His Tardiness, Her New Marriage Chapter 18

His Tardiness, Her New Marriage Chapter 18

“The truth is,” he paused, “you could have left whenever you wanted.”

“You’ve worked hard all these years. And you’ve wasted your time.”

My fingers tightened around the file.

So, all those years of silent perseverance weren’t entirely unnoticed.

It was just that the one person who should have seen it chose to look away.

Was it hard? Yes.

Was it a waste?

Perhaps it truly was.

A mixture of bittersweetness and relief silently washed over my heart.

I lowered my eyes, hiding the emotion.

“Those assets are, of course, a bonus. They prove your capital management and confidentiality skills.”

Nathaniel’s tone shifted, becoming more serious. “But what the Ashford family truly values are two more intangible things.”

“First, your ability to make precise judgments and negotiations under extreme pressure.”

“Second, your clear understanding of your own worth, and the decisiveness to cash in on it.”

He leaned forward slightly. “The three hundred million dollars wasn’t to buy the winery. It was a show of good faith, and a pre-emptive investment in the value you are capable of creating in the future—value that will far exceed that number.”

The study fell silent.

“That’s fair.”

I closed the folder, pushing all emotion deep down. “Mr. Ashford, it’s a pleasure doing business with you.”

Nathaniel stood up, poured two glasses of water, and handed one to me.

“The pleasure is all mine, Audrey.”

He called me Audrey, not Miss Langford, not Mrs. Ashford.

Three hundred million dollars. It bought more than a status, more than intelligence. It was a bet on future potential.

That night, in the townhouse on the Upper East Side, I slept with a strange sense of peace.

I knew that from the moment I made that call at JFK Airport,

From the moment Nathaniel said “Done” without hesitation,

I had set out on a path from which there was no turning back.

Blake was probably out there somewhere, angry, hurt, and confused.

Plotting how to “win” me back.

But he would probably never understand.

When he allowed Sloane to cross the line, again and again,

When he used the interests of our two families to dismiss my feelings,

He was slowly destroying the Audrey who once saw him as her entire world.

The Audrey of today has shed that shell of humility she wore for love.

She will never hide her brilliance again.

Whether the Ashford family’s three-hundred-million-dollar investment was worth it remains to be seen.

But for me, it was the first step onto my future battlefield.

And it was the most important capital I would ever have.