This was the silent partner who held the largest hidden stake in SkyGrid Tech and the father of the woman he had just insulted.
Christian tried to stand up, but his knees felt weak and refused to support his weight.
The entire energy of the room shifted as Robert Sterling approached the table with a terrifyingly calm demeanor.
He didn’t wear any flashy jewelry or raise his voice, yet his presence seemed to dwarf everyone else in the room.
He stopped directly behind Geneva and placed a hand on her shoulder.
She closed her eyes for a brief moment, finally letting out a breath she seemed to have been holding for years.
“Your daughter?” Christian stammered, looking back and forth between Robert and Geneva. “No, that’s impossible, it doesn’t make any sense.”
Robert looked at him with the same expression one might use to examine a stain on a rug.
“It doesn’t make sense to you because you never bothered to actually know the woman you married,” Robert said. “You were only ever interested in what you thought she could do for your public image.”
Kimberly stood up by the window, her face turning a sickly shade of pale.
“Attorney Miller,” Robert said, addressing the lawyer without looking at him. “I want a certified copy of everything signed today and the security footage from this room starting from the moment my daughter walked in.”
Miller nodded quickly, his hands shaking as he organized the files.
“This has to be a joke because Geneva told me she was an orphan with no connections,” Christian said with a nervous, broken laugh.
Geneva looked at him with a coldness that made him flinch.
“No, I told you I grew up on my own, but you decided not to ask any follow up questions because a woman without a family was easier for you to control,” she said.
Those words hit him with the force of a physical blow because he knew they were the absolute truth.
Christian had loved the idea that she had no one else to turn to, making her feel eternally indebted to him.
Robert placed his hands firmly on the table and leaned in toward his former son in law.
“My daughter walked away from my name when she was twenty because she wanted to prove she could build a life through her own merit,” he explained.
His voice was like iron, echoing with a strength that Christian could never hope to mimic.
“She refused my money and my connections because she wanted to be valued for her mind, not for my bank account,” Robert continued.
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