CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 12
Ashfordâs Final Betrayal
Nathan Ashford had always believed betrayal was something that happened to other people.
He believed he was the one who controlled the board.
The one who moved pieces.
The one who decided who stayed and who disappeared.
For years, he built his empire on that belief.
Employees feared him.
Partners respected him.
Enemies watched him carefully.
Even the woman he married eventually learned to hide her thoughts from him.
But Nathan never considered the possibility that he could be the piece.
That someone else had been moving him from the beginning.
Now he knew.
And knowledge was dangerous.
Because a man who finally understood he had been used was capable of anything.
The first sign came at 4:13 in the morning.
A message appeared on my secure line.
No name.
No number.
Only three words.
"Nathan moved."
I stared at the screen.
My first thought was anger.
My second was disappointment.
My third was something worse.
I wasn't surprised.
That was the painful part.
Somewhere deep inside, I had always known Nathan would betray us again.
Men like Nathan did not change because they regretted their actions.
They changed only when their old methods stopped working.
And even then...
They usually changed only their strategy.
Not themselves.
The security team tracked his movements.
At first, nothing seemed unusual.
Nathan left his residence.
Met with his lawyer.
Entered a private building downtown.
Then disappeared from every camera.
That alone was enough.
Because Nathan hated being invisible.
He loved attention.
He loved being seen.
If he was hiding...
He was preparing something.
My father looked at the report.
His expression was cold.
"He has contacted Victor."
I looked at him.
"Are you sure?"
My father nodded.
"Yes."
"How?"
A pause.
"Because Victor wanted me to know."
I felt uneasy.
"Why would Victor reveal that?"
My father's answer was immediate.
"Because this isn't a secret."
He looked at me.
"It's a message."
Nathan was not secretly helping Victor.
He wanted us to think he was.
That was the difference.
Victor had taught him something.
Fear was useful.
Suspicion was powerful.
And Nathan had learned from the best.
He wanted us to waste time wondering.
Trusting nobody.
Looking over our shoulders.
Exactly what Victor wanted.
The war was not about destroying Vale Dominion.
It was about making Vale Dominion destroy itself.
That afternoon, Nathan contacted us.
Not through lawyers.
Not through public statements.
Directly.
A video call appeared.
Everyone in the room went silent.
I answered.
Nathan appeared on the screen.
Older.
Tired.
But still wearing that same expression.
The expression of a man who believed he had a plan.
"Hello."
Nobody replied.
Nathan looked at me.
"I assume you know."
I stared.
"Know what?"
A small smile appeared.
"That I'm leaving."
My father stepped forward.
"Leaving with what?"
Nathan looked at him.
For a moment, something like hatred appeared.
"You always thought you were better than me."
My father's expression didn't change.
"Because I was."
The room went silent.
Nathan laughed.
A bitter laugh.
"Still arrogant."
"No."
My father replied.
"Just accurate."
Nathan's smile disappeared.
"I have evidence."
That got everyone's attention.
Nathan continued.
"Evidence that can destroy Victor."
I narrowed my eyes.
"And what do you want?"
Nathan looked at me.
There it was.
The real reason.
"You."
I froze.
"What?"
"I want protection."
Nobody spoke.
Nathan continued.
"Legal protection. Financial protection. A deal."
I stared at him.
"You want us to save you?"
His jaw tightened.
"I want a chance to rebuild."
A pause.
"Everyone deserves a second chance."
The words almost sounded believable.
Almost.
Until I remembered the night at Blackthorn Manor.
The whip.
The floor.
His voice.
"Remember your place."
I looked at him.
"You don't want a second chance."
His expression changed.
"You want another opportunity to become the same person."
Silence.
For a moment...
I saw the old Nathan.
The man who would never admit he was wrong.
Then he smiled.
And I knew.
He had not changed.
The next morning, Nathan made his move.
Every major news outlet received a package.
Inside:
Private records from Vale Dominion.
Security files.
Financial documents.
Internal communications.
Everything.
The world exploded.
Again.
But this time...
The leak was worse.
Because the documents were real.
My father looked at them.
"He had access."
I looked at him.
"How?"
Silence.
Then we realized.
The answer was impossible.
Unless...
Nathan had been inside Vale Dominion longer than we thought.
The investigation moved quickly.
And the discovery was devastating.
Years ago, before our marriage, Nathan had secretly invested in several companies connected to Vale Dominion.
Not enough to control anything.
Enough to watch.
Enough to gather information.
Enough to prepare.
My father looked at the documents.
"He wasn't just Victor's pawn."
My voice was quiet.
"He was Victor's student."
Nathan had not accidentally met Victor.
Victor found him because Nathan was already searching for power.
He didn't create Nathan.
He recognized him.
The arrogance.
The hunger.
The belief that rules were for others.
Victor simply gave Nathan the tools.
And Nathan used them.
That night, I confronted Nathan.
Not in court.
Not through lawyers.
Personally.
He agreed to meet.
A mistake.
Because Nathan still believed he could control me.
We met in an abandoned office building.
The kind of place where people went when they wanted privacy.
Nathan stood near the window.
"You came."
I looked around.
"Why?"
He smiled.
"Because you wanted answers."
"No."
I looked at him.
"I wanted to see if there was anything left of the man I married."
His expression changed.
For a second, he looked hurt.
Then it disappeared.
"That woman is gone."
I nodded.
"Yes."
A pause.
"You killed her."
Nathan looked away.
"You think I don't know what I did?"
I was surprised.
Because that sounded almost honest.
He continued:
"I know exactly what I did."
Silence.
"I know every moment."
His voice became quieter.
"And I hate that I remember."
For a second...
I almost believed him.
Almost.
Then he said:
"But I had no choice."
There it was.
The excuse.
The thing every monster said.
"I had no choice."
I shook my head.
"You always had a choice."
Nathan looked at me.
"You don't understand."
"No."
I stepped closer.
"I understand perfectly."
Then Nathan revealed the truth.
The reason he betrayed Victor.
The reason he contacted us.
The reason he was desperate.
"Victor plans to kill Elias."
My blood ran cold.
"What?"
Nathan nodded.
"Not destroy him."
A pause.
"Kill him."
My father had enemies.
Many.
But Victor was different.
Victor wanted revenge.
And revenge was more dangerous than ambition.
"How do you know?"
Nathan looked at me.
"Because he told me."
"Why?"
Nathan smiled sadly.
"Because he wanted me to do it."
Silence.
"He wanted me to become the villain."
I studied him.
"Did you agree?"
Nathan didn't answer.
That was answer enough.
My heart sank.
Because even now...
Even while warning us...
Nathan was still calculating.
He wanted to survive.
He wanted protection.
He wanted forgiveness.
But he didn't truly care about justice.
Before I left, Nathan said one more thing.
"You're going to hate me forever."
I stopped.
"Probably."
He looked surprised by my honesty.
"But that's not the thing you should fear."
"What should I fear?"
I looked back.
"The fact that one day, I might stop caring about you completely."
For the first time...
Nathan looked afraid.
Because hatred meant he still mattered.
Indifference meant he was nothing.
That night, Nathan disappeared.
Again.
But this time, he left something behind.
A file.
Not about Victor.
Not about Vale Dominion.
About me.
Inside was a photograph taken years earlier.
Before our marriage.
Before everything.
Me and Nathan.
Happy.
Young.
Naive.
On the back, Nathan had written one sentence.
"I destroyed the only person who ever truly loved me."
I didn't know whether it was an apology.
A confession.
Or another manipulation.
With Nathan, it was impossible to tell.
Because that was his greatest weapon.
Even when he was telling the truth...
Nobody knew whether to believe him.
At midnight, Victor received a message.
Nathan had failed.
The plan was exposed.
Adrian asked:
"What now?"
Victor looked at the city.
"He has served his purpose."
"Will you eliminate him?"
Victor smiled.
"No."
A pause.
"I will let him live."
Adrian frowned.
"Why?"
Victor looked at Nathan's file.
"Because a broken king is more useful than a dead one."
The next morning, another message arrived.
Not from Victor.
Not from Nathan.
From an unknown sender.
A single sentence:
"Your father is not the only Vale who has secrets."
Then another.
"Ask your mother why she chose you."
I stared at the words.
Because suddenly...
The greatest mystery was no longer Victor.
No longer Nathan.
No longer the war for Vale Dominion.
It was me.
May you like
And the reason my mother had created a plan around my existence before I was even born.
END OF CHAPTER 12
