Chapter 4 - THE THIRTY-MINUTE RULE
Julian carefully folded the letter and slipped it into the inner pocket of his coat. He turned around, his face completely emotionless, his posture rigid.
"No," Julian said.
Sarah Jenkins frowned, taking out a pen. "Mr. Cross, I appreciate your corporate generosity, but you have no legal standing here. The child is an unidentified orphan or abandoned minor. She must enter state custody immediately while a formal investigation is opened."
"The mother is dead," Julian stated flatly.
The room went completely silent. Officer Miller lowered his head. Marcus stopped typing on his phone.
Lily, sitting on the edge of the leather sofa, looked up. "What did you say?"
Julian immediately stepped between the social worker and the child, lowering his voice so only the adults could hear. "The mother died of terminal illness. The letter in this bag proves it. If you take this child right now and throw her into a group home emergency shelter in Queens on a Friday night, she will spend the next forty-eight hours trapped in a bureaucratic nightmare."
"That is the law, Mr. Cross!" Jenkins insisted, stepping forward. "You cannot simply keep a child because you own the building!"
"I don't intend to keep her in the building," Julian said, his eyes narrowing. "I intend to petition for temporary legal guardianship."
Marcus gasped. "Julian! Are you insane?! You're a thirty-four-year-old single CEO in the middle of the largest corporate merger in the city's history! You don't know the first thing about raising a child! The board will declare you incompetent!"
Julian ignored his assistant entirely. He looked at Sarah Jenkins. "How long do I have before a family court judge opens the emergency dependency docket on Saturday morning?"
"Nine o'clock tomorrow," Jenkins said stiffly. "And no judge is going to hand temporary custody of a grieving five-year-old to an unmarried billionaire with zero foster certification!"
"We'll see about that," Julian said softly. He pulled out his phone and speed-dialed a number he only used for extreme corporate emergencies.
"Evelyn," Julian said into the receiver as soon as the line connected. "Cancel my dinner at the Four Seasons. Contact Judge Vance of the Manhattan Family Court. Wake him up if you have to. I need a temporary emergency protective custody petition drafted before sunrise."
On the other end, his high-powered chief legal counsel paused. "Julian... who is the respondent?"
Julian looked back at Lily. She had picked up the worn plush bear from the suitcase and was holding it tight against her chest, watching him with big, trusting eyes.
"The respondent is state foster care," Julian said cleanly. "And tell my board of directors that tomorrow's eight-thirty approval meeting for Grand Union Station is officially rescheduled."
Marcus looked like he was about to faint. "Julian... you can't cancel the board meeting! The investors—"
"If the investors care more about a signed sheet of paper than the life of a child standing in the middle of their building, then they can take their money back to Tokyo," Julian said, his voice ringing through the lounge with absolute authority.
He turned back to Sarah Jenkins. "You want to enforce protocol? Fine. You stay right here in this private lounge. My security detail will order whatever food you want. You can watch her every move. But she does not step foot out into that storm tonight."
Jenkins stared at Julian Cross, completely speechless.
Julian walked over to Lily, kneeling in front of her. He reached out and gently smoothed a damp lock of hair from her forehead.
"Lily," he said softly.
"Where is my mommy?" she whispered, her tiny voice quivering as if she finally felt the heavy, cold truth creeping into the room. "Is she still buying the train ticket?"
Julian felt a sharp, tearing pain in his chest—a pain he hadn't felt since he was a boy standing in this very station. He took her small, cold hands in his.
"Your mommy... bought you a ticket, Lily," Julian said, his voice thick with uncharacteristic emotion. "A ticket to a place where she doesn't hurt anymore. But she asked me to hold your hand until you're ready to ride the train."
Lily looked into his eyes, reading the truth he couldn't fully put into words. A single, giant tear spilled over her dark eyelashes and tracked through the dust on her cheek.
May you like
She didn't scream. She didn't throw a tantrum. She simply leaned forward and wrapped her small arms around Julian’s neck, burying her face into his expensive wool coat.
Julian froze for a fraction of a second—he had never held a child in his life—before slowly wrapping his arms around her tiny back, pulling her close as the storm raged outside the grand glass windows.
