The Emerald Heiress (Aurelia) novel Chapter 4

The elevator doors opened, and Derek walked in like he still owned the world.

His jaw was set, his shoulders squared, every inch of him radiating the arrogance I had once mistaken for confidence. Vanessa trailed behind him in a red dress that probably cost more than most people’s rent, my mother’s emerald glittering against her collarbone like a stolen crown.

They both stopped cold when they saw the name on my office door.

*Aurelia Ashford — CEO, Ashford Capital*

Derek’s mask slipped for exactly half a second. Then he recovered, shoving his hands into his pockets with forced casualness.

“So it’s true.” His voice was flat. “You’ve been hiding this the entire time.”

I didn’t stand. Didn’t offer them a seat. “Hiding implies I owed you the truth. I didn’t.”

Vanessa clutched Derek’s arm, her eyes sweeping the corner office — the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Manhattan, the original Basquiat on the wall, the quiet, unmistakable scent of real power.

For the first time, she looked unsure of herself.

Derek pulled out a chair without being invited and sat across from me. “Let’s cut the theatrics, Aurelia. You’re angry. I get it. But buying my family’s company? That’s not justice. That’s revenge.”

“And throwing divorce papers at my face in front of your entire family while your mistress wore my dead mother’s jewelry — what was that? Romance?”

He flinched.

Good.

“Here’s what’s going to happen, Derek.” I opened a leather portfolio on my desk. “I now hold sixty-two percent of Blackwell Industries. That makes me the majority shareholder. As of this morning, I’ve frozen all executive accounts pending a full financial audit.”

Derek’s face went white. “You froze our accounts?”

“Your company’s accounts. They’re my company’s accounts now.”

Vanessa stepped forward. “You can’t do this. Derek’s family built that company over three generations —”

“And your boyfriend nearly bankrupted it in two years.” I pulled out a financial report and placed it on the desk. “Blackwell Industries has been hemorrhaging money since Derek took over as COO. Exposed derivatives positions. Unauthorized loans. A twelve-million-dollar ‘marketing expense’ that traces directly to a villa in the South of France.” I looked at Vanessa. “Your villa, I believe.”

Vanessa’s mouth opened, then closed.

Derek shot to his feet. “That’s confidential financial data. How did you —”

“I own the company, Derek. Nothing is confidential from me.”

The room went very still.

Derek stared at me as if seeing me for the first time. Not the quiet wife who folded his laundry and tolerated his mother’s insults. Not the woman he had so easily discarded.

Someone else entirely.

“What do you want?” His voice was hoarse.

“I already told your mother. The necklace. A public apology. And I want Vanessa out of every property connected to Blackwell Industries, including the villa.”

Vanessa let out a sharp laugh. “You’re delusional. Derek, tell her —”

I sat in silence for exactly ten seconds.

Then Leo’s voice returned. “Ms. Ashford, I have an update. Derek’s car is still in the parking garage, but Vanessa just got into a separate vehicle. A black Mercedes. It’s registered to someone named… Roman Corsetti.”

My hand froze on the desk.

Roman Corsetti. The one name in this city I had spent five years avoiding.

“Ms. Ashford? Are you alright?”

I let out a slow breath. “Leo, pull everything we have on Corsetti Holdings. Every subsidiary, every board member, every transaction in the last six months.”

“May I ask why?”

Because Roman Corsetti was the only man alive who knew exactly who I was before I became Aurelia Ashford. Before the inheritance. Before the walls I had built around myself.

And if Vanessa was connected to him, this wasn’t just a messy divorce anymore.

“Just do it. And Leo?”

“Yes?”

“Cancel my afternoon. Something tells me it’s about to get a lot more complicated.”