CHAPTER 4 – EVERYTHING THEY STOLE
CHAPTER 4 – EVERYTHING THEY STOLE
Victoria exploded.
"This is illegal!"
"It isn't," Daniel replied.
She grabbed a crystal vase from the foyer.
"I'll smash every piece of furniture before I leave."
"You may."
He calmly nodded toward the security cameras.
"Everything is being recorded."
Victoria froze.
"Any intentional damage will be added to the civil lawsuit already filed against you."
"Lawsuit?"
Sophia Sterling stepped out of the lead SUV.
Elegant as always.
Fearless.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Ashford."
Victoria's face twisted with rage.
"You planned this!"
"No."
Sophia smiled faintly.
"You planned this... the day you pushed Audrey down the stairs."
Dominic's heart sank.
"What lawsuit?"
Sophia opened another file.
"Attempted assault resulting in the death of an unborn child."
Victoria's face turned white.
"You have no proof."
Sophia looked toward the driveway.
"I believe we do."
A neighboring couple slowly approached.
"We saw everything," the elderly woman said.
"You shoved her."
Another voice joined them.
The housekeeper stepped forward with tears in her eyes.
"I've stayed quiet for three years."
She looked directly at Dominic.
"I can't anymore."
"You mother called Audrey worthless every single day."
A gardener raised his hand.
"I saw Mrs. Victoria push her."
Then the chauffeur spoke.
"I drove Mrs. Audrey to the hospital before the ambulance arrived."
One witness.
Then another.
Then another.
Years of silence collapsed in minutes.
Victoria realized every employee she had mistreated was finally speaking.
"No..." she whispered.
"This isn't happening."
"It is," Sophia answered.
"And this is only the beginning."
Across town...
Audrey sat inside a quiet office overlooking the city.
She watched the security footage from the mansion on a tablet.
Not because she enjoyed it.
Because she needed to know she had finally escaped.
Sophia entered with fresh coffee.
"They've been removed."
Audrey nodded silently.
"What about Dominic?"
"He asked where you are."
"And?"
"I told him the truth."
Audrey looked up.
"What truth?"
"That the woman he ignored..."
Sophia smiled gently.
"...was the one who gave him everything."
Audrey closed the tablet.
For the first time in weeks...
She cried.
Not because she wanted Dominic back.
Not because she missed the mansion.
Not because of the money.
She cried for the tiny heartbeat she would never hear again.
Outside the window, rain began to fall.
Miles away, Dominic sat alone inside his car with nowhere left to go.
His company was gone.
His mansion was gone.
His mother faced criminal charges.
His mistress had stopped answering his calls.
Only then did he finally understand the price of choosing pride over love.
But he still didn't know the biggest secret.
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Audrey wasn't simply walking away from his life.
She was preparing to build an empire that would make everyone who had ever underestimated her regret it forever.
