“A woman who disappears for seven years and suddenly returns with two children when your company is about to launch its biggest IPO?” she said. “She is an opportunist.”

“They are my children, Victoria. The DNA matches.”

“DNA can be falsified,” Victoria said. “And even if they are yours, look at how they have been raised.”

She gestured to Lucas’s worn sneakers and Noah’s faded blue t-shirt.

“They have been dragged through cheap apartments and hidden away,” she said. “That is not the upbringing of a Sterling heir.”

She looked directly at me, her gaze freezing me in place.

“If you attempt to bring these children into this family, Emma, I will make sure the courts see the truth.”

“The truth?” I asked, my voice trembling but clear.

“You are an unstable, unfit mother who kept children from their father for financial leverage,” Victoria said. “I have the resources to tie you up in custody battles for the next decade. You will lose them before you ever see a dime.”

Alexander stepped between us, shielding me and the boys from her gaze.

“Get out,” he said.