Everything appeared to be in order.
Yet he no longer felt secure.
He had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars constructing a barrier between himself and the world.
A child had crossed that barrier by remembering something he had seen.
Wells poured another whiskey.
He told himself the boy had been lucky.
He told himself that a ten-year-old could not possibly understand the value of the information he had encountered.
He told himself that the problem could be resolved with money.
But as the night deepened, one thought continued to return.
What else had Malachi seen?
The next morning, Paige arrived at the mansion ten minutes early.
She had barely slept.
Throughout the night, she had thought about the check, the promise, and the way Wells had looked at Malachi after the safe opened.
She had worked for him long enough to recognize the expression.
It was the look he wore when something had challenged his authority.
She found him in the breakfast room, reading a financial newspaper.
“Good morning, Mr. Stevenson.”
He did not look up.
“Your son won't be coming here again.”
Paige stopped beside the table.
“I beg your pardon?”
“I don't want him on the property. Arrange childcare.”
“My usual arrangement fell through yesterday. I apologize for the inconvenience.”
“This isn't about yesterday. Your son has become a distraction.”
Paige clasped her hands.
“He was quiet. He didn't interfere with your work.”
“He opened my safe.”
“He did what you asked him to do.”
Wells lowered the newspaper.
For a moment, Paige thought he might strike the table.
Instead, he smiled.
“You seem to have developed an unusual sense of confidence.”
“I am only repeating what happened.”
“You are an employee in my home. I expect you to remember that.”
“I do, sir.”
“Then act accordingly.”
Paige took a breath.
“Will you honor your promise to him?”
The question changed his expression.
Wells folded the newspaper carefully.
“I knew this was coming.”
“Mr. Stevenson, I am not asking for anything for myself. You offered the reward. Malachi accepted your challenge. He opened the safe.”
“And I gave him ten thousand dollars.”
“That was not the amount you promised.”
Wells stood.
“Are you threatening me?”
“No, sir.”
“Then what do you call this?”
Paige looked directly at him.
“I call it asking you to keep your word.”
The room became very still.
For almost ten years, she had avoided looking him in the eye during disagreements. She had learned to lower her voice, absorb insults, and finish her work without allowing anger to show.
But her son had stood in front of a room full of adults and done something extraordinary.
He had asked for nothing more than the reward Wells himself had announced.
Paige could not teach Malachi to stand up for himself if she refused to stand up for him.
Wells stepped around the table.
“Do you understand how much trouble you could cause yourself by continuing this conversation?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Your employment could become difficult.”
“I understand.”
“You could lose your position.”
Paige's heart pounded.
She needed the job. Her rent was due in a week. Malachi's school expenses were increasing, and the small amount she had saved was meant for emergencies.
But she also knew that Wells expected fear to do his work for him.
“If you decide to dismiss me because I asked you to honor a promise you made to my child,” she said, “that will be your decision.”
Wells stared at her.
Then he turned away.
“Get out of my breakfast room.”
Paige left without another word.
She went to the laundry room and stood beside a shelf of folded linens until her hands stopped trembling.
She had crossed a line.
She knew that.
But she also knew she could not return to pretending that nothing had happened.
At ten o'clock, Wells summoned Martin Cole again.
“I want this settled.”
Martin opened his briefcase.
“I have reviewed the circumstances. The offer was made verbally in front of multiple witnesses. The amount was specific. You stated that the winner would receive the money and that your lawyers would prepare the agreement.”
Wells rubbed his forehead.
“So?”
“So, there is a risk that a court could view the statement as a serious offer, particularly because the child performed the requested action in response.”
“Would a judge really give two hundred million dollars to a ten-year-old?”
“That is not the question. The question is whether you created an obligation. We need a more complete assessment.”
Wells walked to the window.
“Could we argue that he didn't understand the offer?”
“We could argue many things. Whether they would succeed is another matter.”
“What if I dismiss the staff member who brought him here?”
Martin's expression hardened.
“That would make the situation worse. Do not retaliate against the family.”
Wells turned.
“I am not retaliating.”
“You just asked me how to use her employment against her.”
Wells's face flushed.
Martin continued.
“My recommendation is that you negotiate a fair resolution, document the agreement, and avoid creating further problems. You have more to lose from a public dispute than from handling this privately and properly.”
Wells disliked the word properly.
It suggested that he had behaved improperly.
He had spent decades avoiding such judgments by ensuring that everyone around him understood the cost of displeasing him.
But now a child had made him vulnerable.
He could not dismiss the problem as easily as he wanted.
That afternoon, Wells called Paige into his office.
She entered with a notebook in her hand.
“Sit down,” he said.
She remained standing.
“I would prefer to stand, sir.”
His eyes narrowed, but he did not argue.
“I have considered your request.”
“Thank you.”
“I will not pay two hundred million dollars to a child.”
Paige said nothing.
“However, I am prepared to increase the reward to fifty thousand dollars. It is a substantial amount. You can put it toward his education.”