Chapter 19 - The Ghost of the PastAfter the press conference concluded, I stepped into a private VIP lounge backstage to catch my breath and check on Victoria, who was resting peacefully with her nanny in the private suite upstairs.

As I poured myself a glass of sparkling water, the heavy security door clicked open.
Arthur stepped inside, looking slightly uneasy. "Madam CEO... you have an unexpected visitor at the backstage loading dock. Security detained him, but... he insisted on speaking with you."
I paused, raising an eyebrow. "Who?"
Arthur sighed. "Brendan."
I walked over to the security monitor on the wall and switched on the feed from the loading dock. There stood Brendan Morrison—unrecognizable, shivering in a thin, tattered jacket in the biting cold wind, looking up at the security cameras with sunken, desperate eyes.
"He wants to apologize," Arthur said quietly. "Should I have him removed?"
I stared at the screen for a long, silent moment. The man who once held a bucket of freezing water and laughed while his mother humiliated me was now reduced to a ghost begging for scraps outside my empire.
"No," I said softly, turning away from the monitor. "Let him stay out there for a few minutes. Let him look up at the lights. And then... tell him to go home."
May you like
"He doesn't have a home, Madam," Arthur reminded me.
"I know," I replied, smoothing out the fabric of my emerald dress. "Neither did I, the night he let his mother pour water over my head. Some debts, Arthur, can never be repaid."