Chapter 199: Chapter 200: Who Did It?
"The FBI is at my door. The SEC has frozen our assets. The IRS is auditing twenty years of tax returns." Harold’s voice was raw with pain and rage. "Everything I built, Victoria. Everything I worked for. Gone in a matter of days."
"Who did it?" Though Victoria thought she already knew the answer.
"Aria Chen!" Harold’s voice was pure venom. "I can’t prove it definitively.....she was too careful for that...but I know it was her. The timing is too perfect. I tried to sabotage her position at the hospital, and suddenly my entire empire is exposed and destroyed? That’s not coincidence. That’s revenge."
Victoria felt her rage crystallize into something cold and sharp. Aria Chen. The woman who’d stolen Damien. The woman who’d watched while Damien had her tortured.
"She looked horrified," Victoria said quietly. "When she saw what Damien did to my hands. She applied first aid, tried to help, looked absolutely terrified of what she was seeing. I thought...I thought maybe she was different. Maybe she wasn’t as bad as I thought."
"She’s worse," Harold said flatly. "She’s worse because she hides behind that innocent face and those big eyes while being just as ruthless as any of us. More ruthless, actually, because no one sees it coming. She destroyed my company, Victoria. Exposed crimes that will send me to prison. And she did it all while looking like a sweet, innocent doctor who just wants to help people."
’’Hows’s Mom? How is she handling the whole situation?’’
’’Your Mother isn’t doing well at the moment. She hasn’t gone out since the whole thing happened..
’’Is she there with you? Can i speak with her?’’
’’No she isn’t here right now, I’m at the office. But i’ll have her call you immediately i get home because she has been so warried about you.’’
’’Please do daddy, I miss her so much’’
’’I will honey’’
"So what do we do?" Victoria asked. "How do we fight back? Daddy? We cant let them get away with this Daddy"
"We can’t do anything for now. At least not yet. Not directly." Harold’s voice was heavy with frustration. "I’m facing federal prosecution right now, And you’re in Australia recovering from severe injuries. Neither of us is in a position to move against them right now. But Victoria...."
"What?"
"I’m not accepting this. I’m not going down without taking them with me." Harold’s voice hardened with determination. "I have information. Evidence about Aria Chen that could destroy her relationship with Damien. Proof that she’s not the innocent victim everyone thinks she is."
Victoria felt a flicker of hope through the pain and rage. "What kind of evidence Daddy?"
"Evidence of her criminal hacking history. Companies she destroyed before she ever met Damien. People she hurt. A pattern of behavior that proves she’s been operating in the shadows for years." Harold paused. "I’m working on getting this information to Richard Blackwood. Once he sees what kind of woman his grandson is really involved with, everything will change."
"How long?" Victoria asked. "How long until you can make your move?"
"Two weeks. Maybe less. I have some final pieces to put in place, but it’s coming together." Harold’s voice softened slightly. "But Victoria, you need to stay in Australia. Stay quiet. Let them think you’ve been neutralized as a threat. If you come back to New York now, angry and broken and obviously seeking revenge, Damien will be watching for you. He might even decide to finish what he started."
Victoria wanted to argue. Wanted to get on the next plane to New York and show up at Damien’s office and make him see what he’d done to her.
But Harold was right. She was in no condition to fight anyone. Could barely feed herself, let alone execute any kind of revenge plan.
"Fine Daddy," she said finally, exhaustion pulling at her. "I’ll stay here. I’ll do the physical therapy, I’ll heal as much as I can, I’ll stay out of sight. But Daddy...."
"Yes?"
"When it’s time, when you finally make your move against them, I want to know about it. I want to hear every detail of how Damien Blackwood’s perfect life falls apart."
"You’ll know everything, sweetheart. I promise." Harold’s voice was grim. "Damien broke your hands. Aria destroyed my company. They both think they’ve won, think they’ve gotten away with it. But they’re about to learn that you don’t destroy people like us without consequences."
"I loved him," Victoria whispered, the admission painful. "I really loved him, Daddy. And he looked at me like I was nothing. Like I was garbage to be disposed of."
"I know, sweetheart. But that love is going to turn into something much more useful. The kind of hate that gives you strength. The kind that makes you patient and strategic." Harold paused. "Rest now. Heal. And when I make my move, when I finally expose Aria Chen for what she really is, you’ll have your revenge. Both of us will."
The sedative was really kicking in now, making Victoria’s words slur. "Make them pay, Daddy. Make them both pay for what they did to us."
"I will, sweetheart. I promise you, I will."
The phone slipped away as the nurse took it, and Victoria felt herself being pulled under by the medication. But even as consciousness faded, even as the darkness claimed her again, one thought remained crystal clear:
Damien Blackwood had destroyed her hands. Had tortured her, starved her, broken her both physically and emotionally. Had looked at her with such cold contempt that she’d finally understood he had never loved her, would never love her, saw her as nothing more than an annoying obstacle to be removed.
And Aria Chen had destroyed her father’s empire.
They’d both hurt her, hurt her family and both of them thought they’d won.
But they’d made one critical mistake: they’d left her alive and capable of planning.
And that mistake was going to cost them everything.
