Chapter 193: Chapter 194: Herold’s Wrath
"I’m completely serious. You built your empire on corruption, Harold. On bribery and exploitation and environmental destruction and connections to organized crime. You hurt people. Destroyed communities. Broke laws for decades. And now you’re facing consequences for your actions, and you want me to help you avoid those consequences?"
Harold’s voice was desperate now. "Richard, please. If not for me, then for the sake of the business community. If they can do this to me, they can do it to anyone. Today it’s Ashford Industries, tomorrow it could be Blackwood Enterprises...."
"No." Richard’s voice was final. "It couldn’t be Blackwood Enterprises, because we don’t engage in the kind of systematic criminality you built your company on. We don’t bribe government officials or dump toxic waste or maintain unsafe working conditions. We run a legitimate business, Harold. Apparently that’s a concept you never quite grasped."
"So you’re just going to let them destroy me."
"They’re not destroying you, Harold. You destroyed yourself. They’re simply holding you accountable." Richard’s voice softened slightly, but remained firm. "Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to face federal prosecution. You’re going to be convicted on multiple counts. You’re going to go to prison for a very long time. And you’re going to do it without any help from me or anyone else in our circle."
"Richard...."
"And if I hear that you’ve made any further moves against Aria, any investigation, any harassment, any attempt to interfere with her life or her relationship with Damien....I will personally ensure that your prosecution proceeds with maximum severity. Do I make myself clear?"
Harold felt rage boiling up inside him. "You’re choosing her over me? A girl you’ve never even met over a business relationship spanning two decades?"
"I’m choosing my grandson’s happiness over a corrupt businessman’s attempt to avoid justice. There’s no contest, Harold." Richard paused. "And for what it’s worth, I’m meeting Aria in few days. Damien is bringing her to the estate for dinner. I’m looking forward to getting to know the woman who’s made such a profound impact on his life."
The words felt like a knife to Harold’s chest. Richard was not only refusing to help.....he was actively embracing the woman who’d destroyed everything Harold had built.
"This isn’t over," Harold said quietly, his voice shaking with barely controlled fury.
"Yes, it is." Richard’s voice was calm, certain, utterly unmoved by Harold’s threat. "It’s over, Harold. Your company is finished. Your reputation is destroyed. Your freedom is measured in days. And you have no allies left. Not me. Not anyone who matters. You’re done."
"We’ll see about that."
"No, we won’t. Because this conversation is finished, and you will never call this number again. Goodbye, Harold. I genuinely hope you use your time in prison to reflect on the choices that brought you here."
The line went dead.
Harold stood there holding his phone, his entire body shaking with rage and humiliation and despair.
Richard Blackwood....one of the most powerful men in New York, someone Harold had considered a peer and potential ally....had not only refused to help but had actively sided with Aria. Had threatened Harold on her behalf. Had made it clear that any further action against her would be met with Richard’s full opposition.
Harold was truly alone now. No company. No allies. No resources beyond what he could scrape together from his personal accounts before the feds froze everything.
But he still had one thing left: his rage. His absolute, burning need to make Aria pay for what she’d done to him.
If Richard thought this was over, he was wrong. If Aria thought she’d won completely, she was mistaken.
Harold would go to prison....that was inevitable now. But before he did, he would make sure Aria lost something precious too. Would make sure her perfect life with Damien Blackwood came crashing down around her.
He moved to his laptop and pulled up the email from the anonymous contact. The one who’d sent the photo of Aria at MIT, the one who claimed to have proof of her activities, the one who wanted revenge as much as Harold did.
Harold typed a reply: "I’m interested. Tell me what you have and what you want."
He hit send and sat back, waiting.
Within five minutes, a response came: "Meet me tomorrow night. I’ll send the location separately. Come alone. Bring $50,000 cash as a show of good faith. What I have is worth ten times that, but I need to know you’re serious."
Another message followed immediately with an address. A warehouse in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Not the kind of place Harold usually frequented, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
Harold looked around his study.....the expensive furniture, the original artwork, the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves filled with leather-bound first editions. All of it would be seized soon. Sold to pay restitution to his victims, to cover the massive fines he’d be assessed.
Everything he’d built, everything he’d worked for, gone.
Because of one girl who’d decided he needed to be stopped.
Well, if he was going down, he’d take her with him. Or at least damage her badly enough that Damien would finally see who she really was.
Harold pulled out his phone and made another call. This one to his bank.
"I need to make a large cash withdrawal," he said when his private banker answered. "Fifty thousand dollars. Tomorrow morning. Yes, I understand the reporting requirements. I don’t care. Have it ready."
He ended the call and poured himself another scotch.
Richard thought he was protecting her by threatening Harold. Thought his warning would make Harold back down.
But Richard had underestimated how much Harold had to lose....and how little he now had left to care about consequences.
When you’ve already lost everything, you become dangerous. Because you have nothing left to protect, nothing left to fear.
And Harold Ashford was about to show everyone just how dangerous a man with nothing to lose could be.
*****
LATER THAT NIGHT
Harold stood on his penthouse balcony, looking out at the New York skyline. From up here, the city looked beautiful. Orderly. Like everything made sense and had its proper place.
But he knew better. Knew that beneath the beautiful surface was chaos and corruption and people stepping on each other to get ahead.
He’d been one of those people. Had climbed to the top by being more ruthless, more willing to break rules, more capable of moral compromise than his competitors.
And for twenty years, it had worked. He’d been rich, powerful, respected.
Until Aria Chen decided he needed to be taken down.
His phone buzzed. A text from the anonymous number: "Tomorrow night. 11 PM. Don’t be late. And Harold? This information will change everything. But you need to be prepared to use it properly. Half-measures won’t work against someone like Aria Chen."
Harold typed back: "I don’t do half-measures."
The response was immediate: "Good. Neither do I. See you tomorrow."
Harold looked back out at the city, his jaw set with determination.
Aria Chen had destroyed his empire. Had exposed his crimes. Had turned him into a pariah facing decades in prison.
But she’d made one critical mistake: she’d left him alive and free long enough to strike back.
And when he struck, when he finally unleashed everything he was preparing, she would learn an important lesson.
You don’t destroy a man like Harold Ashford without paying a price.
And her price was about to come due.
