Chapter 5 - The Penthouse
Six months later.
The Ashford family empire was unrecognizable.
Charles was forced to step down as chairman of the board. His wife took half of everything he owned in a brutal, highly publicized divorce.
He was currently paying child support for a baby he refused to visit.
Grant lost his position at the company.
Without his father’s backing and with his reputation in tatters, he moved into a rented apartment in Queens.
Piper avoided jail time by taking a plea deal for the insurance fraud, but she was buried in legal debt and completely blacklisted from the corporate world.
She never got the penthouse.
I did.
I kept the Fifth Avenue address.
I kept my reputation.
I kept the foundation, which saw a record-breaking surge in donations from women all over the city who had watched the gala footage.
One Wednesday morning, I sat on my terrace drinking coffee, looking out over Central Park.
My phone rang.
It was an unknown number, but I knew who it was.
Grant had been calling from different burner phones for weeks, leaving voicemails begging for a second chance.
I didn't answer it.
I let it ring.
Piper had been right about one thing that night at the gala.
Sometimes, people do get replaced.
May you like
But queens don't get replaced by pawns.
They simply clear the board.
