CHAPTER 3 — The Empire Began to Collapse
Nathan stared at the screen as though refusing to believe what his own eyes were showing him.
The numbers kept falling.
–19%.
–23%.
–31%.
Every few seconds, another wave of sell orders hit the market.
Billions of dollars were evaporating.
Not over weeks.
Not over days.
Over minutes.
"This isn't real."
His voice cracked.
"It has to be market manipulation."
One of the officers calmly took the tablet from his hands.
"No."
"The market is simply reacting to the truth."
Nathan shook his head violently.
"No one knows anything."
"The investigation isn't public."
My father looked at him with quiet disappointment.
"It is now."
He nodded toward another monitor.
A financial news channel had interrupted its regular programming.
A bright red banner stretched across the bottom of the screen.
BREAKING NEWS
FEDERAL AUTHORITIES RAID MULTIPLE ASHFORD GLOBAL OFFICES ACROSS THREE COUNTRIES
Images flashed one after another.
Corporate headquarters surrounded by investigators.
Employees leaving with boxes.
Servers being carried into evidence trucks.
Executives escorted into black SUVs.
Nathan staggered backward.
"No..."
"They can't do this."
"They need warrants."
"They need approval."
My father answered without emotion.
"They have both."
Celeste grabbed Nathan's arm.
"You said the offshore accounts were invisible."
"They were."
"You promised."
"They were."
His voice grew louder with every word.
"No one knew about Cyprus."
"No one knew about Singapore."
"No one knew about Zurich."
I finally spoke.
"I did."
They both turned toward me.
Celeste's expression hardened.
"You?"
I nodded.
"For almost seven months."
Nathan stared.
"That's impossible."
"You never had access."
"I didn't need access."
"You gave it to me."
His forehead creased.
"What are you talking about?"
I smiled faintly.
"Remember the nights you came home exhausted?"
"When you left your laptop unlocked because you thought I was too naive to understand finance?"
Nathan's breathing slowed.
"I..."
"You never realized I had completed my master's degree in forensic accounting before we met."
Silence.
He blinked.
"You told me you studied art history."
"I told you I enjoyed art history."
"I never said that was my degree."
For the first time since our wedding...
Nathan realized how little he actually knew about the woman he had married.
He had never asked.
He had simply assumed.
Because assumptions were easier than listening.
One of the officers approached my father.
"Sir."
"The Zurich accounts have been frozen."
"And Singapore?"
"Frozen."
"Cyprus?"
"Frozen fifteen minutes ago."
Nathan's knees nearly buckled.
"No..."
"That's over two hundred million dollars."
My father corrected him.
"Two hundred seventeen million."
Nathan looked horrified.
"You knew..."
"I know everything."
Across the room, Celeste slowly backed away.
She wasn't looking at Nathan anymore.
She was calculating.
Always calculating.
She quietly reached into her designer handbag.
Her fingers wrapped around her phone.
She took one careful step toward the hallway.
Then another.
She almost made it.
"Ms. Monroe."
The commander's voice stopped her instantly.
She froze.
"I wouldn't."
She turned with a forced smile.
"I was just calling my attorney."
The commander extended his hand.
"The phone."
Her smile disappeared.
"You don't have the right."
"I do."
She clutched the bag tighter.
"I'm not giving you anything."
The commander didn't move.
Neither did the officers surrounding her.
Finally...
Celeste reluctantly handed over the phone.
The commander glanced at the screen.
His eyebrows rose slightly.
"Interesting."
Nathan looked over.
"What?"
The commander turned the display toward my father.
An unsent message filled the screen.
DELETE EVERYTHING. THEY KNOW. RUN.
My father nodded once.
"Send it."
Celeste looked confused.
"What?"
"Send the message."
She hesitated.
"Why would I..."
"Because every phone connected to that group chat has already been under surveillance for the last forty-eight hours."
The color drained from her face.
"You..."
"You were watching us?"
"No."
My father replied calmly.
"You were watching yourselves."
He looked toward another officer.
"Monitor all responses."
"Yes, sir."
Within seconds, replies flooded in.
Too late.
They're already here.
The servers are gone.
Federal agents are inside.
I've been detained.
One by one...
every person involved confirmed the same thing.
The network had collapsed.
Not tomorrow.
Tonight.
Nathan suddenly laughed.
It wasn't confidence.
It wasn't relief.
It was panic.
"You planned this."
He looked directly at me.
"You stayed with me just to destroy me."
I met his eyes.
"No."
"I stayed because I wanted proof."
"You could've left."
"I tried."
"You begged me to stay."
Nathan's expression changed.
Fragments of forgotten memories flashed across his face.
Every time I packed a suitcase...
he had apologized.
Promised to change.
Cried.
Bought flowers.
Bought jewelry.
Then returned to the same cruelty days later.
He had never wanted me.
He had wanted control.
My father walked slowly toward the enormous portrait hanging above the fireplace.
Nathan shaking hands with politicians.
Business awards.
Magazine covers.
Photographs celebrating his success.
"So much effort."
My father murmured.
"Building an image."
He turned toward Nathan.
"You spent years convincing the world you were self-made."
Nathan clenched his fists.
"I am."
"No."
"You were financed."
Nathan frowned.
"What?"
My father looked at me.
"Victoria."
I nodded.
He addressed the room.
"The investment that saved Ashford Global four years ago..."
Nathan interrupted.
"That came from the Hawthorne Capital Fund."
"No."
My father smiled.
"Hawthorne Capital belongs to my family."
Silence.
Utter silence.
Nathan stared at me.
"No..."
I nodded.
"The company you bragged about saving?"
"I quietly saved it."
His breathing became ragged.
"The emergency loan..."
"The warehouse expansion..."
"The shipping fleet..."
He whispered,
"That was you?"
"It always was."
Nathan suddenly remembered our third wedding anniversary.
He had come home drunk.
Thrown the divorce papers I had prepared into the fireplace.
Then laughed.
"You'd never survive without my money."
The memory hit him like a freight train.
He looked around the mansion.
The luxury cars.
The paintings.
The marble floors.
The company.
The empire.
How much of it...
had actually existed because of me?
His answer came sooner than expected.
Another officer entered the hall.
"Sir."
My father looked up.
"The emergency audit is complete."
"And?"
The officer handed him a thick folder.
"Without Mrs. Ashford's financial contributions over the last four years..."
He paused before finishing.
"Ashford Global would have declared bankruptcy thirty-eight months ago."
The folder closed with a soft thud.
The sound echoed through the mansion.
Nathan stood perfectly still.
The man who had spent years calling me worthless...
had just learned the most devastating truth of his life.
May you like
Everything he believed he had built...
had been standing on my foundation all along.
