Been there for 2 hours. Refuses to leave. " Aiden felt a strange tightening in his chest. He hadn't seen or heard from Victoria since the day he threw her out. The legal transition had been handled entirely by proxies. "Send her up," Aiden said quietly.
10 minutes later, the door opened. Aiden barely recognized her. The Victoria Cross who had sneered at him 3 months ago was a creature of sharp angles, polished gold, and lethal confidence. The woman standing in his doorway looked entirely human. She wore a simple gray trench coat over dark jeans and a plain sweater.
Her hair was pulled back in a loose tie. She looked exhausted. She walked in slowly looking around the stripped-down office. "You ruined the aesthetic. " She said. Her voice was quiet, lacking its old metallic bite.
"I removed the distractions. " Aiden replied. He didn't offer her a seat. Victoria stood in the center of the room. She looked at him, really looked at him for a long time. "I spent the last 3 months trying to find a lawyer who would sue you.
I talked to 40 firms. None of them would take it. They all said the same thing. The algorithm was legally sound. The trap I fell into was built by my own greed.
You just opened the door. " "Why are you here, Victoria? " Aiden asked. His tone wasn't cruel, but it wasn't warm, either. "I wanted to see the monster who beat me. " She said, wrapping her arms around herself. "But you're not a monster, are you? You're just a father. " "I am a man who protected his family. " "You destroyed my life to do it. " Aiden leaned forward, resting his hands on the oak table.
"Let's get something very clear. I didn't destroy your life. I dismantled your machinery. Your life, your friends, your identity, your worth, was entirely dependent on the money you extracted from people like me. If losing your title destroyed you, it means there was nothing real underneath it to begin with. " Victoria flinched.
The words hit her like physical blows because she knew they were true. The silence in the room stretched, heavy and suffocating. "I have nothing. " She whispered. The admission cost her everything. "The freeze on my assets is permanent.
The SEC is barring me from trading. I can't get a job in finance. I'm 32 and my life is over. " Aiden watched her. Three months ago, he would have relished this. He would have drank her despair like fine wine.
But looking at her now, he just felt tired. Revenge was a meal that stopped filling you the moment you swallowed it. He opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a manila envelope. He slid it across the table. Victoria frowned, stepping forward to pick it up.
She opened the flap and pulled out a legal document. She read the first page, her brow furrowing in confusion. "What is this? " "It's a severance package. " Aiden said flatly. "And the title deed to the townhouse you bought for your mother in Brooklyn. The board wanted to seize it in the liquidation.