Chapter 3 - The Board's Ultimatum
Outside the café window, two black SUVs with dark tinted windows pulled smoothly up to the curb, parking in the loading zone with their hazard lights blinking.
A tall, silver-haired man in a dark trench coat stepped out of the lead vehicle, scanning the street with practiced military precision before walking toward the café door.
Daniel turned his head, spotting the vehicles through the rain-streaked glass. His posture shifted instantly from grieving husband to defensive warrior.
"Marcus," Daniel muttered under his breath, clenching his fists. "He followed me from the airport."
"Who is that?" I asked, instinctively reaching out to pull both girls' chairs closer to my side.
"Marcus Vance," Daniel answered, his tone dropping into a hard, protective register. "My mother’s personal head of security and the executive fixer for the Ashford board."
The café chime rang again. Marcus Vance walked inside, removing his leather gloves, his sharp gray eyes sweeping across the room until they landed directly on our table.
He didn't look at Daniel; his cold, calculating gaze locked onto Lily and Grace, taking in their identical facial structures and dark hair.
"Mr. Ashford," Marcus said, stopping two paces away and giving a stiff, formal nod. "Your mother instructed me to inform you that the quarterly shareholder summit in Manhattan convenes tomorrow morning at nine o'clock."
"Get out, Marcus," Daniel ordered, rising to his full height, his broad shoulders shielding the table from the man’s view.
Marcus didn't move an inch. He pulled a thick manila envelope from inside his coat and placed it on the counter beside our table.
"Mrs. Ashford is aware that you deviated from your scheduled flight path to Seattle," Marcus continued smoothly, completely ignoring Daniel’s menacing glare. "She asked me to deliver this supplementary documentation regarding the family trust's bloodline inheritance covenants."
Daniel snatched the envelope, tearing it open with aggressive force.
Inside was a legal memorandum signed by the senior legal council of Ashford Global, along with a certified copy of Richard Ashford’s last will and testament.
"Under Section 12 of your late father’s estate charter," Marcus recited with icy precision, "any direct biological descendant born of a legal marriage to Daniel Ashford constitutes an irrevocable primary beneficiary of forty percent of the founder's voting shares."
Daniel froze. His fingers tightened against the parchment until the edges crumpled.
"My father put that in the will?" Daniel whispered, his breath catching.
"Your father knew your mother far better than you ever did, Mr. Ashford," Marcus stated plainly. "He knew Victoria would attempt to disenfranchise your marriage. He inserted that clause thirty days before his passing."
Marcus turned his head slightly, his gaze meeting mine with a strange, fleeting look of professional respect.
"Mrs. Ashford believes these children do not exist," Marcus added, lowering his voice. "If she discovers that two legitimate heiresses are living in Seattle, the Montgomery alliance collapses, and Victoria loses her controlling proxy over the board."
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Daniel turned back to look at his daughters, a fierce, terrifying fire igniting in his amber eyes.
"She will never touch them, Marcus," Daniel warned, his voice vibrating with absolute fury. "Tell my mother that if she sends another operative within five hundred miles of Seattle, I will strip her of every title she holds in that company."
