Chapter 3 - The Ashford Retaliation
Dawn broke over the city with a gray, suffocating mist.
Inside the Ashford mansion, crystal vases had been smashed across the polished hardwood floor.
Victoria Ashford paced back and forth like a caged predator, her silk robe trailing behind her.
Her husband, Richard Ashford, sat on a leather sofa with his head buried in his trembling hands.
“Do you realize what you have done?” Richard groaned for the tenth time that morning.
“Stop whining like a coward, Richard!” Victoria screamed, slamming her fist against an antique desk.
“We are the Ashfords! We built this city’s elite society!” she shouted.
“Daniel Bennett owns sixty percent of our primary maritime debt!” Richard yelled, looking up with bloodshot eyes.
“If he calls that note today, the banks will seize our properties by noon!”
Victoria sneered, her vanity completely blinding her to reality.
“He’s bluffing to protect that senile old woman!” she insisted loudly.
“No billionaire goes to war over an eighty-five-year-old peasant in a wheelchair!”
“She is his mother, Victoria! His only living relative!” Richard cried out in sheer agony.
“Then we strike first,” Victoria said, her eyes narrowing with malicious cunning.
She grabbed her tablet and dialed the chief editor of the city's largest tabloid newspaper.
“Arthur, this is Victoria Ashford,” she said in a sickeningly sweet voice.
“I have the story of the century for your morning edition.”
“A violent assault at my son’s wedding reception, carried out by an unstable waitress hired by an envious rival family.”
On the other end of the line, the tabloid editor leaned forward, hungry for scandal.
“Do you have names, Mrs. Ashford?” Arthur asked eagerly.
“The waitress is Maya Collins, a delinquent girl with a history of insubordination,” Victoria lied smoothly.
“And she was acting under the encouragement of Eleanor Bennett, who caused a scene after being denied VIP entry.”
“We’re writing the front-page draft right now,” Arthur promised with a sleazy grin.
Victoria ended the call, a wicked, triumphant smirk returning to her lips.
“By lunchtime, that little server will be radioactive in this city.”
“No employer will touch her, and the Bennett name will be dragged through the mud.”
Meanwhile, on Fourth Avenue, Maya Collins was stepping out of her apartment building.
She had barely walked ten paces when two burly men in dark suits stepped out of a black SUV.
“Maya Collins?” one of them demanded in a gruff, intimidating voice.
Maya instinctively took a step back, her heart hammering against her ribs.
“Who are you?” she asked, clutching her purse tightly.
“We represent the Metropolitan Hospitality Union,” the second man said coldly.
“Consider your service certification revoked effective immediately.”
“On what grounds?” Maya gasped, her voice trembling.
“Gross physical misconduct and breach of executive client safety,” the man recited from a laminated sheet.
“Furthermore, your landlord has been informed of your pending criminal investigation.”
Maya felt the world spinning around her as the ground seemed to vanish beneath her feet.
“My landlord? I haven’t missed a single rent payment!” she pleaded.
“The building owner decided he doesn’t want felons living on the premises,” the man said with a cruel smirk.
“You have until six o’clock this evening to clear your belongings out onto the curb.”
The two men turned and climbed back into the SUV, speeding away with squealing tires.
Maya collapsed against the brick wall of the bakery next door, burying her face in her hands.
She was completely ruined in less than twelve hours.
Her career was gone, her reputation was destroyed, and she was about to be homeless.
A single tear rolled down her cheek, landing on the cold concrete sidewalk.
“Feeling defeated already, Miss Collins?” a deep, resonant voice asked from the street.
Maya looked up, wiping her eyes frantically.
A sleek black Maybach had pulled silently to the curb beside her.
The rear window rolled down, revealing the striking, aristocratic profile of Daniel Bennett.
“Get in,” Daniel commanded gently.
Maya hesitated, looking down at her humble clothes.
“Mr. Bennett, you don't understand, they’ve blacklisted me, and I’m being evicted!”
Daniel pushed the door open and stepped out onto the gritty sidewalk without caring about his bespoke suit.
“I understand completely,” Daniel said, his eyes burning with cold, focused fire.
“Which is why I just bought your apartment building three minutes ago.”
Maya stared at him in utter disbelief.
“You... you bought my building?”
May you like
“I bought the entire city block, Maya,” Daniel said calmly.
“And now, we are going to dismantle the Ashford family piece by piece.”
