Chapter 6 - The Counterstrike
You don't survive at the top of the New York financial food chain by being naive. You survive by gathering dirt on everyone around you and burying it deep until you need it.
When I was CEO of Hail Industries, I noticed discrepancies in the Ashford shipping routes. Cargo ships that took too long. Containers that vanished off the manifest. So, I hired a private intelligence firm, run by a former MI6 operative known only as "The Ghost," to look into Marcus Ashford.
What he found was enough to put Marcus in a federal penitentiary for five lifetimes.
That night, while Mave and Posie slept soundly upstairs, I sat in my dark study, staring at multiple glowing computer monitors. Wesley stood by the door, drinking black coffee.
"The Ghost just sent the confirmation," Wesley said, looking at his encrypted tablet. "The files have been seeded. All major news outlets, the FBI, the SEC, and Interpol."
"Status?" I asked.
"Trending globally. It's a bloodbath, Boss."
I clicked refresh on the Bloomberg terminal. The screen lit up in a sea of aggressive red numbers.
BREAKING: ASHFORD SHIPPING ACCUSED OF WEAPONS SMUGGLING, HUMAN TRAFFICKING.
SEC HALTS TRADING ON ASHFORD ENTERPRISES AFTER MASSIVE FRAUD LEAK.
FBI RAIDS ASHFORD MANSION IN HAMPTONS.
I leaned back in my leather chair, taking a slow sip of whiskey. Marcus Ashford thought he could use the law to steal my child. I used the law to dismantle his entire existence. The shipping logs proved he had been transporting illegal arms for a cartel out of South America. He had bribed customs officials.
By morning, Coraline and her father would be fighting to stay out of federal prison. They would have no money, no power, and no judge in their pocket.
"What about my mother?" I asked.
Wesley swiped on his tablet. "Eleanor is trying to distance Hail Industries from the Ashford fallout. But she's failing. Because you resigned, the board is panicking. They blame her for aligning with a criminal syndicate. There’s an emergency shareholder meeting scheduled for 9:00 AM tomorrow. They are going to vote her out."
I smiled grimly.
My mother had built an empire on ruthlessness. Now, the very board members she trained to be ruthless were going to eat her alive.
The study door opened quietly.
Mave stood there in her pajamas, rubbing her eyes. She looked at the glowing screens, then at me.
"Is it over?" she asked softly.
I stood up, walking around the desk and pulling her into my arms. I kissed her forehead, breathing in the scent of her lavender shampoo.
"For the Ashfords, it's over," I said. "They will never threaten you or Posie again."
She leaned against my chest, letting out a breath that sounded like she had been holding it for three years. "And your mother?"
"I have one last thing to do tomorrow," I said, looking over her head at the Manhattan skyline glowing faintly on the horizon. "I have to put the final nail in the coffin. I have to make sure Eleanor Hail can never hurt another human being again."
"Are you going back to the city?"
"Just for the morning. When I come back... we start our real life."
Mave looked up at me, her blue eyes shining in the dim light. She reached up and gently touched my cheek. It was the first time she had initiated contact since the wedding day.
May you like
"Come back to us," she whispered.
"Always," I promised.
