Chapter 7 - THE KNOCK AT THE DOOR
Six months passed before the past finally caught up with us again.
By then, our lives had settled into a rhythm of absolute luxury and hard-earned peace. Vance Holdings had successfully absorbed the remaining assets of the Montgomery portfolio, turning the historic family name into a subsidiary of my own empire. The old estate on Lake Geneva had been completely remodeled, stripped of its oppressive dark wood and heavy velvet drapes, replaced with bright glass, modern art, and the sound of children's laughter echoing through the halls.
It was a rainy Tuesday evening. The boys were asleep upstairs after a long day of school and soccer practice, and I was reviewing quarterly financial reports in my home study when the security intercom chimed softly.
"Ms. Vance," our head of security’s voice came through the speaker, tight and cautious. "You have a visitor at the front gates. Refusing to leave despite the weather."
"Who is it?" I asked without looking up from my tablet.
"It’s Ethan Montgomery, ma'am. He looks... unravelling. He’s drenched, and he says he won't move until you give him five minutes."
I sighed, setting the tablet down. It was time to put a permanent end to this chapter.
Twenty minutes later, I stood under the covered portico of the front entrance. The rain poured down in sheets, blurring the glow of the landscape lights. Ethan stood just beyond the iron gates, soaked to the bone, shivering in a rumpled suit that looked like he had been sleeping in it for days.
When he saw me step out, he pressed his hands against the iron bars.
"Victoria! Thank God," he breathed, his voice cracking. "Please... just let me talk to you. I’m not here to fight. I don't care about the trust, I don't care about the company. I just want to see my sons."
I walked slowly down the steps, stopping a few feet away from the gate. The rain kept us separated by a veil of water, mirroring the insurmountable distance between our past and present.
"You're five years too late, Ethan," I said, my voice steady and cold.
"I know! I know I was a coward," he cried, sliding down the wet brick pillars until he was kneeling on the pavement. "My mother lied to me... but I let her. I chose status over you. And it destroyed everything. Caroline left me, my mother had a stroke after the estate was seized, and I have nothing left. Absolutely nothing."
"And that’s supposed to make me feel sorry for you?" I asked quietly. "You didn't care about me when your mother locked me out of your world. You didn't care about my children when you thought they didn't exist. You only care now because you lost your empire."
Ethan wept openly in the rain, his shoulders shaking. "Please, Victoria. Give me one chance. Supervised visits, a single afternoon—anything."
"No," I said softly.
The word hung in the air, absolute and final.
May you like
"They have a father," I continued, looking him dead in the eye. "A mother who built an empire from a rented apartment while you drank champagne with elites who despised us. They don't need a ghost who only showed up when the inheritance ran out."
I turned my back on him, walking back toward the warm, brightly lit doors of my home.
