One Night Stand, Eight Surprises: Pampered by My CEO Husband --- - Chapter 19: Chapter 19

The meeting was scheduled for 9:00 a.m.
Damien arrived at 8:57.
He rarely ran late—but this morning, Lily had refused to wear anything that wasn’t covered in unicorns and glitter, and Eli had locked himself in the bathroom because he didn’t want his school picture taken with "a dumb haircut."
Parenthood, it turned out, didn’t care how many zeros were on your paycheck.
As he stepped into the conference room, the usual chatter died instantly.
Twelve members of the Kingston Holdings board sat around the long glass table. All of them seasoned. All of them wealthy. Most of them skeptical.
Chairman Ford cleared his throat. “Mr. Kingston. Thank you for joining us.”
Damien nodded. “Of course.”
He took his seat. The leather felt colder than usual.
“We’d like to address... the matter,” Ford said.
“Which matter?” Damien asked, dry.
A few shifted in their seats.
“The family matter.”
The word 'family' tasted sour in the boardroom.
As though it didn’t belong.
They danced around it—phrases like public image, stakeholder confidence, risk to legacy.
Someone mentioned that Damien’s name was trending for the third consecutive week.
Someone else referred to Arielle as “the woman.”
“She’s my wife,” Damien said sharply.
Silence fell like an axe.
Then whispers again.
Ford cleared his throat. “Legally?”
“Yes.”
“Was the board ever informed of this arrangement?”
“No. It was private.”
“And the children?”
“Mine.”
More silence.
Then a snort.
“Eight of them?” one board member muttered. “At once?”
Damien’s eyes were like steel. “Yes. Is fertility now part of our company audit?”
A few chuckled nervously.
But the tension didn’t break.
Ford folded his hands.
“Damien, you are the face of Kingston Holdings. What affects you, affects us. You know that.”
“I also know that every scandal in this company’s history has been weathered. Embezzlement. Insider trading. A yacht party involving endangered animals. But children?” He let the sarcasm drip. “That’s what you’re nervous about?”
“This isn’t just about you,” Ford pressed. “We’re talking about public trust. Investors are jittery. Our upcoming merger with Alastair Industries—”
“Will proceed,” Damien said, cutting him off.
“Not if shareholders lose confidence in your leadership.”
The threat was clear.
Damien leaned back. “Then let’s be honest. This isn’t about morality. It’s about money. Optics.”
One of the older members—Ms. Hollings—adjusted her pearl earrings.
“There’s concern you’re distracted. That she’s a mistress—someone who reappeared with children and destabilized the empire.”
“She's not a mistress,” Damien said quietly. “She’s my wife. The mother of my children. And the strongest damn person I’ve ever met.”
The room stilled.
“I won’t be choosing between my family and my company,” Damien added. “But if you think I’m less capable because I’m a father now—then you never understood my power to begin with.”
After the meeting, the whispers didn’t stop.
They only got quieter.
More dangerous.
Behind closed doors, Damien’s name was dragged into conversations where legacy was weighed like gold.
He returned home to find Hazel painting butterflies on the glass windows.
Eli was watching a video of his dad on the news.
“Are they gonna take your job away?” he asked.
Damien ruffled his hair. “They’d have to take me first.”
Later that night, Arielle found him in the study.
“You okay?”
He nodded. “They think I’m weaker now.”
“Are you?”
He turned to her.
“No,” he said. “I’ve never been stronger.”
And for the first time in his life, Damien realized the truth:
Power wasn’t in the empire.
It was in who waited for him when the walls came down.