Chapter Twenty -Six
Eddie
It’s been a week since Lawliss and I officially started dating, and it’s been the best week of my life. Waking up to her beside me before heading to work, coming home to her at the end of the day, falling asleep with her in my arms—it’s the kind of peace I never thought I’d have.
But there’s tension beneath it. Subtle, unspoken. Like she’s waiting for the other shoe to drop. I don’t blame her. After everything she’s been through, it’s understandable.
The Dua Group handled things legally after the press conference. Restraining orders were issued. Lawsuits were filed. As far as Lawliss and her family were concerned, it was over. But for me?
I couldn’t let it go.
I had invested in Derrick’s company because he was married to her. Because she had chosen him. And after everything, after faking injuries and parading himself on national television, I made sure he knew what real pain felt like. I can still remember how he squirmed and how his eyes widened with the realization that no one was coming to save him.
He deserved worse.
But I had bigger things to handle.
If the press conference did one thing, whether for better or worse, it forced me to speed up my revenge. A hostile takeover was already in motion, the first step in dismantling everything my uncle had built. My face is everywhere now, which means he knows. He knows the boy he discarded is powerful enough to pull strings.
Sixty percent of his company’s shares now sit under Montgomery Industries, and the panic is setting in. The other thirty belong to the Duas, while the remaining ten percent is owned by Hanley and other minor stakeholders. While I planned my revenge, they were planning theirs too, without even knowing where I was. Words can’t express what it means to have them at my back.
My uncle is still CEO, but with nothing. He’s making desperate mistakes, scrambling to regain control. They’ve already called for a new CEO, and with both the Duas and I holding the majority, there is nowhere left for him to run.
But that isn’t how I want him to fall.
Prison for embezzlement, tax evasion, money laundering, extortion, coercion, forced labor, and human trafficking. No, I want more. I just wish I had the one that could tie him to my parents’ murder.
“We’re ready,” Josh says, stepping into the room.
I glance up, a slow smirk tugging at the corner of my lips.
“Good.”
Because this is just the beginning.
Facing Uncle George and working to get Derrick out of our lives for good is the goal.
I follow Josh out to the car park, slipping into the back seat of the SUV where Simon is already in the driver’s seat.
The man has been with me since my early days in London. When I told him I needed him here, he didn’t hesitate. He said he had no family back home anyway. The bonus helped, but I know it wasn’t just about the money. Loyalty is rare, and I don’t take it for granted.
We buckle our seatbelts, and the car eases onto the road.
“There’s someone who has been trying to reach you,” Josh says, checking his phone. “The call was diverted to me.”
I arch a brow, waiting for him to continue.
“They didn’t leave a name. Just sent an encrypted file only you can access.”
That gets my attention. My fingers drum against my knee as I nod for him to open it. Josh hands me the tablet, and I get to work decrypting the file. The usual layers of security peel away, one by one. It doesn’t take long.
But when the contents load on the screen, my hand stills.
My breath locks in my chest. It’s a series of videos. Documents. Reports. My pulse slows, my vision narrowing in on the words staring back at me.
This is it. My miracle.
My jaw clenches as I force my voice to stay steady. “Who did the person say they were? And what do they want in return?”
Josh shakes his head, still staring at the screen. “Nothing. Just said you’d know what to do with it. And—” he hesitates, like he’s still processing. “It was a woman.”
A woman?
I lean back against the seat, fingers tightening around the tablet.
Who the hell is she? And why now?
I exhale through my nose, pushing past the questions racing in my head. I’ll figure that out later. Right now, I need to see what I’ve got.
“Find her,” I order. “Compensate her. Whatever she wants.”
Josh nods, but his eyes flick to the screen again. “What is that, anyway?”
I tilt the tablet, scrolling through the first document. “The evidence we’ve been looking for.”
His head snaps up. “You mean—”
I nod, my grip tightening. “Finally, Josh… finally,” I say barely above a whisper.
The bastard who stole everything from me. The man responsible for my parents’ deaths. I open the first video, my stomach twisting into knots.
The footage is grainy, timestamped from over a decade ago. I bring the phone closer to me to make sure what I am seeing is right. There is a parking garage with a shadowy figure lurking near a pillar. Then another man approaches, and they exchange something. I squint, watching closely. A small device slips from one hand, a thick envelope of cash into the other.
A deal.
The conversation is barely audible, muffled by the static, but I don’t need to hear it right now. The audio is part of the file. I’ll go through every second of it later. The documents confirm what I already knew. My uncle ordered it.
The brakes were never faulty. They were tampered with and manipulated by a remote device designed to fail at high speeds. It wasn’t an accident. It was intentional. Calculated.
Murder.
And the lawyer he hired covered it up, buried the evidence, twisted the reports, and made sure the world believed the lie.
I knew it wasn’t an accident.
Because I remember.
I remember lying in that hospital bed, barely conscious, my body broken, my mind swimming in and out of darkness. I remember hearing his voice, sharp and low, when he came to my room. He thought I was in a coma. I was lucky that Andrei and a nurse came in.
He came to finish what he started. I don’t blink. I don’t breathe. A slow, sharp fury builds in my chest.
Everyone involved in this is going down.
I turn my gaze out the window. The sun is blinding, the heat thick in the air, but inside, I’m ice-cold.
Simon pulls up to our destination, and without a word, I step out. My movements are slow and deliberate. Controlled.
Josh follows as we enter the building, heading straight for the lift that will take us to the top floor, where the shareholders’ meeting is already underway.
I tighten my cuff-links.
By the time I walk out of this room, George Montgomery’s reign will be over, and this time, he won’t get a second chance.
We step into the meeting room, and all eyes immediately shift to us. The weight of their stares is almost palpable, but I barely acknowledge them. My attention is fixed on the one person who shouldn’t be here.
Lawliss.
She smiles despite herself, smirking as she gestures toward the empty seat beside her. An invitation. A claim. I don’t hesitate. Ignoring the whispers and side glances, I stride straight to her, lean in, and press a slow kiss to her cheek.
The blush that rises on her skin? That’s mine.
I take my seat, and Josh settles to my right.
“I saved it for you,” she murmurs, her voice soft but teasing.
My gaze sweeps the room, taking in the conference space—a modern design with a sleek round glass table in the center. The people seated around it watch us, some wary, some intrigued. But I’m only focused on one.
I turn back to Lawliss, lowering my voice. “You didn’t tell me you’d be here. We could have come together.”
She leans in slightly, a small smile curving her lips. “That’s called a surprise.”
She’s more relaxed than I expected, comfortable enough to tease me. It does something to my chest—a strange warmth that has nothing to do with the power moves happening in this room. We’re getting there. One step at a time.
Then, his voice cuts through the moment like a dull knife.
“Are you both done?” Venom drips from every syllable, and I finally acknowledge the man who’s been avoiding my gaze since I entered.
George Ansah. My uncle.
Not for long.
I exhale slowly, rolling my shoulders back. “Excuse me?” My voice is calm, but there’s an edge to it. A warning.
Lawliss touches my thigh under the table, a subtle, grounding gesture. I close my eyes briefly, letting the warmth of her touch settle my rising irritation. I don’t like it when she’s disrespected. I don’t like it when he speaks to either of us like we don’t own this damn room. I won’t tolerate it.
I open my eyes and stand, buttoning my suit jacket.
“I don’t know what you were discussing before I arrived, but it doesn’t matter,” I say, my voice steady, carrying through the room with a quiet authority that leaves no room for argument. “Because as of this moment, you are no longer the CEO of the Ansah Group.”
George’s expression flickers, his jaw tightening as he leans forward while the others in the room just look around, trying to grasp what's going on. “You don’t have the authority to—”
“You were barely clinging to that seat as it is,” I cut in, my tone sharper now. “Your financial mismanagement, the fraud, the corruption—it was only a matter of time. But let’s say, hypothetically, your record wasn’t in shambles.” I tilt my head slightly, watching him pale. “Even then, you still wouldn’t have a say in the company.”
The doors open.
Two uniformed officers step inside, their presence commanding instant silence.
Right on time.
George pushes back his chair, half-standing. “What the hell is this?”
“This,” I say smoothly, retaking my seat as the officers approach, “is the consequence of your own actions.” My uncle’s gaze darts around the room, searching for an out. But there isn’t one. He sees it now. That’s the thing about men like him; they only realize they’ve lost when it’s too late to run.
Across from me, Lawliss slides a stack of documents across the table, straight into the hands of one of the officers. She’s calm, methodical, and her movements precise. But I catch the satisfaction in her eyes. She’d been waiting for this moment, too.
I expected this meeting to be more of a fight. I imagined a battle of words, a final exchange, but now that we’re here?
I realize I don’t care enough to waste another breath on him. I thought this moment would feel different. That I’d want to watch him squirm, make him beg, maybe even say something to let him know exactly how badly he lost. But as he sits there, pale and shaken, while the officers read him his rights, I feel nothing. Just a quiet, steady sense of finality.
My parents can finally rest in peace. The weight I’ve carried for over a decade is gone.
But if I’m being honest with myself, I should have done this sooner.
If I had told my grandfather that my uncle’s greed wasn’t just about money or property, maybe he would have put an end to him before now. If I had spoken up when Andrei pulled me aside all those years ago, asking if I was okay, maybe things would have played out differently.
He gave me money, no questions asked, just trusting that I needed to leave and start over somewhere far away. Maybe if I had told him the truth, I would have found this peace earlier. Maybe I would have had Lawliss all along, but I don’t regret it.
My attention shifts to Lawliss again, watching the way she crosses her legs, completely at ease, like we didn’t just set fire to a man’s entire empire.
Damn, I love this woman.
The officers haul George to his feet, the cold snap of handcuffs locking around his wrists filling the room. His eyes dart to me, filled with something between fury and desperation.
“Why are you doing this? Who are you? What the fuck is this? He keeps shouting as the officers move him out of the conference room.
I don’t give him the satisfaction of a reaction. To think I wasted my time on trash like him is beyond me. Jeez, he was never worth my time to begin with.
The tension in the room lingers, but I’m already done here.
“Meeting adjourned.” I turn my attention to the CFO, Grace. She’s been one of the few competent ones here, held back only by the idiot leading this company into the ground.
“You,” I say, pointing directly at her. “You’re the interim CEO.”
Her eyes widen, flicking between me and the now-empty doorway where George was dragged out moments ago. She swallows hard but nods quickly, her expression morphing from shock to determination.
“Any questions?” I ask.
The only response is a murmur of agreement, some quiet nods, and a few shifting in their seats. No one dares challenge me.
Satisfied, I remove my suit jacket, draping it over my left arm before turning to Lawliss. I offer her my hand, and she takes it without hesitation, her fingers slipping between mine like they belong there.
“We’re leaving,” I say, my tone leaving no room for argument.
Josh follows a step behind as we walk out of the conference room, the sound of George’s protests fading into the background. The second we’re outside, Lawliss exhales, her grip tightening around my hand.
“That’s done,” she murmurs.
I lift her hand to my lips, pressing a slow kiss to her knuckles. “It is. And now, we’re going somewhere far away.”
She tilts her head, amusement flickering in her eyes. “Oh? And where exactly are you taking me?”
I smirk, already picturing the surprise I have planned.
“You’ll find out.” I step closer, tilting her chin up. “Pack a bag, Empress. We leave tonight.”