CHAPTER 12 — The Empire Under Siege
The words felt impossible.
"Ashcroft headquarters has been taken over."
My father's company.
The company that had existed before I was born.
The company that employed thousands of people.
The company that represented everything my family had built for generations.
Taken.
By the brother I had never known.
My father stood motionless.
For the first time in my life...
I saw fear on his face.
Not worry.
Not stress.
Fear.
"Dad?"
He didn't answer.
His attention was fixed on Victoria.
"How many systems are affected?"
Victoria immediately pulled out her phone.
"We're checking."
"Financial?"
"Locked."
"Communications?"
"Partially compromised."
"Employee database?"
She hesitated.
"Accessed."
My father's jaw tightened.
"How long ago?"
"Eleven minutes."
Detective Harris looked between them.
"Can someone explain what exactly is happening?"
Victoria answered.
"Someone has taken administrative control of Ashcroft Group's internal network."
"That includes financial systems, employee records, security protocols, and private communications."
"And you're saying one person did this?"
She looked toward the frozen image of Adrian on the screen.
"One person who knows exactly where every weakness is."
I watched my father carefully.
Twenty years of business experience.
Decades of leadership.
A man who had survived economic crashes and corporate wars.
Yet Adrian's return had shaken him more than anything else.
There was a story he wasn't telling.
A story bigger than Project Orion.
Bigger than the wedding.
Bigger than the stolen ring.
"Why didn't you tell me about him?"
My father's eyes moved toward me.
"Vivienne..."
"No."
My voice cracked.
"You told me I was your only child."
"I believed you."
"I grew up thinking I had no siblings."
"I thought my mother died in an accident."
"I thought our family was simple."
I looked at the screen.
At Adrian's face.
"But it was all a lie."
My father stepped closer.
"I never wanted you involved."
"That's not an answer."
"It is the only answer I had."
"No."
I shook my head.
"You made a decision for me."
"Just like everyone else tonight."
The words hurt him.
I saw it.
But they were true.
Dominic quietly approached.
"Vivienne..."
I looked at him.
"What?"
"I know how this feels."
I almost smiled.
"You know?"
He nodded sadly.
"Finding out the people you trusted hid things from you."
"Realizing your entire life wasn't what you thought."
He looked down.
"I know."
For a moment...
I saw the man I had fallen in love with.
Not the man who stood silent while I was humiliated.
The man before all of this.
But I couldn't forget.
Not yet.
A security officer rushed into the room.
"Mr. Ashcroft."
"We have a situation."
My father turned.
"What now?"
"The media has received documents."
Victoria froze.
"What documents?"
The officer handed her a tablet.
She read the headline.
Her face changed.
"What?"
"What is it?"
She turned the screen around.
A major news website had already published a breaking story.
ASHCROFT DYNASTY SHAKEN BY SECRET FAMILY SCANDAL
Below the headline...
A photograph of my father.
A photograph of Adrian.
And copies of the Project Orion documents.
Detective Harris frowned.
"Someone released this publicly."
Victoria nodded.
"Yes."
"Which means..."
"They don't just want control."
My father finished.
"They want destruction."
The ballroom guests began receiving notifications.
Phones buzzed.
One after another.
Within seconds...
Everyone knew.
The scandal had escaped the building.
The wedding humiliation.
The stolen ring.
The corporate conspiracy.
The missing son.
The family secrets.
Everything.
Chloe suddenly laughed.
A strange, broken laugh.
Everyone looked at her.
"My wedding."
She stared around the destroyed ballroom.
"My perfect wedding..."
She wiped a tear from her face.
"Nobody even cares anymore."
For the first time...
I almost felt sorry for her.
Almost.
Because then she looked at me.
And I remembered.
She had enjoyed watching me suffer.
"Eleanor."
Chloe turned toward her mother.
"Did you know?"
Eleanor looked away.
"Know what?"
"About Adrian."
"No."
"About the documents?"
Silence.
"Mom."
Eleanor finally snapped.
"I was trying to protect this family!"
Chloe stared at her.
"You destroyed it."
Detective Harris received another call.
He stepped away.
When he returned...
His expression was serious.
"We have another problem."
My father looked at him.
"What?"
"The person who leaked the documents..."
"Wasn't Adrian."
Everyone froze.
"What?"
Detective Harris looked at Victoria.
"The leak came from inside Ashcroft headquarters."
"But Adrian is controlling the system."
"Yes."
"So?"
The detective shook his head.
"Someone gave him access."
The room became silent.
Someone inside.
Someone helped Adrian.
The same way someone helped Oliver.
The same way someone created the fake ring.
The same way someone manipulated Eleanor.
My father slowly looked around the room.
Then whispered:
"Project Orion was never about one person."
"What do you mean?"
He looked at me.
"It was always a network."
A cold feeling moved through me.
"How many people?"
My father didn't answer.
Because he didn't know.
And that was terrifying.
Victoria suddenly looked at Dominic.
Everyone noticed.
"What?"
Dominic asked.
She walked closer.
"Three months ago..."
"When Adrian contacted you..."
"You said you were trying to learn his intentions."
"Yes."
"Then why did our security records show you accessed an Ashcroft private server?"
Dominic froze.
"What?"
My father turned sharply.
"Dominic."
"I never accessed anything."
Victoria showed him the record.
His name.
His credentials.
The timestamp.
Dominic stared at it.
"I didn't do this."
Detective Harris stepped closer.
"Someone used your identity."
Dominic looked at me.
"Vivienne..."
But before he could say anything...
A message appeared on every screen in the ballroom.
A new one.
Different from Adrian's.
This time...
No greeting.
No warning.
Only three words.
HE IS LYING.
Everyone looked at Dominic.
Then the message continued.
ASK HIM ABOUT THE NIGHT YOUR MOTHER DIED.
My entire body went cold.
Because Dominic had never met my mother.
He had never known her.
So how could he possibly know anything?
The ballroom doors suddenly opened.
A woman stood there.
Older.
Elegant.
Holding an old photograph.
Everyone turned.
My father went completely still.
Because he recognized her.
"Impossible..."
The woman looked at me.
Then at my father.
And quietly said:
"Charles..."
"You need to tell your daughter the truth."
A pause.
May you like
Then she added:
"Because I was there the night Elena Ashcroft died."
