The caller said something else.
Aaron slowly sat down.
“What do you mean the ownership records changed?”
Silence.
Then Aaron whispered:
“Who authorized it?”
The answer came.
His blood ran cold.
Because the signature wasn’t forged.
It was real.
And it belonged to Alyssa.
That evening, I arrived at my family’s estate.
My father was waiting in the library.
He stood beside the fireplace with a glass of untouched whiskey in his hand.
He looked older than he had that morning.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
When I entered, he didn’t ask whether I was all right.
He simply said:
“You finally stopped choosing him.”
I looked at him.
“I thought I was choosing love.”
My father sighed.
“No, sweetheart.”
He walked toward me.
“You were choosing a man you hoped would become worthy of your love.”
That sentence broke something in me.
I looked away.
“I gave him everything.”
“I know.”
“I gave him the money.”
“I know.”
“The patents.”
“I know.”
“My connections. My reputation. My family.”
“I know.”
I laughed bitterly.
“And he still thinks I’m nothing.”
My father placed his glass down.
“That is because you made one mistake.”
“What?”
“You hid your power so well that he eventually believed you had none.”
I stared at him.
Then he opened a drawer in his desk.
Inside was a thick black folder.
He pushed it toward me.
My name was printed on the cover.
Not Alyssa Prescott.
Just:
ALYSSA VALE — CONTROLLING INTERESTS
My breathing slowed.
I opened it.
The first page listed companies.
The second listed trusts.
The third listed intellectual property.
The fourth listed voting rights.
I turned another page.
Then another.
My hands began to tremble.
“Dad…”
He didn’t answer.
I looked up.
“How much of Prescott Technologies do I actually own?”
He held my gaze.
“Enough.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“No.”
He leaned forward.
“So I’ll give you the answer.”
He placed one finger on the final page.
“On paper, Aaron Prescott is the founder and CEO.”
My eyes moved down the page.
“Behind the scenes, you control the majority of the voting structure.”
I stared at the document.
The room seemed to become very quiet.
“How?”
My father smiled sadly.
“Remember those thirteen patents you secured before the company almost collapsed?”
I nodded.
“You didn’t merely save his company.”
He tapped the folder.
“You became the foundation on which it was built.”
I looked at the ownership chart.
For four years, I had believed Aaron had built an empire.
Now I was discovering that I had been standing quietly underneath it, holding it up.
And he hadn’t even bothered to look down.
My father continued.
“There is more.”
My eyes lifted.
“What more?”
He reached for another envelope.
