Chapter 2
As she drove home, Victoria recalled every word spoken by her father: "I am proud of you, Victoria. I know your mother, from heaven, smiles with satisfaction seeing the woman you've become..."
She had always dreamed that you would study medicine, that you would become a great surgeon, and very soon, she will see her dream come true from heaven...
Victoria lived in her apartment, a stylish property in the heart of the city, surrounded by her books, her art, and a calm that did not reflect the whirlwind inside her. She had worked tirelessly for years to stay on her feet; her mother's sudden death had affected her deeply.
To avoid falling apart, to maintain the perfect façade, she spent her days immersed in her studies. She was the daughter of Edward Ainsley, a respected man, a man she not only loved but admired because he had never given up, he had always fought for his family, although, due to a embezzlement scandal, his legacy and life were crumbling before his eyes.
He had always tried to keep her out of his financial problems, always telling her that everything was fine and that it would all be resolved. And she believed him.
It was a gray, rainy afternoon when the phone rang. Victoria was sitting on her sofa, reading a book by a renowned economist, concentrating on admiring every word written and turning to the next page.
For a moment, her thoughts wandered, as always, around her father and the growing financial problems that had affected her family. The situation had worsened, although he denied it, her father always worked hard to maintain hope that things would soon change, but the darkness in her heart prevented her from seeing a quick solution.
Victoria hoped that her father's visit to the bank to speak with Mr. Carter would bring good news to her and her father, who she was very concerned about.
Suddenly, as her thoughts danced between hope and worry, her phone rang.
It was her father's housekeeper, who, through sobs and tears, delivered the terrible news.
"Miss Victoria, I am sorry to inform you..." said the voice on the other end, filled with sorrow, "That your father has passed away. A heart attack... He came back from the bank and asked not to be disturbed, he locked himself in his office. Two hours later, I went to check on him and prepared some tea, but when I knocked on the door, he didn't answer...
I found him slumped over his desk with his head on the photograph of your mother and you. I was terrified and called his doctor, but he said there was nothing they could do... He's gone..."
Victoria froze. The air left her lungs, and her mind clouded. She couldn't process the words that had just reached her ears. Her father, the man who had always fought for her, the man she loved most, who had given everything to ensure she had a comfortable life, was gone.
And he had done it alone, in his office, with no one there to help him, or aid him, all because Liam Carter had condemned him to despair.
When Victoria finally arrived at her father's house, there were already many friends and acquaintances of her father, offering condolences and comforting words, but Victoria couldn't think in that moment.
What she wanted to know was if what she suspected was true, if the visit to the bank had been the cause of her father's fatal collapse.
Her father's lawyer confirmed her suspicions, informing her that the bank, at Liam Carter's order, had sent lawyers and accountants to her father's company to assess its status, as it would soon pass to another businessman who had bought it from the bank.
"I regret to inform you, Victoria, that the only thing your father could leave you is this house. He put it in your name years ago, and no one can take it from you, unless, of course, you decide to sell it..."
With firmness, Victoria replied: "This house is where my parents lived and where they were happy. This house saw me grow up, no one will live in it but me and the people who shared our lives, joys, sorrows, and tragedies..."
"It will remain in my name, as my father decided."
"I regret that Mr. Carter didn't accept the extension, your father would surely still be alive. Giving him only two hours to pay his debt was impossible, a sentence that marked his death..." The lawyer's words expressed the indignation and helplessness he felt.
Victoria understood perfectly. The pain she felt from the loss of her father mixed with rage. In her mind, the lawyer's words echoed, as well as the memory of the cold indifference with which her father had been treated when given only two hours to settle his debt. Her father's final effort to save everything he had worked so hard for, only to be crushed by the brutality of a soulless man.
It wasn't just a death that caused her suffering. It was the humiliation, the scorn, the abandonment. Edward Ainsley didn't only lose his life; he lost his dignity. And all of it was Liam Carter's fault.
Victoria clenched her fists, rage filling her chest. An oath rose from within her, strong, firm, without a doubt.
"That man will pay for what he did. I'll make him pay for what he did to my father, for what he did to all the workers of the company… I will take everything he has, everything he values. I will make his life a living hell, and I will do it subtly, with a smile on my face."
Victoria knew what she had to do. She couldn't face such a powerful man with traditional weapons. She needed something more: cunning, beauty, and a plan so perfect that there would be no room for defeat.
She had heard the rumors about Liam Carter, the iron man, the millionaire who feared nothing and no one. But he didn't know what was coming for him. He didn't know that a woman willing to sacrifice everything, capable of playing with her own heart, was getting close to him, determined to destroy his world.
Victoria rose from the sofa where she had been speaking with her father's lawyer. Her expression was filled with determination, a strange gleam in her eyes.
She wasn't just a daughter mourning her father. She was a woman determined to reclaim what had been taken from her, and she would not allow anyone, not even a man as feared as Liam Carter, to stand in her way.
"I'll make you pay, Carter, and for the first time, you'll know the taste of pain and humiliation," she whispered to herself, like a murmur in the shadows of her loneliness.