Chapter 5: The Forty Million Dollar Mistake
The news reached Julian before lunch.
Not through the media.
Not through rumors.
Through numbers.
For the first time since founding Croft Holdings, his company's stock had fallen for three consecutive hours without a single public scandal to explain it. Investors weren't selling in panic—they were quietly pulling away, as if they had all received the same invisible warning.
Julian stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows of his office, watching Denver's skyline while his executive team filled the conference room behind him.
"Give me one logical explanation," he said without turning around.
No one answered.
The chief financial officer finally broke the silence.
"We've contacted every major partner."
"And?"
"They all said the same thing."
Julian turned slowly.
"What did they say?"
"They're... reassessing their long-term exposure."
"Exposure to what?"
"They wouldn't tell us."
His fist slammed onto the conference table.
"I don't pay you millions to bring me excuses."
At that moment, his assistant rushed in again, his face pale.
"Sir... we received another report from New York."
Julian's patience snapped.
"Unless the building is on fire, it can wait."
"I'm afraid... it can't."
The assistant placed a sealed envelope on the table.
Inside was a single sheet listing the companies that had quietly suspended negotiations with Croft Holdings during the past six hours.
Julian counted them.
Three.
Seven.
Twelve.
Twenty-one.
Every name on the page represented a strategic partner his company depended on.
"This is impossible."
The assistant swallowed hard.
"Our analysts discovered something else."
"What now?"
"They all have one thing in common."
Julian's eyes narrowed.
"Ashford Capital."
Again, that name.
Again, the invisible hand tightening around his business.
Before Julian could speak, his phone vibrated.
It was Cassandra.
He answered impatiently.
"What?"
Her frightened voice came through immediately.
"Julian... reporters are outside my apartment."
He frowned.
"Why?"
"They're asking whether I know anything about the mysterious Ashford heiress."
Julian stiffened.
"What does that have to do with you?"
"I don't know! They keep asking whether she's connected to your wife."
For the first time, Evelyn's face flashed across his mind.
Bruised.
Bleeding.
Lying in the rain while he tossed the forty-million-dollar check at her feet.
He dismissed the thought almost instantly.
Impossible.
Evelyn had grown up in a small town.
She had no powerful family.
No influential friends.
She couldn't possibly have any connection to the wealthiest private empire in America.
Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in Manhattan, Evelyn sat inside Ashford Global's private medical center.
A team of specialists carefully examined the latest CT scans.
The chief surgeon removed the images from the light board and turned toward Arthur.
"Eight fractured ribs."
He paused before continuing.
"Two fractures came dangerously close to puncturing her lung."
Arthur's face hardened.
"If treatment had been delayed another few hours?"
The doctor answered quietly.
"She might not have survived."
The room fell silent.
Arthur looked at Evelyn.
"I can have Julian arrested today."
She gently shook her head.
"No."
"He ordered the assault himself."
"I know."
"Then why wait?"
Evelyn reached into her handbag and slowly placed the soaked forty-million-dollar check onto the table.
Everyone stared at it.
Arthur frowned.
"You actually brought it?"
"I wanted to remember."
She ran one finger across Julian's signature.
"He believed this piece of paper could buy my silence."
The doctor looked at her in disbelief.
"What will you do with it?"
A cold smile touched Evelyn's lips.
"Cash it."
Arthur blinked.
"You intend to keep his money?"
"Of course."
She slipped the check back into its envelope.
"Forty million isn't compensation."
"It's evidence."
She stood carefully despite the sharp pain radiating through her chest.
Every movement reminded her of the price Julian had placed on her life.
Five million dollars for each broken rib.
She walked toward the window overlooking Manhattan's glittering skyline.
Without turning around, she spoke calmly.
"Julian thinks he purchased eight broken bones."
Her voice became colder with every word.
May you like
"But what he actually bought..."
"...was the most expensive mistake of his entire life."
