Part One: The Dinner Showdown

Chapter One: The Ultimatum

“Don’t you come near him.”

Christina shot up from her chair, her movement so sudden it sent a champagne flute rattling precariously on the mahogany table. The white silk dress she wore, far too formal for a quiet family dinner, swirled around her like the feathers of a furious bird, asserting her claim to the space and the man seated at the head.

“Sebastian, this is unacceptable,” Christina hissed, her voice low but laced with absolute fury. She was standing between Bella and the sobbing boy. “Either she goes right now, or I go.”

The crystal chandeliers above the table reflected the scene like a cruel mirror, casting a blinding, fragmented light on the three adults and the two trembling children. Bella, frozen in the entryway, still clutched Leo’s blue inhaler. Sebastian Sterling, the CEO and patriarch, remained seated, his face a mask of escalating tension.

The silence that followed Christina’s ultimatum was heavy, broken only by Leo’s quiet, heartbreaking sobs. The six-year-old boy, who had barely spoken a word since his father had left nine months ago on an extended business trip, was silently weeping, his small shoulders shaking violently.

Sophie, sitting next to Christina, gripped the edge of the table, her small knuckles white. Her earlier defiance—”She’s not a stranger”—had evaporated, replaced by the terror of seeing the two adults she depended on the most standing in direct conflict.

Sebastian looked from Christina to Bella, then finally down at his children. His return, intended as a triumphant “welcome home” dinner to introduce his new fiancée, had disintegrated into a domestic battlefield.

“Christina, calm down,” Sebastian finally said, his voice dangerously even. “Leo is crying. Bella, give me the inhaler.”

Bella didn’t move. Her feet were rooted to the Persian rug. The sight of Leo’s tears had pierced her eight months of professional resolve. She didn’t see the CEO’s son; she saw the little boy who always asked her for “brave lion” stories before bed.

“He needs me, Sebastian,” Bella whispered, using his first name instinctively. “He hasn’t cried like this in months. He’s overwhelmed.”

“He’s being manipulative, like all children when a new mother figure arrives,” Christina interjected, not bothering to lower her voice. She made a move to step past Bella and seize the inhaler herself, but Sebastian stopped her with a curt gesture.

“I said, calm down, Christina!” Sebastian’s voice finally snapped, cutting through the tension. He stood up, his height dominating the room. “The children are clearly distressed. Go to the sitting room. I will handle this.”

Christina looked utterly betrayed. “You’re choosing the help over me? Your fiancée?”

“I am choosing my children’s well-being over your performance,” Sebastian retorted, his gaze cold. “Now, go.”

Christina, stunned by the public dressing-down, snatched her handbag and swept out of the room, her silk dress rustling indignantly. The dinner—the roast, the crystal, the perfectly arranged flowers—was abandoned..

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Chapter Two: The Revelation

As soon as Christina left, Sebastian’s demeanor shifted from authority to defeat. He ran a weary hand through his hair and sank back into his chair.

“Bella,” he sighed. “I apologize. That was inexcusable.”

Bella ignored him. She dropped the inhaler on the tray table and rushed to Leo. She didn’t try to stop the tears; she simply knelt beside his wheelchair and gently pulled his head into her chest.

“I’m here, sweetie,” she murmured, rocking him slightly. “It’s okay to cry. You’re safe. The brave lion is just scared, and that’s okay.”

Leo clung to her, his small body shaking against her simple cotton shirt. Sophie, seeing the familiar comfort, rushed to Bella’s other side, burying her face into her arm.

Sebastian watched the raw, unrestrained attachment unfold before him. The last nine months, while he was navigating complex mergers and acquisitions abroad, he had relied entirely on Bella’s automated, clinical reports, assuming his children were merely being managed. He saw now that they had been loved.

After a full minute, Leo’s sobs quieted, turning into the uneven hiccups of spent emotion. Bella held him away gently, checking his breathing.

“Leo, look at me,” she instructed softly. “Did she make you feel scared?”

Leo didn’t speak, but he looked from Bella to the empty chair where Christina had been, and shook his head emphatically.

“No?” Bella prompted.

Leo looked straight at his father and weakly pointed at Bella. “M-m-mom,” he whispered, the sound a ragged, strained syllable—the first word he had spoken in weeks.

Sophie quickly chimed in, tears welling up in her own eyes. “She is! She is our mom, Daddy! Christina is mean! She throws away our drawings! She wants to send Bella away!”

Sebastian looked at the two small faces, etched with fear and loyalty. He saw the truth, stark and undeniable, reflected in the chandeliers: the woman he intended to marry was a threat, and the woman he paid to manage his life was the emotional anchor that had kept his children afloat.

“I need to know everything,” Sebastian said, finally finding his voice. He pushed himself away from the table. “Bella, what did Christina do? Why did you rush in here?”

“I heard Leo having a coughing fit from the kitchen,” Bella explained, her professional calm returning, though her voice was still tight. “He needs the inhaler immediately when he has those fits. I rushed in because I couldn’t get her attention. She was too busy…”

Bella hesitated, then decided the truth was paramount. “She was too busy telling them that their mother was a silly woman who spent too much money, and that she was going to redesign everything that reminded them of her.”

Sebastian’s jaw tightened. Sarah’s memory, though painful, was sacred to the children. Christina had known this.

“And the papers?” Sebastian asked, remembering Christina’s demand. “What were the papers she mentioned?”

“I don’t know,” Bella admitted. “But before dinner, she came to the kitchen and demanded the children’s educational trust passwords. She said that since she was now the future matriarch, she needed full control over the finances to ‘plan their future.’ I refused. She said she would get me fired. That’s why she was waiting for me at the door.”

Sebastian closed his eyes. Christina wasn’t just demanding authority; she was demanding access. A small, insidious voice in the back of his mind reminded him that Christina had only become interested in him shortly after his most recent, massive investment windfall. He had brushed off the timing as coincidence. Now, it looked like a calculated move.

Chapter Three: The Choice

Later that night, long after Bella had settled the children and quietly left the house to stay with a friend—at Sebastian’s insistence—Sebastian finally confronted Christina in the sitting room.

Christina, now weeping dramatic, performative tears, was curled on the velvet sofa. “She humiliated me! She poisoned the children against me! You let that servant dictate your family decisions!”

“You demanded legal access to my children’s trust funds and attempted to coerce a reaction from them by insulting their deceased mother,” Sebastian stated, his voice devoid of pity. “And you used an emergency medical situation as an excuse to barge in.”

“I was testing her!” Christina insisted, sitting up straight. “I was testing her loyalty to you! She’s too attached to the children, Sebastian! She’s trying to replace Sarah! I am protecting our future!”

“No,” Sebastian said, walking to the window overlooking the silent grounds. “You were protecting your interest. Leo hadn’t spoken for weeks. Tonight, he cried for his Nanny, and he spoke her name. His silence was broken by her presence, not yours. And then you gave me an ultimatum.”

He turned back to face her, the decision hard and cold in his eyes.

“You gave me a choice, Christina. And I am making it.”

Sebastian walked over to the side table and picked up a small, velvet box—the box containing the massive diamond engagement ring he had presented to her only two weeks ago.

“The wedding is off,” he stated simply, placing the box in her outstretched hand. “I am sorry that I misjudged your character so thoroughly. I will have the driver take you to the airport tomorrow morning. The trust is sealed, and your name will be removed from all documents.”

Christina stared at the ring, then back at Sebastian, her eyes widening in genuine, panicked horror. “You can’t do this! You can’t let a nanny ruin our life! Sebastian, I love you! I left everything for you!”

“You were trying to interrupt my children’s medical care and steal their inheritance,” Sebastian said, his voice flat. “That is not love, Christina. That is greed. And greed does not belong in my home.”

As Christina began to rage and plead, Sebastian walked out of the room. He didn’t look back.

He went directly to his home office, not to work, but to call Bella. He found her number buried deep in the agency’s contract files.

When Bella answered, her voice was quiet and reserved.

“It’s Sebastian,” he said. “The house is secure. Christina is leaving. I need you to come back, Bella. Not as a caregiver from an agency. I need you to come back as a full-time, permanent member of this family. And I need to ask you about the educational trust passwords. I need to know everything.”