Chapter 13 – Ashley
The glass-walled boardroom of Kang Logistics is bathed in the sharp, clinical glow of overhead LED panels, the hum of the air conditioning a steady backdrop to the sharp click of my laser pointer.
On the massive wall-mounted screen, a highly complex, multi-layered digital flow chart details our newly optimized shipping routes through the Mediterranean.
“If we reroute the primary cargo carriers from Athens through the Italian transit hub by Wednesday morning, we bypass the customs bottleneck entirely,” I explain, my voice smooth, steady, and commanding.
I look across the long mahogany table, holding the attention of six of our senior regional directors.
“The delay is eliminated, the client is satisfied, and our margin increases by four percent.”
Beside me, Maya nods approvingly, quickly typing notes into her tablet.
Outwardly, I’m the epitome of executive grace and absolute control.
No one in this room would ever guess that my skin has felt too tight for the past twelve hours, or that my mind has been locked in a vicious loop, replaying the terrifying look of realization on Samuel’s face in my hallway last night.
I’m functioning on pure adrenaline and coffee, but I refuse to let my personal life bleed into my empire. Here, within these glass walls, I’m in complete command.
Until my personal phone on the table begins to vibrate.
I ignore it at first, continuing my slide transition. “Furthermore, the port authority in Trieste has agreed to—”
The phone vibrates again. Then again. A persistent, aggressive buzz that makes Maya look up from her screen, her brow furrowing.
I glance down. It isn’t an unknown number. It’s the direct line to the administrative office of Ethan’s private daycare.
A cold spike of adrenaline shoots straight through my chest, instantly shattering my clinical composure. My breath hitches.
“Excuse me for just a moment,” I say, my voice slightly tighter than before. I capture Maya’s eye, giving her a look that tells her to take over, and slide the phone off the table as I quickly step out of the boardroom into the quiet, carpeted hallway.
I press the phone to my ear, my heart hammering against my ribs. “This is Ashley Kang.”
“Ms. Kang, I am so sorry to disturb you during your workday,” the receptionist’s voice speaks quickly, sounding highly flustered and incredibly tense.
“But we have a highly unusual situation in the front lobby. A gentleman just arrived. He doesn’t have authorization on your pick-up list, but… well, he insists on seeing Ethan.”
My blood runs entirely to ice. The hallway seems to tilt beneath my heels. “Who is he?”
“His name is Samuel Rusnak,” she whispers, as if afraid of being overheard.
“He is extremely insistent, Ms. Kang. He claims he’s Ethan’s father and that there has been a massive communication error.
The security guard tried to ask him to wait outside, but…
he’s very imposing, and he’s refusing to leave without seeing the boy.
We were about to call the authorities, but we wanted to check with you first to avoid making a scene in front of the other children. ”
The sheer, arrogant audacity of it blinds me with a wave of white-hot fury.
He wouldn’t.
But as the initial shock fades, a cold, calculating reality sets in. Of course he would. He’s a Rusnak. He doesn’t care about legal lists, boundaries, or the rules of a suburban daycare. He wants his son, and he’s going to take him.
My mind races, evaluating the chessboard.
If I tell them to call the police, it will escalate.
A fleet of squad cars at a high-end preschool, a physical confrontation with a powerful Bratva figure—it would traumatize Ethan, ruin my public standing, and push Samuel into an even more dangerous corner. He won’t back down easily.
I have to defuse this on my terms.
“Do not call the police yet,” I say, my voice incredibly tight but forced into a level, authoritative calm.
“Please. I’m on my way right now. But until I get there, I want you to bring Ethan to the office.
Do not let Mr. Rusnak take him out of the building, but let them speak in the lobby.
Actually…put Ethan on the phone with me right now. ”
“Of course, Ms. Kang. Just one moment.”
A few agonizing seconds of static pass before the sweet, innocent voice of my son fills the receiver. “Mommy?”
I close my eyes, swallowing down the thick, suffocating knot of anger in my throat. When I speak, my tone is a masterclass in maternal warmth, completely hiding the terror clawing at my chest.
“Hi, my sweet boy,” I say softly. “Listen to me, Ethan. A friend of mine is visiting you at school right now. His name is Samuel—the tall man from our house last night. Do you remember him?”
“The man with the blue eyes?” Ethan asks, his voice bright with recognition.
“Yes, baby. Just like yours,” I choke out, forcing a light laugh. “He wanted to come say hi to you. I want you to be a very good boy, okay? Be very polite and cooperative, and sit with him in the office. Mommy is driving over right now to join you both. Can you do that for me?”
“Okay, Mommy! I’ll show him my dinosaur drawings!”
“That sounds perfect, sweetheart. I’ll see you in ten minutes. I love you. Don’t leave the office.”
“Love you too, Mommy!”
The call disconnects.
I slowly lower the phone from my ear, my knuckles white as I grip the metal casing. Outwardly, my face is a mask of perfect, icy composure as I turn back toward the boardroom glass. But internally, a monstrous, raging fire is consuming me.
He crossed the line. He brought his chaotic, dangerous world to my son’s sanctuary.
I slide the phone into my pocket, my jaw clenching so hard it aches, and stride back into the boardroom. The double glass doors swing shut behind me with a sharp click that draws every eye to the head of the table.
“I’m sorry, everyone,” I say, my voice projecting a flawless, unshakeable authority that betrays absolutely none of the terror roaring through my veins.
“An urgent family matter has just arisen that requires my immediate personal attention. We’re going to have to postpone the rest of this meeting.
Maya will coordinate a time for us to reconvene tomorrow morning. ”
The directors exchange surprised glances, but they quickly nod, gathering their tablets and files. I stand rigid at the head of the table, offering polite, professional nods as they file out one by one.
Once the last executive leaves, the heavy mahogany doors click shut. Only Maya remains.
She doesn’t pack her things. She simply stands up, her sharp eyes scanning my face, instantly picking up on the minute cracks in my armor.
“Ash,” she says, her voice low and filled with immediate concern. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost. What’s going on? Was that the daycare?”
This time, I don’t deflect. I don’t paste on a fake smile, and I don’t try to brush it off as mere stress. The situation has escalated entirely beyond what I can handle alone. The walls of my fortress are crumbling, and if I don’t let her in now, the debris will crush us both.
“Samuel is at Ethan’s daycare,” I whisper, the words feeling incredibly heavy as they leave my mouth.
Maya blinks, her brow furrowing in confusion. “The client? Samuel Rusnak? Why on earth would he be at—” She freezes, her eyes widening as the math begins to settle in her brain. “Ashley…no. Tell me he isn’t.”
“He is,” I say, my voice cracking slightly before I force it back into a hard, steady register. “Samuel is Ethan’s father, Maya.”
Maya gasps, her hand flying to her mouth. “Oh my god. Four years ago…the man from the penthouse. It was him?”
“Yes,” I say, pacing the small space behind my chair, the adrenaline making it impossible to stand still.
“We met in New York. I didn’t know his real name; I didn’t know his background.
It was one night, and then he was gone. I had no way to find him, and honestly, I didn’t want to. But it gets worse.”
I stop pacing, looking directly into my business partner’s eyes, needing her to understand the sheer magnitude of the threat we are facing.
“I didn’t just hide Ethan from an ordinary man, Maya. I hid him from a Rusnak. Do you have any idea what that name actually means?”
“They’re a massive global logistics and shipping conglomerate—”
“That’s their front,” I cut her off, my voice dropping to a harsh, urgent whisper.
“They’re a powerful, ruthless Russian bratva family operating right here in the States.
They don’t play by the rules of courts, contracts, or borders.
My best friend, Sofia Morozova, is married to Lukyan Rusnak.
I know firsthand how rugged, stubborn, and relentless they are.
When a Rusnak claims something as theirs, they don’t back down.
And Samuel just looked into my son’s blue eyes and realized the truth. ”
Maya stares at me, the color completely draining from her face as the pieces of the puzzle violently lock into place. The late-night message, the sudden contract doubling, the fierce tension in the boardroom—it all makes terrifying sense now.
“If he’s at the daycare…” Maya breathes, her hand trembling slightly against the edge of the mahogany table. “Ashley, what are you going to do?”
“I have to go get my son,” I say, grabbing my purse and keys with a cold, absolute resolve.
As I rush toward the boardroom doors, the weight of the reality settles heavily on my shoulders. This is no longer just a personal secret, a private custody dispute, or a messy past relationship. It’s an active, volatile confrontation with a criminal syndicate.