18 Chapter 20
Chapter 20 A Father’s Undoing D
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The receptionist’s face twisted with surprise when I walked into Ashworth Enterprises the next morning. I couldn’t blame her. I hadn’t set foot in my father’s company since I was eighteen.
“Miss Ashworth?” she stammered, quickly recovering her professional poise. “Do you have an appointment?”
“I don’t need one,” I replied, striding toward Harrison’s office. “He’s my father.”
She half–rose from her chair. “But he’s in a meeting-
I pushed past her without slowing down. Six years of bottled–up resentment propelled me forward. I needed that money, and I deserved it. The shares that should have come to me through my mother had been manipulated into my father’s control after her death. What I was asking for wasn’t charity–it was restitution.
1 flung open Harrison’s office door without knocking.
He looked up from his desk, phone pressed to his car. His eyes widened momentarily before narrowing into slits of annoyance.
“I’ll call you back,” he said into the phone before setting it down. “Hazel. What an unexpected… surprise.
The way he said my name made it sound like a disease. I squared my shoulders and approached his desk.
“I need to talk to you about my mother’s shares in the company.”
Harrison leaned back in his leather chair, a smirk forming on his lips. “After six years of silence, you burst into my office to discuss business? No “Hello, Father‘ or ‘How are you?”
“I’ve always been direct, I said. “Something I learned from watching you destroy my mother.”
His jaw tightened. “If you’re here to rehash ancient history-
“I want what’s mine, I cut in. “Fifty million. That’s a fraction of what my mother’s shares would be worth today.”
Harrison barked out a laugh. “Fifty million? You must be joking
“I’ve never been more serious.”
He stood up, walking to the window behind his desk. “And why, exactly, would I give you that kind of money?”
“Because it’s rightfully mine. Because you stole it from my mother through manipulation when
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she was at her lowest. Because you’re my father, and for once in your life, you could actually act like it.”
Harrison turned, his face a mask of contempt. “You sound just like her. Always the victim.”
“My mother wasn’t a victim until you made her one,” I said, fighting to keep my voice steady. “By sleeping with Eleanor while you were still married. By gaslighting her when she confronted you. By stealing her family’s business while she was grieving her parents.”
“Ancient history,” he dismissed with a wave. “And completely irrelevant to your sudden need for cash. What’s the matter? Your little fashion business failing?”
I bit my tongue. He didn’t deserve to know about the bracelet. “My business is doing just fine.
“Then you don’t need my money. He returned to his desk. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have actual work to do.”
“I know about the company’s finances,” I bluffed, desperation making me reckless. “I know you’re overleveraged. I know Ivy’s medical bills are draining you dry.”
Something dangerous flashed in his eyes. “You know nothing.”
“I know you don’t actually care about Ivy’s health,” I pushed. “You just care about how it affects. your bank account. It was always about the money with you, wasn’t it? Mother, me, even your precious Eleanor and her children–we’re all just assets or liabilities on your personal ledger.”
Harrison moved with surprising speed. One moment he was behind his desk, the next he was in front of me, his hand gripping my arm painfully.
“You ungrateful little bitch,” he hissed. “After everything I’ve provided-”
*Provided?” I laughed, though my arm throbbed where he gripped it. “What exactly have you provided me since Mom died? A stepmother who hated me? A stepsister who stole my fiancé? Or maybe you mean the constant criticism and emotional abuse?”
His grip tightened. “Are you recording this? Is that your game?”
“Would it matter if I was?” I challenged. “Afraid of people hearing how you really feel about your dying daughter?”
The slap came so fast I didn’t see it coming. My head snapped to the side, my cheek burning from the impact. For a moment, the world tilted.
“Get out,” he growled. “And don’t come back begging for handouts.”
A soft knock interrupted us. The door opened, revealing a young woman I didn’t recognize. She froze when she saw us, her eyes widening at my reddened cheek.
“I… I can come back later, Mr. Ashworth,” she stammered.
Harrison immediately released my arm, his demeanor shifting to professional cordiality. “No
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need, Amanda. My daughter was just leaving.”
I looked them, noting the woman’s too–tight skirt and nervous fidgeting. The secretary prototype, complete with batting eyelashes. History repeating itself.
“Of course she was,” I said, my voice dripping with knowing sarcasm. I turned to leave but paused at the door. “You never change, do you? I wonder if Eleanor knows about Amanda.”
His face darkened, but he didn’t respond. I walked out, head held high despite the stinging in my cheek and the tears threatening to spill.
Victoria was waiting at our usual café when I arrived thirty minutes later. One look at my face
and she was on her feet.
“That bastard hit you?” she hissed, gently touching my cheek.
I nodded, the humiliation of it finally hitting me. “I shouldn’t have gone. It was stupid to think he might help.
“Did anyone see?” Victoria asked, fury blazing in her eyes.
“His new secretary,” I replied, taking a sip of the water the waiter had brought. “Amanda or something. Young, pretty, definitely sleeping with him.”
Victoria’s eyes lit up. “I have an idea. Give me his schedule.”
“What?”
“Where will Harrison be tonight? You must still have some contacts in
the company.”
I pulled out my phone. “I can find out.”
Twenty minutes and three phone calls later, I had what Victoria wanted. “Board meeting ends at six. Then dinner with potential investors at Cafe Milano.”
Victoria shook her head. “Not good enough. We need him somewhere more… compromising.”
Understanding dawned on me. “You want to catch him with Amanda.”
“Exactly,” Victoria grinned wickedly. “I’ll handle it. You go home and put some ice on that cheek.
“Vicky, I don’t know if-”
“Trust me,” she insisted. “That man has gotten away with too much for too long.”
I spent the afternoon alternating between ice packs and concealer, trying to minimize the evidence of Harrison’s violence. Around 8 PM, Victoria called.
*Hilton Hotel, room 1407; she reported triumphantly. “Your father and his secretary checked in an hour ago. Separate entrances, but definitely the same room.”
My heart raced. “Are you sure?”
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“I saw them myself. Followed him from his office.”
I hesitated only a moment before dialing Eleanor’s number.
“Hazel?” She answered, sounding surprised. “What do you want?”
“Just thought you might want to know where your husband is spending his evening I replied. coolly.
“Cafe Milano with investors. I’m not an idiot.”
“Actually, he’s at the Hilton, Room 1407. With his secretary, Amanda.” I paused. “Wearing the gold watch you gave him for your anniversary.”
A sharp intake of breath. Then silence for several seconds.
“Why are you telling me this?” she finally asked, her voice tight.
“Let’s just say I’m not a fan of history repeating itself, I answered. “What you do with this Information is up to you.”
I hung up and texted Victoria: Meet me at the Hilton. Bring popcorn. The show’s about to
start.*
Thirty mer. Victoria and I were sitting in the Hilton lobby, watching the elevator numbers. My phone buzzed with a text from a contact at the front desk.
“Eleanor just checked in, I told Victoria. “She brought Ethan with her
Victoria raised an eyebrow. “Your stepbrother? Why him?”
“Muscle, I shrugged. “Harrison’s not a small man.”
I picked up my phone again and dialed a number.
“Metro Police? Yes, I’d like to report suspected prostitution activity at the Hilton Hotel downtown. Room 1407. Yes, I’ll hold
Victoria’s eyes widened. “You’re calling the cops too? Damn, girl.”
“When you take revenge, take it thoroughly” I said, channeling my Inner Damien Sterling.
We took the elevator up to the 14th floor just as commotion erupted down the hall. Stepping out, we were treated to exactly the spectacle I’d hoped for.
Eleanor was screaming obscenities, her designer purse swinging wildly as she struck Harrison repeatedly across the face and chest. Ethan had Amanda pinned against the wall, shouting about respect for his mother. Harrison, dressed only in boxers and an undershirt, was trying unsuccessfully to restrain his wife while maintaining what little dignity he had left.
Hotel security had already arrived and was trying to separate the warring parties when the distant wail of police sirens reached us.
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Victoria squeezed my hand. “Was it worth losing the fifty million?”
I watched my father’s life imploding in real time, his career and marriage crumbling before my eyes. The look of absolute humiliation on his face was priceless.
“Every penny” I whispered as the elevator doors opened again and uniformed officers stepped
