusing to come out until, quote, 'both parents agree to stop fighting over us like we're limited-edition collectibles.'"
For a moment, Jade and Walter stared at each other across the conference table, mutual concern temporarily overriding their conflict.
"I'll drive," Walter said finally.
"We'll take separate cars," Jade countered firmly.
Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the modest office building in Brooklyn where Annable Security Solutions occupied the top two floors. The building security guard looked immensely relieved to see them.
"They're still in there, ma'am," he reported to Jade. "Smart kids. They bypassed the electronic lock like it was nothing, then overrode the manual override. Building maintenance says we'd have to cut through the door to get in."
Jade nodded, her expression a mixture of professional embarrassment and maternal concern. "Thank you, Ray. We'll handle it from here."
Walter followed her to the elevator, noting how every employee they passed greeted her with genuine respect. This was her domain—a company she had built from nothing while raising three children on her own. Despite his frustration with the situation, he couldn't help but feel a grudging admiration.
The server room was located in the most secure area of Jade's offices. A small crowd of employees had gathered near the locked door, looking uncertain.
"Everyone back to work, please," Jade said firmly. "Ms. Chen, could you bring the auxiliary tablet that connects to the server room systems?"
A young woman hurried away and returned with a tablet, which she handed to Jade. "The kids have locked out most functions, but the communication system is still active."
Jade activated the video link. On screen, the three children appeared, seated in office chairs they had arranged in a semicircle. Alexander sat in the middle, his posture formal as always. Ethan slouched to his right, spinning slightly in his chair. Olivia, on the left, had her arms crossed defiantly.
"Children," Jade began, her tone managing to be both firm and gentle. "This behavior is completely unacceptable."
"We determined that intervention was necessary," Alexander replied calmly. "Our statistical analysis indicated that parental negotiations were likely to become adversarial without neutral mediation."
"So you decided to lock yourselves in a secure server room?" Walter asked, stepping into view of the camera.
"It was the optimal leverage point," Ethan explained. "Mom values these servers more than anything except us, and you'd have to care about our safety if you want to convince a judge you should be our dad."
Walter blinked, taken aback by the child's blunt assessment.
"We've prepared a presentation," Alexander continued, holding up a tablet similar to the one Jade was using. "It outlines our proposed custody arrangement based on extensive research into child psychology, developmental needs, and statistical outcomes of various co-parenting models."
Walter glanced at Jade, who looked torn between exasperation and pride.
"Alexander, while I appreciate your thoroughness, this is not how adults resolve disagreements," she said.
"Adults weren't resolving it," Olivia pointed out. "You were just fighting. We monitored your meeting."
"You what?" Jade and Walter exclaimed simultaneously.
Ethan grinned. "We hacked Mr. Whitmore's phone during the café meeting and installed a remote access tool. His phone's been broadcasting everything to us." He paused. "His password was 'password123,' by the way. You should tell him that's really insecure."
Walter made a mental note to have a serious conversation with his attorney about cybersecurity.
"Listen to me very carefully," Jade said, her voice deadly serious. "You will unlock this door immediately. We will discuss appropriate consequences for your behavior at home. This is not a negotiation."
The triplets exchanged glances, clearly having anticipated this response.
"Before we come out," Alexander said, "we have something to show you both. Something important."
He tapped on his tablet, and the screen split to show a video file. Walter recognized his mother's voice immediately.
"I want that girl gone, Harrison," Eleanor Craig was saying to someone off-camera. "Walter is becoming far too attached to her."
"But the jewels, madam?" a male voice—presumably the family butler—replied hesitantly. "To accuse her of theft without evidence—"
"Evidence can be arranged," Eleanor cut in coldly. "The girl is becoming a distraction. Walter needs to focus on the company expansion, not waste time flirting with the help. I won't have him repeat his father's mistakes."
"What if she contests the accusation?" the butler asked.
"She won't," Eleanor replied confidently. "Girls like her, from nowhere, with nothing—they take the money and run. I'll offer her enough to disappear quietly. And if she doesn't... well, a theft accusation from our family would end any hopes she has for a respectable career in this city."
The video ended, leaving a heavy silence in its wake. Walter felt as if the floor had dropped out from beneath him. All these years, he had chosen to believe his mother, to accept her version of events despite the nagging doubt that had occasionally surfaced when he remembered Jade's desperate face as she'd pleaded with him to believe her.
"Where did you get this?" he finally managed to ask, his voice rough.
"We found it when we accessed your company systems," Ethan admitted. "It was in a folder of security archives from your family home, dated five years ago."
"You've had this recording all along?" Jade asked Walter, her voice tight with barely controlled emotion.
"No," Walter said immediately, still reeling from what he'd just heard. "I never knew this existed. The house security system archives automatically to our corporate backup servers, but I never had any reason to review footage from that period."
He looked at Jade, really looked at her, perhaps for the first time since she'd walked back into his life. "I didn't know," he said quietly. "About this. About the pregnancy. About my mother's threats."
Something flickered in Jade's eyes—not forgiveness, but perhaps a slight softening of her rigid guard.
"The door is unlocked now," Alexander's voice came through the tablet. "We've emailed you both our presentation on optimal co-parenting arrangements."
Walter and Jade exchanged a glance that communicated a temporary truce in the face of parental duty.
"We'll discuss this at home," Jade told the children firmly as the server room door clicked open.
The triplets emerged looking somewhat less confident than they had on screen. Olivia, in particular, seemed to be reconsidering the wisdom of their plan as she took in her mother's expression.
"Mr. Craig will be joining us for dinner," Jade continued, surprising Walter. "We have a lot to discuss, and you three have a great deal of explaining to do."
"I have meetings—" Walter began automatically, then stopped himself. For once, the meetings could wait. "Dinner would be good," he amended. "Thank you."
As they escorted the children out, Walter's phone rang. His mother's name flashed on the screen. He silenced it without answering, his mind still processing the recording. The woman who had raised him to value truth and integrity above all else had deliberately lied, manipulated, and threatened to separate him from someone he had cared about.
And in doing so, she had kept him from his children for the first nine years of their lives.
Ahead of him, Jade was speaking quietly but firmly to the triplets about boundaries, appropriate problem-solving, and the serious consequences they would face for their actions. They nodded soberly, though Walter noticed Ethan exchanging a subtle fist bump with Olivia when Jade looked away.
Despite everything—the shock, the betrayal, the years lost—Walter felt an unexpected warmth at the sight of his brilliant, complicated children. Children who had gone to extraordinary lengths to bring their parents together, even if only for one tense dinner.
He would build a relationship with them, he decided. Not through lawyers and custody agreements, but through the patient, genuine effort Jade had demanded. And he would deal with his mother's betrayal.
But first, he needed to earn the trust of the woman walking ahead of him—the woman who had every reason to hate him, yet had raised his children to be remarkable human beings despite it all.
