Chapter 5 - THE DESPERATE RECKONING
Forty-eight hours after the boardroom meeting, the news of Nicholas's SEC investigation leaked to the press.
His company's stock collapsed to zero overnight. His investors filed a class-action lawsuit, freezing all his remaining personal bank accounts. Victoria, his bride of less than a month, served him with annulment papers and changed the locks on their luxury apartment in Boston.
Nicholas was ruined—completely, utterly, and publicly.
I was sitting in my broad-windowed office at Apex Advisory, working on an international expansion project, when my assistant tapped on the door frame.
"Jenna, your mother is in the lobby," she said hesitantly. "She doesn't have an appointment, but she's... she's crying. She refuses to leave until she sees you."
I stayed silent for a long moment, looking at the city skyline outside my window. Part of me wanted to have security escort her out. But another part knew that this cycle needed to be closed once and for all.
"Let her in," I said.
A minute later, my mother stepped into the office. She looked ten years older than she had at the wedding. Her hair was unwashed, her eyes red-rimmed, and the expensive designer handbag she carried looked absurd against her trembling, defeated posture.
"Jenna... oh, God, Jenna..." she sobbed, rushing toward my desk.
"Sit down, Mom," I said calmly, pointing to the leather chair across from me.
She collapsed into the chair, clutching her handkerchief. "You have to help us. You have to talk to the authorities, or Emmett Stewart, or whoever is doing this! The SEC frozen Nicholas's accounts! They're threatening to seize your father's house because Nicholas used it as secondary backing for his loans!"
I didn't flinch. "I warned Dad not to sign anything for Nicholas. I told him three years ago that Nicholas's business model was unstable."
"He's your father!" she shrieked, her despair turning into raw anger. "How can you be so heartless?! Your father worked thirty years to pay for that home! If they take it, your parents will be living on the street! And Nicholas... Nicholas is staying in a cheap motel! He tried to... he tried to end his life last night, Jenna!"
That made me pause. The air in the room grew heavy.
"Is he in the hospital?" I asked quietly.
"He's in a psychiatric facility under observation!" she wept, hiding her face in her hands. "He lost his wife, his company, his money, his dignity... everything! Are you happy now? Is this what you wanted when you made that scene at the wedding?!"
I stood up slowly, leaning over my desk, my voice dropping into a low, deadly pitch.
"Do not dare blame me for his choices, Mother," I said, each word dripping with cold truth. "Did I force Nicholas to forge financial documents? Did I force him to steal Dad's retirement money? Did I force him to treat his sister like trash in front of hundreds of people?"
"He was ambitious!" she argued frantically. "We always had to support him because he had big dreams! You were always so quiet, so self-sufficient... we thought you didn't need us!"
"You didn't think I didn't need you," I snapped, the built-up pain of twenty years finally pouring out. "You just didn't care! You poured every ounce of love, money, and pride into Nicholas because he gave you status! You paraded him around like a trophy while you left me in the dust, assuming I would always be there to play the dutiful, quiet daughter who takes the scraps!"
She shrank back in her chair, unable to meet my eyes.
"I will not stop the SEC investigation," I said firmly. "Nicholas committed a federal crime. He needs to face the consequences like an adult."
"And your father and me?" she whispered, trembling. "Are you going to let your own parents lose their home?"
I pulled a pen from my desk drawer, wrote down a number on a notepad, tore the sheet off, and slid it across the desk to her.
"I have bought Dad's mortgage from the bank," I revealed. "I am now the sole lienholder on the house. The SEC cannot touch it."
My mother stared at the paper, her jaw trembling. "You... you bought the mortgage?"
"Yes," I said. "Dad will not lose his home. But under one condition."
"Anything!" she pleaded. "Name anything!"
"You and Dad will go to family counseling," I said coldly. "And Nicholas will never, ever step foot in my life, my office, or my sight again. If he attempts to contact me, I will enforce the full legal penalties of his non-disclosure breaches. And as for you... you will never ask me for another dime for him."
May you like
She stared at me, seeing for the first time that the gentle girl she had sidelined was gone forever. In her place stood a woman who owned the world they had tried to keep her out of.
"Now leave my office," I said, turning back to my computer screen. "I have work to do."
