Chapter 138: Chapter 140: Ashford’s Plan
Aria was still riding the high from this morning’s confrontation when she arrived at Damien’s office at Blackwood Enterprises.
She’d handled Victoria’s attempted humiliation that morning, and she actually felt sorry for her, Because she knows what it feels like to love someone and she also knows what it feels like when the feeling isn’t reciprocated.
But mostly, she was excited to see Damien and tell him about the shoes. About how they’d fit perfectly, how beautiful they were, how thoughtful he’d been to commission them specifically for her.
She knocked on his office door.
"Come in."
He was at his desk, reviewing contracts, but the moment she entered, his entire focus shifted to her. His eyes tracked her movement across the room with that intensity that still made her stomach flutter.
"How was shopping?" he asked, setting aside his papers.
"Interesting," she said, moving around the desk to perch on the edge near him. "I had a Victoria encounter."
His expression immediately darkened. "What did she do?"
"Nothing too dramatic. She tried to buy my shoes, actually. The ones you commissioned." Aria watched his reaction carefully. "She didn’t realize they were custom made for me until the sales associate told her."
Damien’s jaw clenched. "Where did this happen?"
"Bergdorf’s. In the shoe department. There were witnesses." Aria reached out to touch his hand. "It’s fine. I handled it. She left pretty quickly after realizing she couldn’t have them."
"She is begining to get on my nerves, I think i should treat her a lesson, so she’ll stop bothering you" Damien said quietly, his voice cold with promise.
"Hey." Aria squeezed his hand. "I’m okay. She’s just... jealous and lashing out. I almost felt sorry for her."
"Don’t." His hand came up to cup her face. "Don’t waste your sympathy on Victoria Ashford. She’s not some harmless jealous ex. She’s vindictive and connected, and she’s not going to stop."
"I know," Aria admitted. "But what can she really do? We’re together. Your grandfather will meet me and form his own opinion. Victoria’s tantrums don’t change anything."
Damien looked like he wanted to argue, but instead he pulled her into his lap, his arms wrapping around her waist possessively.
"Tell me about the shoes," he said, his lips brushing her ear. "Did they fit?"
"Perfectly. They’re beautiful, Damien. I can’t believe you did that."
"I wanted you to have something made just for you. Something no one else could have." His hand slid up her thigh, beneath her skirt. "Like everything else about you....uniquely mine."
"We’re in your office," she reminded him, even as her breathing quickened.
"I’m aware. I’m also aware that I haven’t touched you in almost four hours, which is approximately three hours and fifty-five minutes too long."
"Damien...."
But he was already kissing her neck, his hand moving higher, and Aria found herself forgetting about Victoria Ashford entirely.
Because this....being wanted like this, being claimed like this, being loved like this....this was real. This mattered. And whatever games Victoria wanted to play, they couldn’t touch what she and Damien had built together.
At least, that’s what she thought then.
She had no idea that Harold Ashford was already making calls. Already gathering information. Already setting in motion a plan that would test everything she and Damien had fought so hard to build.
She had no idea that the real battle was just beginning.
*****
Later That Evening
Harold Ashford sat in his study at his Upper East Side townhouse, a glass of thirty-year-old scotch in one hand and his phone in the other.
Three hours of calls had been productive. Very productive.
"Luke," he said when the private investigator answered. "What have you found?"
"Preliminary information on Aria Chen," Luke replied, the sound of papers shuffling in the background. "It’s... interesting."
"Go on."
"She’s legitimate in terms of her academic credentials. MIT at sixteen, full scholarship, graduated summa cum laude at nineteen. Accepted to Johns Hopkins medical school, attended for one year before withdrawing when her mother was diagnosed. Medical records show the mother, Mei Chen, had a rare degenerative disease....should have been terminal within six months."
"Should have been?"
"That’s the interesting part. Mei Chen made a complete recovery approximately two months ago. Full remission. Her doctors have no medical explanation for it."
Harold’s mind worked quickly. "The plant. Vitalis whatever. It actually worked."
"Appears so. Which means Aria Chen infiltrated Damien Blackwood’s estate, stole from him successfully, and used what she stole to cure her mother. Then somehow convinced him to forgive her and start a relationship."
"That’s not love," Harold said. "That’s manipulation. She saw an opportunity and exploited it."
"Maybe. Or maybe Blackwood really is that infatuated. People do irrational things when they think they’re in love."
"What about financial records?"
"The Chens were poor. Very poor. Living in a rent-controlled apartment in Chinatown. Mei worked as a seamstress, barely made enough to cover expenses. Aria had student loans, but managed to pay them off....probably with money she made as a hacker."
"Can we prove she was doing anything illegal? Hacking for hire? Anything?"
"Not yet. She was careful. But I have people digging. If there’s something there, we’ll find it."
Harold made notes. "What about her time as Blackwood’s maid?"
"Employed under the name Sarah Martinez. Fake social security number, fake references.....all very professional forgeries. She knew what she was doing. This wasn’t some desperate amateur; this was planned and executed with precision."
"So she’s a criminal," Harold said with satisfaction. "Identity theft, fraud, trespassing, theft. A whole list of crimes."
"Technically, yes. But Blackwood hasn’t pressed charges. And statute of limitations aside, if he’s chosen to forgive her, there’s not much....."
"I don’t need to press charges," Harold interrupted. "I just need Richard Blackwood to understand what kind of woman his grandson has involved himself with. A woman who lies, steals, and manipulates to get what she wants."
"There’s more," Luke said. "I’m still digging into her art career....apparently she sells paintings under a pseudonym....and there might be some... interesting connections there. Should have more in a few days."
"Good. Keep digging. I want everything. Every secret, every mistake, every questionable choice she’s ever made. I want ammunition."
He ended the call and sat back, sipping his scotch thoughtfully.
Aria Chen was smarter than he’d expected. More accomplished. But that didn’t change the fundamental facts: she was a nobody from nowhere who’d lied and stolen her way into Damien Blackwood’s life.
And Harold Ashford was going to make sure Richard Blackwood understood that completely.
His phone buzzed. A text from Victoria: Apology letter written. Sending tomorrow. What’s next?
Harold smiled.
Next, we make friends. And then, we make her fall.
He raised his glass in a silent toast to the game ahead.
Because this wasn’t personal. This was business. And in business, Harold Ashford always won.
