Chapter 5 - The Queen's Final Word
"You can't do this!" Charles roared, slamming his fist onto the glass table, his face purple with rage. "I will never sign that! I will let the company burn before I hand it over to you!"
"The company is already burning, Charles," I said coldly. "If you don't sign that document today, my banks will call in the massive loans they secretly purchased from your creditors last week. By Monday morning, you won't just be bankrupt; you will be facing federal investigations for the fraudulent pension funds you used to cover your margins."
Charles choked, clutching his chest, realizing he was entirely, hopelessly trapped.
Daniel didn't look at the contract. He didn't care about the company anymore. He looked at me, tears streaming down his face, completely broken.
"Take the company, Claire," Daniel wept, his voice pathetic and hollow. "Take it all. I don't care. Just please... please let me see my daughters. Let me be a father. I'll divorce Victoria. I'll leave my family. I’ll do whatever you want."
I stood up, leaning over the table, staring directly into the icy blue eyes of the man I used to love. I felt absolutely no warmth, no hesitation, and no mercy.
"You made your choice at that dinner table two years ago, Daniel," I whispered, the words echoing with a lethal finality. "You chose your family's name over me. And now, I am taking your family's name, and you are never coming anywhere near my daughters. They don't have a father. They have a mother who owns the world."
Daniel buried his face in his hands, letting out a loud, agonizing sob as he signed his name on the dotted line, signing away his legacy, his pride, and his entire future.
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I didn't stay to watch them pack their briefcases. I turned my back on the Ashfords and walked out of the boardroom, stepping into the bright, bustling hallway of the empire I had built with my own two hands. I took the elevator down to the private daycare center on the ground floor, where Harper and Hazel were waiting for me.
When they saw me, they shrieked with joy, running into my arms. I knelt down, hugging them tightly to my chest, breathing in their sweet scent. Daniel Ashford had tried to tell me I didn't belong in his world. He was right. His world was far too small for the queen I was destined to become.
