6200 30W
Chapter 7
By the time Milo arrived with security, I had already been thrown out of the building.
She rushed to me, concern etched across her face.
“Ms. Voss, I’m so sorry–am I too late?”
“Go. Take this address. Find Shirley.”
I shoved a small slip of paper into her hand.
She didn’t hesitate. She took one look at it and ran, her team already moving with her toward the car.
I turned to look back at the building.
The humiliation in my eyes hardened into something far sharper.
Matthew–enjoy that chair at the Voss Group while you still can.
Matthew…enjoy that chair while you can.
After Shirley was rescued, I took her to our private estate, where we stayed for several quiet months.
News from the Voss Group kept trickling in.
Matthew had slipped into the chairman’s seat, controlling the company with an iron grip through his majority shares.
Jax was neatly tucked into a subsidiary, and even Julian managed to snag a general manager title.
When Julian decided I’d outlived my usefulness, the divorce papers came almost immediately–no pretense, no delay.
I signed them without hesitation.
They continued developing the green energy project I had started before leaving the country. Then, as if that weren’t enough, they made a public announcement:
Matthew was going to marry Sofia, his “first love.”
The media erupted.
Headlines praised the two as a picture–perfect power couple. Some even called them the gold standard of business and romance.
The Voss Group’s stock soared.
Matthew was crowned a ‘business prodigy.”
Shirley, trying to shield me from the pain, insisted we get out of the house for a while.
And for her sake, I agreed.
We walked into the mall, and it struck me that the last time I’d gone shopping with my daughter had been over six months ago.
When she picked up a handbag and tried it on, her smile lit up her whole face.
I knew it wasn’t the bag she cared about–she simply loved the time we spent together.
“Well, if it isn’t Ms. Voss–the one who used to polish my shoes.”
I turned toward the voice and saw Sofia on Matthew’s arm, with Jax trailing behind them carrying her shopping bags.
Matthew’s gaze landed on Shirley, and for a moment, he looked almost dazed.
She had regained her health in the weeks I’d been nursing her back, her beauty sharpened to the kind of radiance that could stop a man
Chapter 7
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in his tracks.
A flicker of something unreadable crossed his face.
Sofia noticed.
Her eyes narrowed, venom sharp behind her sweet smile.
“Matthew, I didn’t know Shirley was still chasing you. Came all the way here, huh?”
“Maybe she heard about our engagement. If she wants, I’d be happy to step aside…”
Her feigned innocence snapped Matthew out of it.
His expression twisted into something colder.
“Unbelievable. Still no dignity, huh, Shirley?”
“Let me make this clear–on my wedding day with Sofia, don’t bother showing up–you aren’t welcome.”
“Your mother forced us to stay by your side for years. Then she handed the Voss Group over to me. We’re done.”
“I won’t bother you again…as long as you and your daughter vanish from this city and never upset Sofia.”
Shirley’s face flushed scarlet with rage. I was about to speak, but she beat me to it, her voice sharp and unyielding.
“Matthew, insult me all you want, but you don’t get to insult my mother. You were an orphan–half–starved–when she took you in. You clung to her leg and refused to let go.”
“And you, Jax–when you were fighting stray dogs for scraps, you never said my mother was forcing her will on you.”
“You’ve eaten our food, lived under our roof, taken everything from us–now you act like we owe you? You’re nothing but ungrateful parasites. Without us, you’re nothing.”
Her words hit home.
Both men flinched.
That was their greatest shame–and she’d thrown it right now.
But Sofia was quick to respond, her voice soft, calculated.
“But they gave up everything for you. Their freedom, their choices. Isn’t that enough?”
“What else do you want? To control them forever?”
Her words were like a signal.
Matthew and Jax straightened, their guilt now masked by renewed arrogance.
“That’s right,” Matthew snapped. “We’re done wasting every day at your side just to keep you happy. You think you can control our lives? Keep dreaming.”
“Now get out of here–don’t make me say it twice.”
The sales associate, realizing things were about to get ugly, quickly took sides and had security escort us out.
Shirley’s hand brushed over mine. “It’s okay, Mom. I’m not going anywhere. You still have me.”
I looked at her, trying to return her reassurance with a calin smile.
When we got home, I picked up my phone and sent Milo a single message.
I’d let these parasites dance long enough.
It was time to pull the plug.
