Chapter 67 – A Father’s Fall, A Daughter’s Hopeful Call
“Ms. Ashworth,” the police officer addressed me, his pen poised over his notepad. “Please confirm this evidence was obtained legally.”
I nodded firmly, handing over a USB drive containing the recordings and digital documents. “I received anonymous tips about my father’s illegal activities and investigated them myself. The recording of their murder conspiracy was made when I
door.” overheard them through an already open
Standing in the chaotic remains of my father’s office, I felt strangely calm. Around me, tax officials methodically boxed files while police officers handcuffed Harrison. His face had gone from rage to disbelief, then settled into something worse–fear. O
“This is a mistake!” Harrison shouted as they led him toward the door. “I’m Harrison Ashworth! Don’t you know who I am?”
The officer escorting him didn’t even flinch. “Yes, sir. You’re under arrest for tax fraud, conspiracy to commit murder, and attempted obstruction of justice.”
As he passed me, Harrison’s eyes locked with mine. For the first time in my life, I saw something I’d never seen before–recognition. He was finally seeing me, not as a pawn or an obstacle, but as a force to be reckoned with. It felt like vindication.
“Hazel,” his voice broke as they pulled him along. “Please. You can’t do this to your own father.”
“You did this to yourself,” I said quietly. “And you stopped being my father the day Mom died alone while you were with your mistress.”
Eleanor was being questioned in the corner, mascara streaming down her face. When she saw Harrison being led away, she broke free from the officer and rushed to block their path.
“This is absurd! You can’t arrest him! Do you know how much money he donates to the police charity fund?”
The officer’s expression hardened. “Ma’am, step aside or you’ll be joining him.”
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“Hazel!” Eleanor whirled toward me. “Ivy just died! Have you no heart? Would you leave Ethan without both his father and sister in the same month?”
The mention of Ivy sent a cold spike through me, but not of grief. Only the memory of how they’d schemed together to destroy me.
“You tried to frame me for financial crimes,” I said evenly. “You conspired to kill me.
And you’re asking about my heart?” I stepped closer. “Where was your heart when you tormented a grieving child who’d just lost her mother?”
She flinched as if I’d slapped her.
“Ms. Ashworth,” called Mr. Zhao, my lawyer. “They need you to give your official statement now.”
I turned away from Eleanor without another word. Some bridges aren’t meant to be rebuilt.
Three hours later, I emerged from the police station, emotionally drained but triumphant. The evidence against Harrison was overwhelming. The detective had confided that with the conspiracy to murder charge and the financial crimes, my father would likely spend at least a decade behind bars.
The moment I stepped outside, I called my grandmother.
“Nainai,” I said when she answered. “It’s done.”
There was a brief silence, then her voice came, thick with emotion. “He’s been arrested?”
“Yes. They have everything they need. He won’t ever hurt us again.”
My grandmother let out a long breath. “Your mother… she would be so proud of you, Hazel.”
Tears pricked at my eyes. “I wish she could see this:
“She can,” my grandmother said softly. “Wherever she is, she knows her daughter finally got justice.”
After hanging up, I leaned against a nearby wall, suddenly overwhelmed by the weight
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of everything that had happened. For years, Harrison had loomed over my life like a shadow. Now, with him gone, the future stretched before me, bright and uncertain.
The next morning dawned clear and cool. I drove to the cemetery alone, carrying a small bouquet of white lilies–my mother’s favorite. The gravesite was peaceful, dappled sunlight filtering through the trees overhead.
I knelt beside the headstone, brushing away fallen leaves before placing the flowers. “Hi, Mom,” I whispered, tracing the engraved letters of her name. “I have so much to tell you.”
The breeze stirred the grass around the grave as I began speaking, telling her everything–Harrison’s arrest, Eleanor’s desperate pleas, the justice that had finally been served.
“He can’t hurt anyone anymore,” I said. “The business he stole from your family will be returned to Nainai. Everything you built will be in the right hands again.”
Tears slid down my cheeks as I continued. “I wish you could have seen it. I wish you were here.”
Birds chirped overhead as I sat in silence for a moment. Then I found myself speaking again, about something else entirely.
“There’s this man, Mom. Damien Sterling.” My voice caught. “He’s kind and strong and… he looks at me like I’m something precious. But I don’t know if I deserve someone like him.”
I wiped my tears with the back of my hand. “His world is so different from mine. He comes from this perfect family, and I’m… I’m the daughter of a criminal. Sometimes I think about what it would be like to be with him, to have a life with him, and it seems impossible. The gap between us is too wide.”
The wind picked up, sending a shower of cherry blossom petals drifting over the gra “I keep waiting for him to realize he can do better,” I confessed. “To find someone without my baggage. But he doesn’t seem to want anyone else.” I let out a shaky laug “He’s stubborn that way.”
I touched the cool stone of my mother’s headstone. “I think I’m falling in love with h
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Mom. And it terrifies me.”
After sitting there for a while longer, I finally stood up. “I’ll come back soon. I promise I pressed my fingers to my lips, then touched them to the top of her headstone. “I love you.”
As I walked back to my car, my phone rang. I smiled when I saw the caller ID.
“Hello, Damien,” I answered, trying to keep my voice steady,
“Hazel,” his deep voice warmed me from the inside out. “How are you?”
“I’m okay,” I said. “Just visiting my mom’s grave. I wanted to share some good news with her.”
There was a brief pause, and I could almost hear his smile through the phone. “Oh? What good news?”
I looked back at the cemetery, cherry blossoms swirling in the breeze, and felt something shift inside me—like a door opening to let in light.
“My father was arrested yesterday,” I said, leaning against my car. “He’s going to prison for a very long time.”
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