Chapter 6
"Her mother," Aldric repeated softly, the words tasting like ash in his mouth. "Her mother built this company with me. Her mother was a queen. You are just a temporary placeholder who forgot her place."
Heloise’s face flushed a deep, ugly red. The insult, delivered in front of her high-society peers, severed the last remaining threads of her self-control. She stepped away from the table, her chest heaving, pointing a manicured finger directly at the front doors of the mansion.
"You think you can talk to me like that in front of my guests?" Heloise shrieked, her American accent echoing harshly off the walls. "You think you hold all the cards because you pay the bills? You are nothing but an absentee father who spends ten months a year on airplanes!"
"I travel to build her future," Aldric said, his voice a low, lethal hum.
"Well, you traveled too long this time, Aldric," Heloise smiled, a cold, triumphant smirk twisting her beautiful features into something grotesque. She crossed her arms over her chest, stepping toward him without a shred of remorse. "Did you forget what day it was last Tuesday?"
Aldric’s eyes narrowed. "Speak plainly."
"Last Tuesday was the finalization of the estate trust merger," Heloise announced loudly, making sure every guest in the room heard her. "My lawyers filed the paperwork while you were in Tokyo. My name is on the deed to this house now, Aldric. Joint tenancy with right of survivorship. You cannot kick me out without liquidating the entire property and giving me half the corporate assets."
A murmur of shocked realization rippled through the guests. This was not just domestic abuse; this was a calculated, hostile takeover of a multi-million dollar estate.
"You legally wedged yourself into the deed," Aldric stated, his face an unreadable mask.
"I protected my interests," Heloise corrected smoothly. She took another step forward, her confidence fully restored by her perceived legal superiority. She looked at Thora, who was hiding her face against Aldric’s neck, and let out a short, cruel laugh.
"So, here is how this is going to work, darling," Heloise threatened, dropping her voice into a cold, vicious whisper meant only for him. "You are going to put that sniveling little brat down. You are going to apologize to me in front of these people. And then you are going to send her to a boarding school where I don't have to look at her dirty face ever again."
"And if I refuse?" Aldric asked, his voice dangerously quiet.
May you like
Heloise gave him a cold, victorious smile, completely devoid of human empathy.
"Choose her," Heloise said, gesturing to the entire lavish, brilliantly lit dining room around them, "and you lose this house. You lose half your company. I will drag you through the courts for a decade until you have nothing left."
