Echoes of Vengeance: The Sweet Wife's Perfect Revenge-Chapter 52: Check

Thursday was passing quietly for Aveline as she caught up on her pending work at Laurent Industries.

Margaret insisted on taking care of Aveline. She watched over her daughter, seamlessly handling not just her work but also a team.

’My Princess doesn’t need a prince, I guess.’ She sighed.

Meanwhile, Henry met with the confidant shareholders to update them about the financial blunder from three years ago. Charles and Mike worked on reinforcing multiple layers of authorisation to access archives and sensitive digital files.

....

At Sinclair Lifestyle,

Sitting in her new office, Vivienne admired the flowers Damien had sent her. When was the last time he sent her flowers? She was on cloud nine.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t hear when her father called her name until he growled, "Vivienne!?"

Startled, she jumped up. "Dad?"

Disgruntled, he snapped, "If you are here to daydream, get out of my company." And he stormed off.

Vivienne scrambled to grab a notepad and pen, hurrying after him. She didn’t have any business knowledge, but she was ready to learn. Ready to prove to her father that she could be more than just a model and a son.

In truth, she was already skilled in marketing strategy and efficient in handling the fashion department after working in the fashion industry for a long time.

Within a few meetings, Elliot Sinclair began to notice his daughter’s potential. Though there were no words of praise, the change was visible. By the way, he asked for her input and didn’t dismiss her when she made suggestions.

She believed he would one day see her as a worthy daughter. And Damien? He would beg for her attention. So she ignored his messages and calls all day.

....

At Ashford Holdings,

Despite Damien managing to douse the fire at the company over Vivienne’s departure, another one hit him like a storm.

A man dressed in a crisp business suit rushed into his office. He was tall, good-looking looking and was in his mid-thirties.

CFO Charlie Harmon, ambitious and disciplined.

Damien and Charlie were said to be the powerhouses of Ashford Holdings. But in truth, they were laundering money and manipulating markets behind the facade of financial legitimacy.

However, Charlie’s usual polished calm was replaced with barely masked panic. "Director Ashford..." He halted in front of the desk, his voice lowered as if the walls had ears, "A junior accountant discovered a payment to a ’vendor’ who has been dead for two years. "

Damien’s expression hardened.

Charlie glanced over his shoulder. "Those funds were routed to your offshore account, disguised as business expenses."

Damien stood slowly, fury tightening his jaw. He couldn’t believe Charlie failed to keep track of the vendor’s whereabouts for two years. And their years of laundering were undone by a rookie.

Damien asked coldly, "Where is he now?" He meant the junior accountant.

"In my department. I told him we need to deal with it silently to catch the ’culprit,’" Charlie said quickly.

Damien gave the order. "Send him to Urban Pulse tonight. And you, fix the vendor issue. Now."

Charlie nodded and fled.

Damien quickly dropped a message to a string of numbers.

"Fuck," he muttered, rage boiling under his skin.

In the evening, Damien was working when a knock came at the door. Then a voice he didn’t expect to hear in Ashford Holdings, "Damien..."

His hair stood on end. He never wanted to bring Aveline to the public or his workplace as his wife.

How had she gotten in?

But, when he looked up, he habitually slipped into his character, "Nina..." He rose from his chair, layering a hint of surprise.

She looked pale, too pale. "You don’t look well." He said, touching her forehead and guiding her to the couch.

Aveline smiled weakly, "Just side effects of treatment." She lied. It was makeup.

Then she added with a forced cheer, "Thankfully, I’m not losing my hair." She giggled at her dry humor.

He had already spoken to Elias Hawthorne about her treatment and side effects. So he didn’t question her. "You have lost weight." He said with a sigh.

"You too. Aren’t you having food on time?" She asked softly, "Let’s have dinner." But she prayed that he would say no, like always.

"Err..." He glanced at his desk, "Lots of work, Nina."

He hadn’t even finished when the doors burst open. Maxwell Ashford stormed in, nearly grabbing Aveline by the collar if Damien hadn’t stepped in front of her.

"You have some audacity to come here!" Maxwell roared.

Aveline clenched her teeth. No, she wasn’t going to bother about Maxwell. Not worth her breath.

She shrank behind Damien, her fingers gripped his vest, as if she was holding on for dear life.

"Dad, relax," Damien said.

"Relax?" Maxwell hissed, "Problems don’t start out of nowhere, Damien. It’s all her father’s doing."

That caught Aveline’s attention. "Problems?" Her voice barely whispers to Damien, "Are you also facing problems?"

Maxwell snapped, "Don’t play innocent, you vixen. The moment you stepped into our life, I knew you would ruin the Ashfords." Maxwell vented his frustration with Henry on Aveline.

Aveline wasn’t new to Maxwell’s entitled behavior. She clung tighter to Damien, almost making it hard to breathe.

"That’s enough," Damien growled.

Maxwell backed down but kept glaring at Aveline while he breathed hard in rage.

And Aveline released Damien, stumbled back, and collapsed onto the couch as if she were petrified. She wanted Damien to behave in her presence, not explode. She didn’t fancy any kind of violence.

"Nina..." Damien reached for her, but she recoiled out of fear. So he chose to send his father away. "She isn’t well. Can’t you see that?"

When he was the one dealing with the problems, he couldn’t understand why his father was mad.

He warned his father. "Leave. And think before you raise your voice at my wife." Those words slipped smoothly.

"Wife?" It was Lawrence Ashford’s stunned voice from the doorway. "Are you married, Damien?"

Damien froze.

No one noticed, Aveline’s lips curling into a sly smirk. She hadn’t come to see Damien.

She came so Lawrence would learn about her.

’Damien Ashford, it’s a check.’