They Forced Me to Take the Fall…Then a Billionaire Heir Chose Me!
Chapter 10
A year after Ava was framed, Blackwood International was no longer the company it had been.
Richard was facing decades in prison.
Several executives had been convicted.
The financial network had been dismantled.
And the government had reopened dozens of cases connected to the original investigation.
Ava became one of the most respected financial investigators in the country.
But she never forgot where she started.
She kept the termination agreement.
The fake confession.
The photograph from the security footage.
And the first message Julian had sent her.
DON’T SIGN ANYTHING.
She kept them all in a small box.
Not as reminders of fear.
As reminders that she survived.
One evening, Julian took her back to the same parking garage where they first met.
Ava laughed.
“Why are we here?”
“I wanted you to remember something.”
“What?”
Julian pointed toward the spot where he had been standing beside her car.
“This is where I first saw you.”
Ava smiled.
“You mean when you scared me half to death?”
“Yes.”
“You looked suspicious.”
“I was suspicious.”
She laughed.
Julian reached into his pocket.
This time, it wasn’t a diamond.
It was a simple key.
Ava looked at it.
“What is that?”
“The key to my new company.”
She frowned.
“Your new company?”
“I left Blackwood International.”
Ava stared.
“You did?”
“Months ago.”
“What are you doing now?”
“Building something that belongs to me.”
He placed the key in her hand.
“And I want you beside me.”
Ava smiled.
“As an employee?”
Julian shook his head.
“As my partner.”
Ava looked at him.
“Business partner?”
“Both.”
She laughed.
“You’re impossible.”
“I’ve been told.”
Ava stepped closer.
“Then I guess I’ll have to stay.”
Julian smiled.
She kissed him.
The woman who had once been forced to take the fall for a crime she didn’t commit had survived.
But more than that, she had found someone who refused to let powerful people decide her worth.
Julian hadn’t chosen Ava because she was beautiful.
He hadn’t chosen her because she was useful.
He hadn’t chosen her because he needed a witness.
He chose her because he saw the truth when everyone else saw a convenient scapegoat.
And Ava finally understood something.
Being chosen by someone powerful wasn’t the greatest victory.
Choosing yourself was.
