Chapter 31 The Need To Stay Ahead
Felicia Ardent’s POV
The moment my phone rang, I answered it without hesitation.
“Yes?”
“They’ve left McKay Enterprises.”
My fingers tightened slightly around the device.
“Who?”
“Damian and Peter McKay. Courtney Bennett. And Elena Ramsey.”
So. They were all together. Of course they were.
“Location?”
“Heading out from the underground parking. We have eyes on them.”
Good. At least someone was doing their job properly.
“Follow them,” I said sharply. “Do not lose them this time.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
My tone dropped—colder, sharper.
“And whatever Elena Ramsey brought with her…” A pause. “Retrieve it.”
“Understood.”
“Quietly,” I added. “I don’t want another scene like the one you just created.”
“…Yes, ma’am.”
I ended the call without another word. Silence settled over my office again. But this time, it wasn’t still. It was restless. Unsettled. I walked slowly toward the window, my heels clicking softly against the marble floor, my reflection faintly staring back at me from the glass. Everything was beginning to converge. Too quickly. Too unpredictably. Elena Ramsey. Of all people. I exhaled slowly, folding my arms as I stared out over the city.
So the Ramsey girls had started going through their father's assets. That was… inconvenient. But not unexpected. Peter Ramsey’s arrest had been a catalyst. Loose ends always surfaced when men like him fell. Secrets didn’t stay buried forever. They just waited. And now, one of them had found its way into the hands of Damian McKay. My jaw tightened slightly. That couldn’t be allowed to continue. Because if Damian connected the wrong pieces. If he understood—
Then everything I had built, everything my family had protected, would collapse.
My eyes drifted shut for a brief moment. And just like that, the memory came rushing back. Five years ago. The hospital room had smelled like antiseptic and fading time. Machines hummed softly. Too softly. Like they were already preparing to stop. I stood at the foot of the bed, my posture rigid, my expression composed—because that was what I had been taught. Control. Always control. Even when everything around you was slipping away. My mother looked… smaller. Fragile. Nothing like the woman who had raised me. Nothing like the force she had once been.
“Felicia,” she had whispered, her voice thin but steady.
I stepped closer immediately.
“I’m here.”
Her hand trembled slightly as she reached toward the bedside table.
“There’s something you need to know.”
I said nothing. Just watched. Listened.
Because when my mother spoke like that, it meant everything was about to change. She picked up a small object. A key. Simple. Unassuming. But her grip on it, told me everything.
“This opens a safety deposit box,” she said.
My brows furrowed slightly.
“A precaution?”
“No.”
Her eyes met mine. Sharp. Even then. Even like that.
“It’s the truth.”
That was the first time I felt it. That shift. That crack in the foundation of everything I thought I knew.
“About what?” I asked quietly.
“About Ardent Global and your father's life's work.”
The mention of my absent father hung in the air. Heavy. Familiar. And yet—
Suddenly foreign.
“What about it?”
Her fingers tightened around the key before pressing it into my hand.
“What we built…”
A pause. A breath.
“…was never clean.”
The words echoed. Even now. Even here. I swallowed.
“What does that mean?”
“It means,” she said slowly, “that everything you think you know… is only part of the story.”
My grip tightened around the key.
“Then tell me the rest.”
Her gaze softened. Just slightly.
“I can’t.”
Frustration flickered through me.
“You have to.”
“I don’t have time,” her body shook as she coughed and wheezed.
My chest tightened.
“Then I’ll find out myself.”
A faint, sad smile touched her lips.
“I know you will.” Her hand squeezed mine weakly. “But when you do…” Her voice dropped. “Be careful who you trust.”
Those had been her last coherent words to me. And three days later, she was gone. I opened my eyes slowly, pulling myself back into the present. Back into my office. Back into the war. The key had led me exactly where she said it would. A private bank. A locked box. And inside—
Documents. Records. Transactions. Names. One name in particular. Peter Ramsey. The cornerstone. The financier. The man who had quietly funneled resources, capital, and influence into Ardent Global’s early growth. Not publicly. Never publicly. But undeniably. Ardent Global hadn’t just been built on innovation. It had been built on money that needed to be hidden. Moved. Cleaned. And Peter Ramsey had been the one to make that possible. Which meant—
When he fell, everything connected to him became vulnerable. Exposed. Traceable. Dangerous. And now—
Now, Elena Ramsey had found something. Something she was desperate enough to bring straight to Damian McKay. My lips pressed into a thin line. Unacceptable. I turned away from the window and walked back toward my desk, my mind already recalibrating. If Damian now had access to even a fraction of those records, then containment was no longer optional. It was critical.
A knock sounded at the door.
“Enter.”
My secretary stepped inside, tablet in hand.
“Ms. Ardent, I have the reports on the most recent acquisitions—”
“Later.”
She paused, clearly caught off guard.
“Ma’am?”
“I said later.”
My tone left no room for interpretation. She nodded quickly.
“Yes, ma’am.”
I moved behind my desk, picking up my phone again.
“We have a more immediate concern.”
Her posture straightened.
“Understood.”
I didn’t look at her as I spoke.
“Book me a flight.”
A brief pause.
“Of course. Where to?”
My gaze drifted back to the window. To the horizon beyond it. To the next phase of this game. Because if Damian McKay was starting to see the truth, then I needed to stay ahead of him. Not react. Anticipate. And there was only one place where the next piece of this puzzle could be secured before it fell into the wrong hands. My voice was quiet. Controlled. Final.
“Europe.”