Chapter 2 — Tomorrow, You'll Beg
Chapter 2 — Tomorrow, You'll Beg
At 9:18 that morning, Victoria Vale sat in the chair Margaret Ashford had occupied for seventeen years.
No one in the boardroom spoke.
The silence wasn't respectful.
It was frightened.
Margaret stood at the opposite end of the table, one hand pressed against the polished wood.
Daniel stood beside her.
His tuxedo had been changed.
His hair was fixed.
His face was clean.
But the faint red mark on his cheek remained.
Victoria noticed it.
So did he.
For one brief second, their eyes met.
Daniel looked away first.
Victoria opened the folder in front of her.
"Let's begin."
Margaret laughed.
It was a brittle sound.
"You really believe this is legitimate?"
Victoria looked up.
"I don't believe it."
She slid a document across the table.
"I know it."
Margaret didn't touch it.
"These shares were transferred illegally."
"Then your lawyers can challenge them."
"They will."
"Good."
Victoria leaned back.
"I look forward to seeing them in court."
Margaret's face tightened.
"You think you can walk into this company and take control because of some technicality?"
Victoria smiled.
"No."
She looked around the table.
"I can take control because your family signed the documents."
One of the directors lowered his eyes.
Margaret turned toward him.
"You knew about this?"
He didn't answer.
"Henry."
Still nothing.
Margaret's voice rose.
"You've worked for me for eleven years."
Henry finally looked up.
"I worked for Ashford Holdings."
Victoria watched him carefully.
"Not Margaret Ashford."
He swallowed.
"Not anymore."
Margaret's face hardened.
"Traitor."
Victoria interrupted.
"No."
Everyone looked at her.
"He's an employee."
She closed the folder.
"Employees don't owe loyalty to people."
She paused.
"They owe loyalty to the company."
Margaret stared at her.
"You sound like your father."
Victoria's expression changed.
Only slightly.
But Daniel noticed.
"Don't mention him," Victoria said.
Margaret smiled.
"Why?"
Victoria's eyes became cold.
"Because you don't get to speak his name."
Margaret leaned forward.
"I knew your father before you were born."
"I know."
"I built that company with him."
"No."
Victoria's voice remained calm.
"You destroyed it with him."
Margaret's smile disappeared.
Daniel looked between them.
"What happened?"
Neither woman answered.
Victoria stood.
"The board meeting is over."
Margaret laughed.
"You can't dismiss me."
"I just did."
"On what authority?"
Victoria pointed toward the documents.
"Mine."
The First Order
By ten o'clock, the entire company knew.
Victoria had removed Margaret Ashford from executive control.
She had suspended Daniel's corporate accounts.
She had ordered a forensic audit of every Ashford Holdings subsidiary.
And she had frozen all discretionary spending.
Private jets.
Luxury apartments.
Company cars.
Personal assistants.
Entertainment budgets.
Everything.
Daniel received the notification while sitting in the underground garage.
He read it twice.
Then a third time.
His face went white.
His corporate card had been declined.
He tried another.
Declined.
His driver's card.
Declined.
He called the bank.
"Mr. Ashford, I'm afraid your account has been restricted."
"Who authorized that?"
"We received instructions from Ashford Holdings."
"I own Ashford Holdings."
A pause.
"Not anymore."
Daniel slammed the phone onto the dashboard.
His driver stared straight ahead.
"Drive."
"Where, sir?"
"Home."
The driver hesitated.
"Which residence?"
Daniel looked at him.
"What kind of question is that?"
"The company has instructed us not to use the penthouse."
Daniel froze.
"They did what?"
"Your access was revoked."
Daniel stared through the windshield.
For the first time in his life, he understood what it meant to hear the word no.
And he hated it.
Margaret's Counterattack
Margaret wasn't going to surrender quietly.
At noon, she summoned her personal attorney.
"Find a way to invalidate the transfer."
"We've reviewed it."
"And?"
"It's airtight."
Margaret stared at him.
"Everything has a weakness."
"Not this."
"Then find one."
The lawyer hesitated.
"There is something."
Margaret leaned forward.
"What?"
"The original agreement contains a succession clause."
"What kind?"
"If Victoria becomes controlling owner, certain assets cannot be transferred for ninety days."
Margaret's eyes lit up.
"Then we have ninety days."
"No."
The lawyer shook his head.
"You misunderstand."
"Explain."
"She has control."
"But?"
"She cannot sell the assets."
Margaret smiled.
"Then we bankrupt the company."
The lawyer went silent.
She continued.
"If she can't sell, and we destroy the company's liquidity..."
Margaret's smile widened.
"She'll be forced to surrender."
The lawyer looked uncomfortable.
"And the employees?"
Margaret shrugged.
"Collateral damage."
The Woman Who Had Been Waiting
Victoria sat alone in the top-floor office.
She had expected the attack.
She had expected the lawyers.
She had expected Margaret to fight.
What she hadn't expected was how quickly the past would return.
Her father's photograph stood on the desk.
Michael Vale.
Thirty-seven years old.
Smiling.
A hand resting on Victoria's shoulder when she was seven.
She remembered that day.
She remembered what happened afterward.
The company collapsed.
Her father was accused of fraud.
His accounts were frozen.
His partners abandoned him.
Then he died.
Victoria had spent years believing he had failed.
Until she found the documents.
He hadn't failed.
He had been betrayed.
By Margaret.
By Daniel's father.
And by three men who were still sitting on the board.
Victoria opened a second folder.
Inside were photographs.
Bank statements.
Signed contracts.
Audio transcripts.
She looked at the names.
One by one.
Then she made a phone call.
"Begin."
The voice on the other end asked:
"All of them?"
Victoria looked through the glass walls at the city.
"All of them."
The First Fall
At 2:40 p.m., the first director resigned.
At 3:05, the second was served with a subpoena.
At 3:27, the third discovered that an investigation had been opened into his offshore accounts.
By four o'clock, the boardroom had become chaos.
Margaret stormed into Victoria's office.
"What have you done?"
Victoria didn't look up.
"Cleaning house."
"You can't destroy these people."
"I haven't."
She closed the file.
"They did that themselves."
Margaret slammed both hands onto the desk.
"You think you're better than us?"
"No."
Victoria looked directly at her.
"I think I'm different."
"How?"
"You hurt people because you could."
Victoria stood.
"I hurt you because you gave me a reason."
Margaret's face twisted.
"You've been planning this for years."
"Ten."
"Ten years?"
"Since my father died."
Margaret went still.
Victoria stepped around the desk.
"You remember him."
Margaret's silence was enough.
"You remember exactly what you did."
"I did nothing."
"You signed the transfer."
"I was protecting my family."
"You stole his company."
"I saved it."
"You lied to the courts."
Margaret's expression hardened.
"Your father was going to destroy everyone."
Victoria's eyes narrowed.
"That's what you've told yourself for ten years."
She opened a drawer.
Inside was a small recorder.
She pressed play.
Margaret's own voice filled the room.
"If Michael doesn't sign, we'll make sure the creditors come after him."
Margaret froze.
Victoria stopped the recording.
"Do you remember now?"
Margaret stared at the recorder.
"Where did you get that?"
"My father."
"He recorded me?"
"He knew you."
Margaret's face drained of color.
Victoria leaned closer.
"And he knew you'd eventually come after me."
Daniel Returns
That evening, Daniel arrived at the office.
He didn't ask permission.
He walked straight into Victoria's office.
She looked up.
"You shouldn't be here."
"I need to talk to you."
"I'm busy."
"You froze my accounts."
"Yes."
"You took my company."
"No."
Victoria corrected him.
"I took back my father's company."
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"You think you're some kind of hero."
"No."
"Then what do you want?"
Victoria studied him.
"Do you really want to know?"
"Yes."
"I want the truth."
Daniel laughed.
"That's it?"
"That's everything."
"You've ruined my family."
"No."
She stood.
"Your family ruined itself."
Daniel stepped closer.
"You're enjoying this."
Victoria didn't answer.
He looked at her.
"Last night..."
His voice changed.
"You told me I'd beg."
"Yes."
"I'm not going to."
Victoria smiled.
"Not yet."
Daniel's expression hardened.
"You think you can humiliate me and walk away?"
"I didn't humiliate you."
She looked at his expensive watch.
"Your arrogance did."
Daniel reached into his pocket.
Victoria's security guard immediately stepped forward.
Daniel stopped.
"I'm not here to hurt you."
"Good."
"I'm here to make a deal."
Victoria laughed.
"A deal?"
"Give me back my accounts."
"No."
"Then give me control of one division."
"No."
"Then tell me what you want."
Victoria stared at him.
"You can't buy your way out of this."
Daniel's voice dropped.
"Everything has a price."
Victoria looked at him for several seconds.
Then she said:
"You're right."
She walked toward the window.
"Your price is the truth."
The Photograph
Victoria placed a photograph on the desk.
Daniel picked it up.
His expression changed.
It showed his father standing beside Michael Vale.
Both men were younger.
Behind them was a warehouse.
Daniel recognized it.
"Pier 17."
Victoria nodded.
"What happened there?"
Daniel stared at the photograph.
"I don't know."
"Your father told you it was an investment property."
"Yes."
"It wasn't."
Victoria placed another photograph beside it.
A burned warehouse.
Three bodies.
Daniel swallowed.
"What is this?"
"The night your father destroyed mine."
Daniel looked at her.
"You said he died."
"He did."
"What happened?"
Victoria's voice became quiet.
"He was inside that warehouse."
Daniel looked sick.
"Your father knew."
"No."
"He ordered the doors locked."
Daniel shook his head.
"My father wouldn't."
Victoria stared at him.
"That's what I believed too."
She picked up the photograph.
"Until I found the recording."
Daniel looked at her.
"What recording?"
"The one your father never knew existed."
The Recording
Victoria pressed play.
A man's voice filled the office.
Daniel recognized it instantly.
His father's voice.
"Michael won't cooperate."
A second voice answered.
Margaret.
"Then make him."
"We can't kill him."
"Nobody said kill him."
Daniel stopped breathing.
His father's voice continued.
"If the warehouse burns, the evidence disappears."
Margaret answered:
"And Michael?"
A pause.
"His choice."
The recording ended.
Daniel stared at the table.
He couldn't speak.
Victoria watched him.
"You defended your mother last night."
He swallowed.
"I didn't know."
"I know."
"You knew."
"Yes."
"Why didn't you show me?"
"Because you weren't ready."
Daniel laughed bitterly.
"You don't know me."
"No."
Victoria looked at him.
"But I know what your father did."
Daniel sat down.
For the first time, there was no arrogance in his face.
Only shock.
"My mother..."
"Was there."
"And she knew?"
"Yes."
He covered his face.
Victoria turned away.
She had wanted him to hurt.
But now that she saw it...
she wasn't sure she had wanted this.
The Begging
Daniel returned to his mother that night.
Margaret was sitting alone in the dark.
He stood in the doorway.
"Tell me it's fake."
She didn't answer.
"Tell me."
Silence.
"Mom."
Margaret looked at him.
"I did what I had to do."
Daniel's face collapsed.
"You killed him."
"No."
"You locked him in."
"I didn't know—"
"You knew."
Margaret stood.
"Everything I did was for you."
Daniel laughed.
"For me?"
"Yes."
"You destroyed his family."
"I protected ours."
"You lied to me."
"I protected you."
"You made me believe he was a criminal."
Margaret's eyes filled with tears.
"He was going to take everything."
Daniel shook his head.
"He already had everything."
Margaret whispered:
"Please."
Daniel looked at her.
It was the first time she had ever begged him to stay.
But he walked away.
Midnight
At midnight, Victoria stood alone on the balcony.
Her phone rang.
Daniel.
She almost ignored it.
Then answered.
"What?"
His voice was quiet.
"I know the truth."
"I know."
"I know what my father did."
"Good."
"I know what my mother did."
"Good."
There was a long silence.
Then:
"What do you want from me?"
Victoria closed her eyes.
"The truth."
"I'll give it to you."
"All of it."
"Yes."
"And then?"
Daniel's voice cracked.
"Then..."
He stopped.
Victoria waited.
"I'll ask you for something."
"What?"
"Forgiveness."
Victoria opened her eyes.
"You're not ready to ask for that."
"How do you know?"
"Because you're still asking as Daniel Ashford."
Silence.
"You need to ask as the man underneath the name."
He whispered:
"How do I become that man?"
Victoria looked across the city.
"Start by admitting what your family did."
"To whom?"
"Everyone."
Daniel breathed deeply.
"Tomorrow?"
Victoria smiled faintly.
"Tomorrow."
The Morning That Changed Everything
At 7:00 a.m., Daniel walked into the Ashford Hotel lobby.
Reporters surrounded him.
Cameras flashed.
Employees watched.
Margaret was nowhere to be seen.
Daniel stopped in front of the microphones.
He looked exhausted.
For the first time, he wasn't wearing the mask of the arrogant heir.
He simply said:
"My family lied."
The reporters erupted.
Daniel continued.
"My father betrayed Michael Vale."
Silence.
"My mother helped him."
Another wave of shouting.
"And I..."
He paused.
"I benefited from everything they stole."
Across the street, Victoria watched from inside her car.
Her driver looked at her.
"Is this what you wanted?"
Victoria didn't answer immediately.
Then she shook her head.
"No."
"What did you want?"
She watched Daniel standing beneath the cameras.
"I wanted him to understand."
"Understand what?"
Victoria looked down at the scar on her father's old photograph.
"That revenge isn't about making someone suffer."
She folded the photograph.
"It's about making sure they can never hurt anyone again."
Her phone vibrated.
A message had arrived.
THE FINAL ACCOUNT HAS BEEN FOUND.
Victoria's expression changed.
The account had been missing for ten years.
The account that contained the money stolen from her father.
The money that had financed the entire Ashford empire.
And whoever controlled that account...
controlled the final piece of the truth.
Victoria looked back at the hotel.
"Take me to the bank."
The driver started the engine.
Victoria stared ahead.
She had thought the battle was almost over.
She was wrong.
The next discovery would prove that Margaret Ashford hadn't been the mastermind.
She had only been following someone else's orders.
May you like
And the person behind everything...
was someone Victoria had trusted with her life.
