Chapter 6 - The One Person She Never Expected to Turn Against HerVictoria stared at me as if she hadn't heard correctly.
"Divorce?"
The word barely escaped her lips.
"No... Ethan, you're angry. You'll calm down."
I didn't answer.
Richard, my attorney, remained on speakerphone.
"I'll have the documents ready within the hour," he said.
"Also," I added, "freeze every company credit card issued under Victoria's name. Cancel her access to all corporate accounts and executive privileges immediately."
"Understood."
The call ended.
Victoria's eyes widened in panic.
"You can't do that! Those cards are mine!"
"They were never yours," I replied. "They belonged to the company. I simply allowed you to use them."
Her hands began to shake.
"You'll embarrass my family."
"No."
I looked at her steadily.
"You embarrassed yourself."
Before she could answer, her phone rang.
She glanced at the screen and immediately answered.
"Dad!"
Her voice was filled with desperate relief.
"Dad, Ethan's overreacting. He's talking about divorce. You need to speak to him."
She turned the phone toward me.
"My father wants to—"
"I don't."
I walked away.
Victoria's expression crumbled.
She put the phone back to her ear, expecting her father to reassure her.
Instead, his voice boomed loudly enough for everyone nearby to hear.
"What exactly did you do?"
Victoria hesitated.
"I... it's just a misunderstanding."
"I've already received the security footage."
Her face went pale.
"What?"
"The video is everywhere."
Daniel had quietly sent copies to my legal team and secure cloud storage the moment I ordered it.
There was no deleting it now.
No hiding it.
No rewriting the truth.
Her father continued, his tone colder than I had ever imagined.
"I spent thirty years building this family's reputation."
"And in one afternoon, you managed to destroy it."
"Dad..."
"Don't call me for help."
"You humiliated an elderly woman who sacrificed everything for her son."
"I taught you better than that."
The line went dead.
Victoria slowly lowered the phone.
For the first time in her life, the powerful man who had protected her from every consequence had refused to save her.
She looked at me with tears streaming down her face.
"I have nowhere to go."
I glanced toward my mother.
She was sitting quietly in the living room now, holding the loaf of cinnamon bread I had finally given her.
She smiled at me through tired eyes, more concerned about my pain than her own.
That smile reminded me of every sacrifice she had ever made.
Then I looked back at Victoria.
"You should have thought about that," I said quietly, "before you made my mother feel like she had nowhere to belong."
I turned to Daniel.
"Escort Mrs. Cole upstairs."
"She has one hour to pack her personal belongings."
"Nothing that belongs to the company leaves this house."
Daniel nodded.
"Yes, sir."
Victoria didn't resist.
She simply stood there, broken, as two security officers escorted her toward the staircase.
The front door closed behind them with a soft click.
May you like
For the first time since I built that mansion...
It finally felt like my mother was safe in her own home.
Related Stories
