Updated Apr 16, 2026 • ~11 min read
Chapter 21: Helene’s Interference
Luna
Luna is sitting in her office reviewing quarterly reports when her assistant buzzes to say she has a visitor—no appointment, just someone insisting she needs to speak with Luna Vega immediately—and when Luna asks who it is, the description of “older woman, very expensive suit, German accent” makes her stomach drop because there’s only one person matching that profile who would show up unannounced at her workplace.
Helene Wolfe.
Matthias’s mother.
Luna considers refusing the meeting, sending a message through her assistant that she’s too busy to see unexpected visitors—but curiosity and a stubborn refusal to be intimidated make her agree to five minutes, just to see what Helene wants that couldn’t be addressed through Matthias or over the phone.
Helene enters Luna’s modest office like she’s touring a historical site that’s fallen into disrepair, her gaze sweeping over the standard corporate furniture and basic decoration with barely concealed disdain—and Luna straightens her spine and refuses to feel ashamed of her perfectly adequate workspace that’s light-years better than anything she had access to before Matthias offered her this transfer.
“Mrs. Wolfe,” Luna says with professional courtesy that costs her. “This is unexpected. Does Matthias know you’re here?”
“My son doesn’t need to know everything I do,” Helene says, settling into the visitor’s chair across from Luna’s desk without being invited. “This conversation is between you and me. Woman to woman.”
Luna doesn’t trust the framing of “woman to woman” coming from someone who’s made it clear she considers Luna several social classes beneath her, but she sits back down and folds her hands on her desk, waiting for whatever speech Helene has prepared.
“I’m going to be direct,” Helene says, pulling a checkbook from her designer handbag with the kind of casual gesture that suggests she solves all her problems with money. “I want you to leave my son. Disappear from his life. Take Sofia somewhere he won’t find you.”
The audacity of it steals Luna’s breath for a moment—not that Helene wants her gone, which was predictable, but that she’s actually offering payment for it, treating Luna like hired help who can be dismissed with sufficient financial incentive.
“Excuse me?” Luna manages, keeping her voice level despite the rage building in her chest.
“I’ll give you five million dollars,” Helene continues, already writing numbers on her check with confident strokes. “More than enough to start over anywhere you want. Provide well for Sofia. Get established somewhere far from New York. You’ll never have to work again if you’re prudent with the money.”
“You want to pay me to take Sofia away from her father,” Luna says slowly, making sure she understands correctly, making sure this is actually happening and not some stress-induced hallucination.
“I want to pay you to release my son from an unsuitable relationship before it becomes more complicated,” Helene corrects with the kind of delicate phrasing that doesn’t hide the ugly reality underneath. “Matthias is infatuated with you because of the novelty of fatherhood, but that will fade. Eventually he’ll realize you’re not from our world, that you don’t fit into his life. Better to end it now, cleanly, before there’s more pain.”
“Absolutely not,” Luna says, and her voice comes out harder than she intended, sharp with the kind of fury that makes Helene actually pause in her check-writing.
“Be reasonable,” Helene says, switching tactics to something that might be meant as gentle persuasion but sounds like condescension. “You’re a gold digger—”
“I am absolutely NOT a gold digger,” Luna interrupts, her professional composure shattering completely because there are limits to how much insult she’ll tolerate in the name of keeping peace with Matthias’s family. “I raised Sofia ALONE for three years without his money. Without any support. I worked multiple jobs and finished school and provided everything she needed without a cent from Matthias because I didn’t know how to find him. I don’t need his money now, Mrs. Wolfe. I’ve been supporting myself and my daughter just fine.”
“Then what do you want?” Helene asks, and there’s genuine confusion in her voice like she can’t fathom any motivation beyond financial gain. “If not money, what? Status? Access to our family’s connections?”
“I want him to be happy,” Luna says simply, and the truth of it rings in her voice. “That’s it. That’s all I want. I want Matthias to be happy. And he is happy. With us. With me and Sofia. I’ve watched him transform over the past four months from a workaholic CEO who smiled maybe twice a year to someone who laughs while playing with blocks and makes silly voices for bedtime stories and looks at our daughter like she hung the moon. He’s happy, Mrs. Wolfe. Really, genuinely happy. And I’m not taking that away from him—or from Sofia—because you can’t accept that I’m not what you envisioned for your son.”
Helene is silent for a long moment, studying Luna’s face like she’s trying to determine if this is performance or genuine conviction—and Luna holds her gaze without flinching, without apology, letting Matthias’s mother see exactly who she is: a woman who loves her daughter fiercely, who’s built a good life through sheer determination, who happens to also love Helene’s son and refuses to apologize for it.
“You actually love him,” Helene finally says, and there’s something almost surprised in her tone, like this possibility never occurred to her. “This isn’t about his money or his name. You love Matthias.”
“Of course I love him,” Luna says, because hiding it at this point seems pointless. “I loved him four years ago after one night together, and I’ve loved him through four years of thinking he abandoned me, and I love him now watching him be an amazing father to Sofia. Yes, Mrs. Wolfe. I love your son. Genuinely, completely, without any ulterior motive beyond wanting to build a life with him.”
Helene slowly tears the check she was writing, precise movements that destroy the five million dollar bribe without ceremony, and Luna feels something like vindication watching those pieces fall into Helene’s handbag.
“I misjudged you,” Helene says quietly, and the admission seems to cost her something—her pride, maybe, or her certainty that she understands the world and everyone’s motivations within it. “I assumed you were like the others who’ve pursued Matthias over the years. The women who see his wealth and name and want access without caring about the man underneath.”
“I didn’t pursue him,” Luna reminds her. “I didn’t even know who he was when we met. He was just Matthias, a man at a charity gala who made me laugh and listened when I talked and treated me like I mattered. That’s who I fell in love with. The wealth and the name—those are things I’ve had to learn to navigate, not things I was chasing.”
“And Sofia?” Helene asks. “You really kept her from him because you thought he abandoned you, not because you were trying to punish him or leverage her for financial gain?”
“I kept her from him because I was protecting her,” Luna says, and she can hear the pain in her own voice from those decisions, from the three years Matthias missed that can never be recovered. “I thought he ghosted me deliberately. That he was the kind of man who made promises and didn’t keep them. I didn’t want Sofia growing up wondering why Daddy didn’t love her enough to stay. So yes, I kept her secret. It was wrong—I know that now—but it came from protection, not malice. Not greed.”
Helene nods slowly, processing this information, recalibrating her entire understanding of Luna and the situation—and when she speaks again, her tone has shifted from hostile to something that might eventually approach respect.
“What do you need from me?” Helene asks. “To be part of Sofia’s life. Part of Matthias’s life. I want to know my granddaughter, but I don’t know how to navigate this situation when I’ve started so badly.”
The admission is as close to apology as Luna suspects Helene is capable of giving, and Luna has to decide in this moment whether to hold grudges or extend the same grace Matthias has been showing his mother—not for Helene’s sake, but for Sofia’s, because every child deserves grandparents if those grandparents can learn to be kind.
“Start by respecting that Matthias and I are together,” Luna says firmly. “Not because of money or obligation, but because we love each other and we’re building a family. Stop trying to separate us or convince Matthias he could do better. Because there is no better, Mrs. Wolfe. There’s just different. And different doesn’t mean worse.”
“And regarding Sofia?” Helene presses.
“You can know her if you can be kind to her mother,” Luna says simply. “Sofia is smart. She picks up on adult tension. If you’re going to be in her life, you have to respect that I’m her mother and Matthias is her father and we’re a package deal. You don’t get to have relationship with one without accepting the others.”
“Those are reasonable terms,” Helene says, standing up with the kind of dignified posture that probably took years of finishing school to perfect. “I’ll do better, Luna. I’ll try to be the grandmother Sofia deserves instead of the obstacle I’ve been.”
“That’s all I’m asking,” Luna says, and she stands as well, offering her hand for a handshake that feels like a truce if not quite a peace treaty.
Helene takes her hand, her grip firm and cool, and for a moment they just look at each other—two women who love the same man in different ways, who both want what’s best for Sofia even if they disagree on what that looks like, who are going to have to find a way to coexist because neither is going anywhere.
“He’s happy,” Helene says quietly, almost to herself. “I haven’t seen Matthias smile like he does now since… I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him this happy. That’s your doing.”
“That’s Sofia’s doing,” Luna corrects. “And his own choice to be present instead of absent. I just gave him the opportunity.”
“You gave him a family,” Helene counters. “That’s more valuable than you seem to realize.”
After Helene leaves, Luna sits at her desk for a long time trying to process what just happened—the attempted bribe that turned into grudging respect, the moment when Helene realized Luna wasn’t a gold digger but someone who genuinely loves her son, the beginning of what might eventually become acceptance if not warmth.
She texts Matthias immediately:
*Luna: Your mother just tried to pay me $5 million to disappear from your life. Thought you should know.*
The response comes back within seconds:
*Matthias: WHAT?!*
*Luna: Don’t worry. I told her where she could shove her check. Figuratively.*
*Matthias: I’m calling her right now. This is unacceptable.*
*Luna: Wait. She apologized. Sort of. I think we reached an understanding. She’s going to try to be better.*
There’s a longer pause before Matthias’s next message:
*Matthias: You’re too forgiving. I’m furious on your behalf.*
*Luna: Be furious later. For now, just be glad your mother might actually accept us eventually. Baby steps.*
*Matthias: I’m sorry she did that. You shouldn’t have to defend yourself to my family.*
*Luna: But I can. That’s the point. I’m not afraid of her anymore. I know my worth. I know what we have. She can accept it or not, but it doesn’t change anything.*
*Matthias: I love you.*
*Luna: I love you too. Now get back to work, CEO. Some of us have quarterly reports to finish.*
Luna spends the rest of the day with a lightness in her chest that wasn’t there before, because standing up to Helene felt good, felt empowering, felt like proof that she’s not the scared single mother who hid her pregnancy three years ago—she’s grown into someone who knows her value, who won’t be intimidated by old money or social class, who can hold her ground against people who think wealth equals worth.
And maybe—just maybe—Helene will learn that too.
That Luna Vega is exactly what Matthias needs.
Not despite her background but because of it.
Not in spite of being “unsuitable” but because being suitable would mean being someone other than herself.
Matthias loves her.
Sofia loves her.
And eventually, perhaps grudgingly, Helene might learn to love her too.
Or at least respect her.
And respect, Luna thinks as she returns to her quarterly reports, is actually more valuable than love when it comes to mothers-in-law.
Especially the difficult ones.
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