4: Proposition

Noah looks at Isabel and does not hesitate to grab the things she has in her hand, preventing her from leaving with his son.

"What do you think you're doing? I told you I never wanted you near this house again. Besides, how dare you take my son without my consent?" he says, while Isabel smiles mischievously. "Leave the child alone; your presence is only causing him harm. He is not old enough to understand what you’ve done," he says, raising his voice.

Noah stretched out his hand directly toward Liam’s hand, snatching him away from Isabel.

"Leave at once before I act in a way you deserve," Noah says, so agitated that Liam, seeing him like this, breaks down in tears and retreats into the house.

"You are an evil man," Liam says as he walks away crying.

"You see what you provoke," Isabel says with a half-smile. She looks at him intently in the worst possible way.

"Soon you will regret treating me that way in front of my son. We will be on the same level soon, and at that moment, you will wish you hadn't hurt me," she says, throwing the divorce papers on the ground; he picks them up and sees that she hasn't signed them.

Noah entered the house in search of Liam. When he reached Liam's room, Liam had locked the door, preventing his father from entering.

"Liam, son, open the door; I must talk to you. I'm not the bad person you think I am; some problems occur between adults that will be very difficult for you to understand," Noah pleads.

After waiting, Liam does not open the door, which is incredibly frustrating for Noah.

"Excuse me, sir, but your friend is waiting for you in the living room," says the maid.

Noah ran his hand over his head; the best thing to do at that moment was to go attend to Lucas. Giving Liam time will help him release his strong anger towards Noah.

Noah went down to the living room, where Lucas was standing with his hands in his pockets. It was clear from his face that something was bothering him.

"Noah, I went to find you at the company, and they told me you left in a hurry to look for your son. I would like to know if I can help you with anything," Lucas says, and Noah gestures for him to sit down. "Additionally, I happened to witness the argument you had with Isabel in front of your son. I’ve never seen that side of you; I'm worried," Lucas speaks again. Noah exhales the air he’s been holding in and sits down with him.

"Lucas, I'm sorry you had to witness such an embarrassing moment. The truth is, that woman brings out the worst in me. Right now, I'm really upset with her and her attitude," he excuses himself.

"You are quite a clever man, and I can't believe you haven't realized the gravity of the situation. I understand you’re feeling terrible about your separation, but you need to open your eyes and take action; if you let time pass, it will be too late when you decide to do something," Lucas comments. Noah stood up and approached him.

"What are you trying to say?" Noah asked.

"She doesn't want to sign because she’s asking for money, she wants more shares. I came to discuss that," Lucas expresses, worried.

"I'll make her sign. I care very little about her and her condition. The last thing I want is to spend more time knowing I'm still married to her," Noah says. Lucas shakes his head.

"That's not the worst part. I received a court notification; that she wants to keep Liam. She claims you’re not the right person to have the child, that he isn't in a family environment," Lucas says. Noah stood up; that woman didn't deserve any sympathy.

"You can't be serious," Noah speaks with desperation.

"Noah, your ex-wife could easily take half of your assets, not to mention she could gain custody of the child. As for the assets, we can figure something out, but what you first need to do, if you want your son with you, is to show perfect stability. You also need to prove that Liam is in a family environment, that he has someone who cares for him and pays attention like she would," Lucas spoke, leaving Noah confused.

Both men turned around when Liam walked towards them. Noah was ready to do anything for his son.

"Dad! Where is Emily? She promised she would take care of me, and she isn't keeping her promise. Plus, she left all my toys in the room. I want her here to play with me…" the boy says.

What Noah was hearing from his son was surprising because he never asked about any babysitter, and it seemed that Emily managed to make him miss her just by taking him to school.

"Who is your son talking about?" Lucas asks, surprised by the way Liam expresses himself, pouting as if it were a tantrum.

"She is the nanny, or rather, she was the nanny because today I fired her, so there's no point; she won't be coming back," Noah confesses arrogantly.

Immediately, Liam breaks down in tears upon hearing this.

"I don't love you anymore, Dad; you push away the people I care about," Liam says, crying. The boy turned in the direction of his room, sobbing desperately.

Noah opened his eyes and looked at Lucas, who was just as shocked.

"She's the right one," Lucas said, drawing a smile on his face. "You said your son couldn't get along with any nanny, and she worked miracles in just a few hours... So we have the right one; Emily will be your wife," Lucas said again.

Hearing this, Noah began to cough for a few seconds.

"How can you say something like that? I don't even know her; besides, we ended things very poorly. I highly doubt she would want to know anything more about me, let alone entertain such thoughts. Don't even think about it," Noah commented. Lucas raised his hand and shook his head, moving his index finger.

"It will be a contract that stipulates everything. In exchange for marrying you, you can offer her money—whatever it takes to get her to accept. In your case, you'll get a woman willing to do whatever you ask to maintain custody of your son. I'll make sure Isabel signs so that you won't have to deal with that issue," Lucas explained.

Noah couldn't believe what he was about to do. He never imagined he would use his money to have a woman by his side to pretend to be something he wasn't—not to mention feeling something he didn't.

"From the look on your face, I can tell you're willing to accept my advice," Lucas said.

Noah lifted his face and fixed his gaze directly on him.

"Yes, my friend, for my son, I'm willing to do whatever it takes; I will go look for that woman while you draft the documents. And I would appreciate it if you could try to talk to my son since he doesn't even want to talk to me; he feels a lot of anger because he blames me for everything bad," Noah said.

"Don't worry, go as soon as possible, and don't put off until tomorrow what you can accomplish today," Lucas said with a smile.

Noah left his house in search of Emily. He wasn't used to making such propositions, but the love of a father is greater than any obstacle.