I Spoke Eight Languages In A Minute To Save My Family Chapter 02
“Shut up, Adrian. Stay out of this.”
Tessa whipped around and glared at me.
Her eyes were tired, her voice sharp enough to cut.
But her body shifted toward me without thinking.
Half a step.
Just enough.
She put herself between me and the ugliest stare in the room.
I didn’t say a word.
I just started a new game.
That was my sisters in a nutshell.
They couldn’t stand me on a normal day, but the second things got serious, I was still the baby who needed protecting.
Celeste let out a small sigh.
She settled back into the head chair and smoothed a wrinkle from her sleeve.
“The Mercer family still doesn’t get it.”
She snapped her fingers.
The conference room doors swung open.
Three people in black rolled a serving cart to the center of the room.
No food.
Just a pristine white board.
Beside it sat a sealed document case.
My father, Daniel Mercer, made a sound I’d never heard from him before.
His knees nearly gave way, and he caught himself against my mother.
“What is this, Celeste?”
Meredith’s expression changed instantly.
Celeste smiled.
Warm, polished, flawless.
The kind of smile that belonged on a magazine cover, not in a room like this.
“I thought I was pretty clear, Ms. Mercer.”
“Sign the agreement and walk away from everything you’ve built.”
“Or every member of your family will lose everything they’ve worked for.”
She opened the document case.
Inside were folders bearing the names of every member of the Mercer family.
“Positions.”
“Reputations.”
“Careers.”
“Everything.”
“There’s no need for anyone to make this difficult.”
Every word landed like a threat wrapped in silk.
Maren’s fingers flew across her keyboard.
“Give it up, Maren.”
Celeste watched her calmly.
“Your backup systems went offline ten minutes ago.”
“And that security layer you’re so proud of?”
“My team already has access.”
Maren’s hands stopped.
She stared at the screen.
The last line of defense she’d spent months building was disappearing before her eyes.
“Please, Celeste.”
My mother’s voice broke.
She sounded twenty years older than she had that morning.
She gripped the table edge and forced herself to stand.
“This is business, Celeste.”
“Keep it business.”
“Leave my children out of it.”
“I’ll take responsibility for everything.”
“You’re making me sound like some kind of monster, Ms. Mercer.”
Celeste closed the document case.
“Five minutes.”
“That’s what I’ll give you.”
She checked her watch.
“Five minutes from now, if your name isn’t on that paper…”
“My people will make the decision for you.”
I glanced at the case and thought, huh.
Honestly, the whole setup was unimpressive.
In my old life, I’d dealt with situations far more complicated than this.
I set down my console and got up to take a closer look.
“Adrian. Sit down.”
Colette caught my shoulder.
Her grip was firm.
“Stay put.”
“Don’t move.”
Low, steady.
The kind of voice that didn’t leave room for argument.
She guided me back toward the couch.
They wouldn’t even let me stand up, let alone get involved.
To them, I was still too clueless to understand what was happening.
Celeste’s attention drifted back to me.
She crossed the room, stopped in front of me, and looked down.
No hostility in her expression.
Just the idle curiosity you’d give someone who had wandered into a conversation far above their head.
“Your sisters really do keep you wrapped up tight, don’t they, Adrian?”
She reached toward the top of my head.
“Don’t touch him.”
