Chapter 180: Chapter 181: The Office Visit
DAMIEN’S POV
Damien Blackwood stood at the floor-to-ceiling windows of his office, hands in his pockets, watching the city lights glitter in the darkness below. It was nearly 7 PM, and most of his employees had already left for the day, the building settling into its after-hours quiet.
Behind him, Marcus sat at the conference table with a laptop open, reviewing the information that had come to light earlier that day. The information that had set the business world on fire and sent Harold Ashford’s empire into a death spiral.
"Boss," Marcus said, his voice carefully neutral. "Have you seen the latest updates on the Ashford situation?"
Damien turned from the window, his expression unreadable. "Show me."
Marcus angled the laptop screen so Damien could see. Multiple news windows were open....CNN, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, even international outlets like the BBC and Financial Times. All of them leading with the same story.
"ASHFORD INDUSTRIES SCANDAL: Massive Data Breach Exposes Decades of Corporate Crime"
"FBI RAIDS ASHFORD HEADQUARTERS: Criminal Investigation Launched"
"HAROLD ASHFORD FACES RICO CHARGES: Former Associates Beginning to Cooperate"
Damien’s eyes scanned the articles quickly, absorbing the key details. The SEC had already launched an investigation. The IRS was reviewing fifteen years of tax returns. The FBI had executed search warrants at Ashford Industries headquarters, three factory locations, and Harold’s personal residence. Multiple federal agencies were now involved.
Harold Ashford’s stock had dropped 73% in a single trading day. His board of directors had called an emergency meeting. Three major investors had already filed lawsuits. His wife had been photographed leaving their home with suitcases, presumably heading to their vacation property in the Hamptons.
It was complete and total destruction.
And Damien knew exactly who was responsible.
He walked back to his desk and sat down, steepling his fingers as he looked at Marcus. His head of security was watching him with an expression that suggested he’d come to the same conclusion.
"What do you think?" Damien asked casually.
Marcus was quiet for a moment, choosing his words carefully. "Boss, the sophistication of this hack... The level of access they achieved... The way they copied only the most damaging files, avoiding anything that would harm innocent employees... The virus they left behind to cover their tracks..."
He trailed off, and Damien simply waited.
"There are maybe a dozen people in the world with the skills to pull this off," Marcus continued. "Most of them work for intelligence agencies or are currently in federal prison. The few who operate independently charge millions for this level of work. And none of them would take this kind of personal risk for anything less than a very good reason."
"Your point?"
"My point is that this wasn’t a professional job. Not in the traditional sense. This was personal." Marcus met Damien’s eyes directly. "And we both know someone who has both the skills and the motivation."
Damien smiled then....a small, genuinely amused smile that Marcus rarely saw. "Do we?"
"Boss..." Marcus’s expression was caught between disbelief and reluctant admiration. "Are you saying... Are you saying that Miss Chen...?"
Damien’s smile widened. "Isn’t she amazing?"
Marcus opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again. "But Harold’s company has one of the strongest cybersecurity systems in the industry. Second only to ours. The kind of skills required to breach that system...."
"Are exactly the skills Aria demonstrated when she infiltrated our own network months ago," Damien finished. "Or did you forget that she hacked into Blackwood Enterprises’ supposedly impenetrable security system, accessed confidential files, and even planted informations she wanted us to belief?"
Marcus sat back in his chair, shaking his head. "I didn’t forget. I’m just... Harold’s system is different from ours. More paranoid. More redundant. She would have had to..." He trailed off again, clearly struggling to process it.
"She would have had to be exceptionally skilled and determined," Damien said. "All of which describes Aria perfectly."
"Does she know you know?"
"No. And I’m not going to tell her. Not yet." Damien’s expression softened slightly. "She needs this. Needs to prove to herself that she can fight her own battles, protect herself without relying on me. If I confront her about it now, it takes away from her victory."
Marcus studied his boss for a long moment. "You’re really proud of her, aren’t you?"
"Extraordinarily proud." Damien stood and walked back to the windows. "Harold Ashford tried to destroy her career before it even started. Tried to use his influence to sabotage her return to medicine. And instead of coming to me for help, instead of hiding behind my power and resources, she handled it herself. Completely. With a level of precision and effectiveness that even I have to admire."
"So what do we do now?"
Damien turned back to face Marcus. "Now we make sure Harold can never recover from this. We escalate the situation by ensuring the right information gets to the right federal agencies. We make sure prosecutors have everything they need for airtight cases. We systematically destroy any remaining influence he might have."
"You want to finish what she started."
"I want to ensure that Harold Ashford never threatens anyone I love ever again. Aria lit the fire. We’re going to make sure it burns everything to the ground."
Marcus nodded slowly, then pulled up another window on his laptop. "I’ve already compiled a list of the federal agencies that should receive copies of these files, I can have encrypted packages delivered to specific investigators within these organizations by tomorrow morning."
"Do it. But make sure it can’t be traced back to us."
"Already handled. The packages will appear to come from an anonymous whistleblower within Ashford Industries itself."
Damien picked up his phone to call Aria, They spoke for a while before he ended the call and looked at Marcus. "She’s coming here. Let’s wrap this up before she arrives."
They spent the next twenty minutes reviewing their strategy for ensuring Harold’s complete destruction. Marcus had already identified three specific federal prosecutors who were known for being aggressive with corporate crime cases. Had compiled dossiers showing exactly which evidence would be most useful for which types of charges.
"We should also consider the civil litigation angle," Marcus suggested. "Some of these environmental violations affected specific communities. If we can connect them with the right plaintiff’s attorneys..."
"Do it. Harold should be fighting lawsuits for the next decade."
By the time they finished, it was nearly 7:30. Damien was reviewing one final document when his desk phone buzzed. His executive assistant’s voice came through the speaker.
"Mr. Blackwood, Miss Chen is here."
"Send her in."
