Chapter 16: "A New Direction" (November 2021)

The cold bite of November crept in through the cracks in the window, but Logan didn't notice. He stood at the kitchen counter, hands gripping the edge, eyes fixed on nothing. The weight of Odette's proposal hung between him and Rory like an invisible force, suffocating, inescapable.

The room was still, save for the distant sounds of Leia's laughter and the occasional gurgle from one of the twins upstairs. Their family was growing—three children now—and with every day, the demands of their public lives pressed harder. The media, Mitchum's victory, the never-ending scrutiny… it was all piling up.

And now, Odette had laid a lifeline at their feet.

"Logan?" Rory's voice broke the silence, soft but raw.

He turned slowly, finding her at the kitchen table, her elbows propped on the surface, head in her hands. She looked exhausted, a thin layer of tension behind her eyes. She had only recently recovered from giving birth, and the twins had drained what little energy she had left. Yet here they were, trying to make a decision that could reshape everything.

He moved toward her, pulling out the chair across from her. He sat down, his chest tightening at the sight of her. "Odette's offer…" Logan started, his voice hoarse. "I don't know if I can do it. I don't know if I can let it go."

Logan's mind drifted to the day weeks ago, when Odette made her offer…

The boardroom at The Magna headquarters was bathed in the soft glow of late afternoon sunlight. The tall glass windows overlooked the city below, the buzz of New York's never-ending activity almost distant from this high above. Inside, the atmosphere was tense, charged with the weight of decisions that could change everything.

Odette sat across from Logan and Rory, her posture calm but purposeful. Her fingers lightly drummed the surface of the table as she finished outlining her proposal. There was a quiet determination in her eyes, a sense of understanding and responsibility that Logan couldn't help but notice.

"Logan, Rory," Odette said softly, leaning forward, her voice gentle but resolute, "I've been with you since the beginning. I've seen what The Magna has grown into, and I believe in its mission as much as you do. You've built something powerful, something that stands for everything we care about. But I also see what it's costing you. I see the toll this fight has taken."

Rory glanced at Logan, the unspoken tension between them heavy in the air.

"You don't have to keep doing this alone," Odette continued. "Let me help. Let me take The Magna from here, protect it, nurture it—keep it on the path we've all fought for. I know what it means to you, and I won't let it fall. But you both need to step back. You need to focus on your family, on yourselves."

She paused, her gaze steady, but there was an underlying softness that made her offer feel less like a transaction and more like a lifeline. "I'm offering to buy The Magna—but I'm also offering you freedom."

Logan's throat tightened as the weight of her words settled over him. He glanced at Rory, her expression unreadable but her eyes filled with the same mixture of fear and relief that mirrored his own. They had known this conversation was coming. They had been bracing for it. But hearing it spoken aloud—hearing Odette offer them a way out—was something different entirely.

Odette leaned back in her chair, the sunlight casting a soft halo around her as she waited for their response. The city hummed below them, oblivious to the storm of emotions swirling inside the room.

Logan's chest felt tight, as if the walls were slowly closing in around him. His fingers drummed against the table as he exchanged a glance with Rory. She swallowed hard, blinking back tears she didn't want to shed in front of Odette. The room felt too small, too full of possibilities and consequences, the weight of the decision pressing down on both of them.

The world outside continued to move, the sun dipping lower as Odette's words echoed in their minds. The offer wasn't just a business transaction—it was the key to their future, to the life they could have beyond the media circus, beyond the constant battle for survival.

Odette stood, smoothing the front of her jacket, her gaze soft but steady. "Think about it," she said quietly, as if sensing their need for space. "I'll be here when you're ready."

And then, as she left the room, her silhouette lingered in the soft evening light, leaving Logan and Rory alone with the enormity of what had just been offered. They didn't speak, not yet, but the decision was already blooming in their hearts, and they both knew that everything had just shifted.

When Logans attention landed in the present again Rory looked up, her eyes glassy but resolute. "I don't think we have a choice anymore. *The Magna* has cost us everything—our peace, our privacy, our family's safety. I thought we could fight through it, but Logan… what's left of us if we keep fighting?"

Logan's hands curled into fists, his heart pounding against the walls of his chest. He knew she was right. The battle they had been fighting, the battle for *The Magna*'s independence, had consumed every part of their lives. And now, with the twins, with Leia, they were suffocating under the weight of it all.

"We didn't come this far to walk away," he muttered, more to himself than to her. "We built this, Rory. We built it from nothing. And if we sell it now, what does that say about us?"

Rory's hand reached across the table, resting on his. Her touch was light, tentative, but full of understanding. "It doesn't say we're giving up," she whispered, her voice breaking. "It says we're choosing something more important."

Logan stared down at her hand, his throat tightening. He wanted to argue, to push back, to say that they could keep fighting. But he couldn't. Not anymore. The twins were barely a month old, and already their lives had been turned into a media spectacle. Reporters had camped outside the hospital when Rory gave birth. Every detail of their family life was being dissected, twisted into headlines for public consumption.

"I don't want them to grow up like this," Rory said, her voice trembling. "The twins. Leia. I don't want them to live in a world where every part of their lives is under a microscope. We didn't ask for this, but here we are."

Logan squeezed her hand, his heart aching. He could see the pain in her eyes, the exhaustion that went far deeper than physical tiredness. It was emotional, spiritual—a weariness that came from months of being in the public eye, constantly defending themselves, constantly fighting.

"But *The Magna*... it's our legacy," he whispered, his voice breaking. "It's the one thing we've built that's ours."

Rory's hand tightened around his, her gaze locking with his. "No, Logan. Our legacy is here," she said, her voice soft but firm. "It's Leia. It's the twins. It's us. *The Magna*… it's important, but it's not worth losing everything for."

The room fell silent, the weight of her words settling over them both. Logan felt a lump rise in his throat, the reality of their situation sinking in deeper than it ever had before. She was right. The fight for *The Magna* had consumed them, swallowed up everything they had worked for, and now, with three children depending on them, they couldn't afford to keep losing themselves in the battle.

He closed his eyes, his jaw clenching against the wave of emotion rising in him. "Odette would keep it alive," he said, more to convince himself than anything. "She understands it. She's been there since the beginning."

Rory nodded, her own eyes brimming with tears. "She's the only person I'd trust with it. And she's offering us a way out, Logan. A way to protect what we built without destroying ourselves in the process."

Logan swallowed hard, his chest tight with emotion. The idea of letting go, of handing over the reins to someone else, felt like ripping a part of himself away. But looking at Rory—at the love of his life, at the mother of his children—he knew what he had to do.

His voice was barely above a whisper. "Do we really have a choice?"

Rory shook her head slowly, tears slipping down her cheeks. "No," she said softly. "Not if we want to keep our family whole."

Logan felt the full force of the decision settle in his chest like a stone. It was over. The fight, the battle they had poured their souls into—it was over. And now, they had to let it go.

"I don't want to lose you," he whispered, his voice cracking. "I don't want to lose us."

Rory leaned forward, her hand cupping his cheek, her touch warm and reassuring. "You won't," she whispered. "We're still here. We've been through so much, Logan, and we're still standing. But we can't keep standing if we don't let this go."

Logan's eyes burned with unshed tears, and he leaned into her touch, closing his eyes as the truth of her words washed over him. They had fought for so long—fought for independence, for *The Magna, for everything they believed in. But now, it was time to choose something else.

It was time to choose their family.

He opened his eyes, meeting her gaze, his voice low but steady. "We sell *The Magna* to Odette."

Rory's breath hitched, a tear slipping down her cheek. She nodded, her hand still resting against his face. "Yes," she whispered. "We sell it."

They sat there in the quiet, the weight of their decision heavy but somehow freeing. Logan reached for her hand again, holding it tightly as they both absorbed the magnitude of what they had just agreed to. It wasn't an easy choice, but it was the right one.

The Magna had been their fight, their passion. But now, they were choosing something more.

They were choosing each other. They were choosing their family. And in that choice, they found a new kind of freedom.