Now You Want Me? Too Late

Everyone was shocked to hear it. No one had expected Cedric to make such a ruthless decision.

Vivian, however, completely lost control.

"How could you do this to me?" she cried like a madwoman. "I’m your only daughter."

Cedric ignored her cries and turned toward Elias.

"Elias, I’m sorry. I had no idea she would go this far to frame Elena. She deserves to be punished. I’ve already cut ties with her. Please don’t take any action against the Sterling Group."

Elias said nothing. But inwardly, he sneered.

Cedric was exactly what Elias had always believed him to be—an opportunist who cared only about his own interests. When protecting his company was at stake, he was even willing to sacrifice his own daughter.

"You only care about the company?" Vivian trembled with rage. Her makeup was smeared with tears, and her face had twisted into an ugly expression of betrayal.

"Instead of defending me, you are begging him to spare the Sterling Group?"

"You should have thought that before committing a crime," Cedric snapped back. "I initially believed you were innocent. I thought Elias was abusing his power to protect his wife. But I was wrong. You conspired against Elena. You betrayed Elias. You brought this upon yourself."

Vivian clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug into her palms. She had finally seen the truth.

Her father didn’t care about her. He cared about the company.

She couldn’t hide her father’s dirty game anymore. And if she was going down, she would make sure he went down with her.

"If it were not for you, I would have never gone after her," she muttered. "You told me..."

Smack

Cedric slapped her before Vivian could finish her sentence.

The impact sent Vivian stumbling to the floor. She stared up at him in disbelief, one hand slowly rising to her cheek.

Tears welled up in her eyes. It was the first time her father had ever hit her. She couldn’t even process what had just happened.

The father who had once treated her like a princess had slapped her without hesitation.

"Take her out," Cedric yelled. "I don’t want to see her face anymore. She is a stain on the Sterling family. From this moment on, she is nothing to me."

Elias gave Owen a subtle signal.

Owen immediately stepped forward and pulled Vivian to her feet.

She didn’t resist. She simply followed him out like a broken doll, one hand still pressed against her burning cheek.

"The meeting is over," Elias announced.

Everyone left one by one. No one spoke. No one dared to look at Vivian as she was taken away.

Cedric didn’t leave. He needed to speak with Elias. Once the others had disappeared, he slowly approached him.

"Elias..." His voice was cautious. "You don’t hold any grudge against my family, do you?"

Elias let out a cold snort. "How long are you going to keep pretending, Cedric?"

Cedric’s expression stiffened.

"The mastermind is you."

For a moment, Cedric couldn’t breathe.

"You influenced Vivian. You pushed her into this."

Cedric stared at him in shock. For a moment, he could only stare, frozen in disbelief. Then his words sank in, and shock twisted into pure horror.

"I know Vivian," Elias continued. "She is impulsive and childish. She acts before she thinks. She doesn’t have the patience or the intelligence to orchestrate something this complicated."

His gaze sharpened.

"Destroying the project while simultaneously framing Elena required careful planning. Vivian may have carried out the plan, but she wasn’t the one who designed it. You were behind this."

Cedric’s nostrils flared. Fury boiled beneath his skin, hot, relentless, and desperate to erupt.

"You are accusing me without proof," he hissed.

"Vivian was about to expose you, but you slapped her," Elias countered. "You knew she was about to reveal your secrets. You knew she had become a liability. That’s why you abandoned her so quickly."

Elias’s lips curled into a cold smile. "You thought disowning her would make you look innocent. I already know you are working with Victor."

Cedric’s entire body went rigid.

Elias opened a file, took out some photos, and tossed them toward him.

The photographs struck Cedric in the chest before scattering across the floor around his feet.

His eyes dropped. The color drained from his face.

The photographs showed him meeting Victor.

The restaurant, the conversation—everything crossed his mind in that instant.

A wave of cold swept through Cedric.

He had thought that restaurant was away from the city. He had believed no one would notice him there. He had been wrong.

Elias had suspected him for a long time. And he had been watching.

"You have been conspiring against me with Victor," Elias went on. "I suspected you for a long time. But I didn’t have proof. After a long time, you eventually gave me what I needed."

He smirked. "You are exposed, Cedric. And I’m going to ruin you."

Cedric went pale. "No... don’t... We have been partners for decades. Your father was my friend. You can’t destroy me."

"That’s exactly what hurts me the most." Elias rose to his feet.

"My father trusted you. He treated you as a brother." His voice carried a deep, restrained anger. "And what did you do? You betrayed him. You never treated him as a friend. You wanted to destroy the business and take over the company."

Each word landed like a blow.

Cedric’s face changed. For years, he had buried that secret. He had convinced himself it would never surface.

How could Elias possibly know?

He couldn’t accept it.

"You are making up stories."

"Really?" Elias slammed a thick folder onto the table.

The sound made Cedric flinch.

"I went through the old records. And I discovered something interesting."

He leaned forward, one hand pressing down on the folder. His eyes were firmly set on Cedric.

"Twenty years ago, you tried to acquire the company."

Cedric’s expression changed instantly. He looked away, suddenly uncomfortable beneath Elias’s piercing stare.

"I don’t have time for games, Elias."

"This is not a game. These are records from twenty years ago."

Something close to panic flickered in Cedric’s eyes. But it disappeared almost instantly.

"I don’t know what you are talking about."

Elias quirked his lips. "I thought you’d say that." He opened the folder and slid the first document across the desk. "These three investment firms began purchasing shares in the company twenty years ago."

Cedric glanced at the page. But he didn’t pick it up to check.

"They were small purchases. Nothing suspicious enough to attract attention." Elias slid another document toward him. "But all three companies were connected to the same investment fund. And that fund was controlled by you."

Cedric remained silent.

Elias pointed toward the names listed on the documents. "The directors of these three companies were your former financial adviser, your personal attorney, and a man who worked for Sterling Group."

"You’ve misinterpreted old financial transactions."

"Have I?" Elias’s mouth curled into a cold sneer. "You acquired shares through intermediaries because you didn’t want my father to know how many shares you actually controlled."

Cedric’s eyes narrowed. "That’s an absurd accusation. I invested in the company. That doesn’t mean I was trying to take it over."

"You hid the extent of your ownership from my father." Elias’s voice remained frighteningly calm.

Cedric took a deep breath, trying to keep himself calm. "Private investments aren’t required to be discussed with business partners."

"No." Elias’s gaze hardened. "But you weren’t just investing. You were building a position. Then you started targeting the logistics division."

He placed an old board report on the desk. "You convinced my father to outsource it to a company you claimed was independent."

Cedric stared at him. "You were a child back then. You don’t know what happened twenty years ago."

"That’s why I went through the records," Elias countered. "I relied on evidence. You took a business decision that benefited you. My father approved the restructuring of the logistics division under your suggestion."

Cedric’s breathing grew heavier.

"You recommended that the company outsource the division to a supposedly independent firm," Elias went on. The more he spoke, the sharper his voice grew. "But the company was secretly owned by your associate."

Cedric’s hands were clammy. A knot tightened in his chest. It felt as though an invisible noose was slowly tightening around his throat.

"The company charged us more than our previous operating costs. The division began losing money. Within eighteen months, my father was forced to sell it. And guess who bought it?"

He pushed over the final document. "The buyer was another company connected to you." His voice rose.

Cedric’s face went pale.

Elias’s eyes burned with restrained fury. "You weakened one of my father’s divisions, caused its value to fall, and then positioned yourself to acquire it cheaply."

Cedric’s chest rose and fell violently. His carefully buried schemes now lay exposed before Elias, one document after another.

"You are interpreting old business decisions to fit your theory."

"I’m not finished," Elias roared. "One decision could be a mistake. Two could be bad judgment. But when every decision benefits the same person, it stops looking like coincidence."

Cedric stared at the growing pile of documents, his breathing growing faster.

"You weren’t trying to help my father. You were preparing to take control of his company."

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