Chapter 3A Mother's Justice

After that fiasco, neither my father nor Hugh had any appetite for entertaining guests. This gave me the perfect opportunity to mingle, making my face known to the titans of industry present. As things stood, I was, undeniably, the sole heir to Vance Enterprises. These corporate sharks, seeing how "malleable" I appeared, were all too eager to offer their support, their eyes gleaming with greed and calculation.

My informant inside the Vance mansion told me that my father had postponed his plan to publicly announce his other family. Predictably, this led to a tearful, dramatic scene. It took hours of placating from my father to calm Madeline and her two children. Even Hugh, my brand-new husband who should have been with me, rushed over on the pretext of an "urgent business matter."

I can only imagine what new scheme they concocted to pacify the trio. In the end, Hugh was seen escorting Celia to her room. He didn't emerge for two hours.

He finally returned home at three in the morning and went straight to the study to sleep.

The next day, Madeline, who had been my father's executive assistant, was inexplicably promoted to Chief Financial Officer. Caleb went from a bottom-rung position at the main office to being appointed President of a subsidiary. Celia received the deed to a luxurious waterfront villa.

And me? His legitimate daughter? To this day, I had never even set foot inside the corporate headquarters.

It didn't matter. I didn't need to be there. My people—or rather, my mother's people—were already inside.

I also heard my father was establishing a new charity, "The Crestwood Foundation." A thinly veiled attempt at legitimacy. Anyone with half a brain could see it was a fund for Caleb and Celia.

The moment Hugh left for work, I made a call.

"It's time. And one more thing. Caleb is at the subsidiary now. He's an incompetent, greedy, lecherous fool. Give him enough rope to hang himself. I want him to create the biggest disaster possible."

I had just hung up when I heard a key in the front door. I assumed it was Hugh, having forgotten something. But it was Celia.

And behind her stood three menacing thugs.

My eyes darted around the living room, taking in the evidence of my "work" from the previous night. I instinctively shrank back, my body trembling as I retreated further into the room.

"What... what are you doing here? How do you have a key to my house?"

"This is breaking and entering! It's illegal!"

My hands shook as I fumbled for my phone to call the police, but Celia swatted it out of my hand with a contemptuous slap. A vicious kick sent me sprawling to the floor. She grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked my head back.

"Look at you, you pathetic little coward. How dare you steal my father? How dare you steal my Hugh?!"

"You should have followed your dead mother's example and gone straight to hell!"