Chapter 3 - The Empire of the True Heir
I stood up straight,
smoothing down my skirt,
feeling lighter than I had in over a decade.
"You see,
Victor,
I took all that borrowed money," I explained,
speaking slowly so his fading brain could comprehend,
"and I invested it."
I looked toward the hospital room door,
where a tall,
handsome young man was standing.
Our son,
Ethan.
He walked into the room,
his posture perfect,
his eyes cold as he looked at his dying father.
"I invested it into a holding company,
under Ethan's name," I said proudly.
"While you were busy buying cheap jewelry and ugly handbags for another man's whore,
I was building an empire for our legitimate son."
Victor let out a pathetic sob,
reaching a trembling hand toward Ethan.
Ethan did not move.
He simply stared at the man who had abandoned us in every way that mattered.
"The holding company now owns the debt on those eight properties," Ethan said,
his voice deep,
authoritative,
completely devoid of emotion.
"Which means," Ethan continued,
pulling a document from his own jacket,
"we are the primary creditors."
Melissa fell to her knees,
sobbing uncontrollably,
her designer bag forgotten on the floor.
"I will be foreclosing on all eight properties by next Tuesday," Ethan announced,
looking directly at Melissa.
"And I will be seizing the Mercedes,
the Range Rover,
and the Porsche to cover the outstanding interest."
Victor's mother,
still hyperventilating in the chair,
suddenly looked up at me with wide,
pleading eyes.
"But what about my house?" she croaked,
her voice frail and terrified.
"The one Victor bought for me?"
I smiled warmly at her,
remembering how she had always looked down on me,
always treated me like a temporary fixture.
"Oh,
Alice," I said sweetly,
"Victor didn't buy that house,
my holding company did."
I paused,
letting the silence stretch,
letting the dread sink deep into her bones.
"You have thirty days to vacate the premises,
Alice."
The old woman let out a horrific shriek,
clutching her head,
rocking back and forth in absolute despair.
Everything Victor had built,
everything he had stolen from us,
had been systematically dismantled right under his nose.
May you like
He had spent thirteen years playing checkers,
while I had been mastering chess in the dark.
