My heart clenched at the sound of Ava’s voice. She sounded… not scared. Curious. Alert. My brilliant, observant daughter was taking in every detail of her situation.
“Ava, baby, are you hurt?”
“I’m fine, Mom.”
Mom. She called me Mom. After five years of ‘biological mother’ and polite distance, she called me Mom.
“That’s very sweet,” Bianca’s voice returned. “It only took a kidnapping to get a family reunion. Now, let’s talk business.”
“What do you want?”
“I want what was stolen from me. I want the inheritance that should have been mine. I want the family that was taken from me. I want the life I deserved.”
“Our father left you money—”
“Scraps!” The word exploded from the phone. “A trust fund that barely covers rent while you inherited everything. The company, the properties, the investments—all of it should have been shared. But precious Elise, the legitimate daughter, got it all.”
“I offered to share—”
“After you’d already spent years building an empire with what was rightfully mine! Too little, too late, sister.”
Damon leaned forward. “What do you want? Money? We can transfer whatever amount—”
Bianca’s laughter was bitter. “Money? Oh, Damon. You still don’t understand. I don’t want Elise’s money. I want her to lose everything the way I did. Her company, her reputation, her family. Everything.”
“You’re insane.”
“I’m justice. And here’s how this is going to work: You have 48 hours to sign over controlling interest in Monroe Technologies to me. Full ownership transfer, complete with all subsidiaries and assets.”
“That’s impossible. The board would never—”
“Then you’ll convince them. Or find another way. I don’t care how you do it. But if I don’t have legal control of your empire in 48 hours, little Ava will disappear forever. And you’ll spend the rest of your lives wondering if she’s alive or dead.”
The line went quiet except for the sound of our panicked breathing.
