When Love Turns to Ash Novel – Chapter 13
Chloe Davenport sat in a pristine, sunlit room that reeked of lavender and lies.
The facility was private, luxurious even, but a cage nonetheless. Her wealthy parents, desperate to avoid scandal, had pulled every string to bury the mess—fraud, deception, a fake pregnancy, public humiliation. The psychiatric diagnosis had been convenient. It framed her downfall as a mental health crisis, not the unraveling of a manipulative socialite.
She wasn’t sick. She was furious.
She paced the room like a caged predator, fingers twitching, thoughts sharp and venomous.
She’d lost everything.
But she hadn’t lost her mind.
Not yet.
It didn’t take long to find a weak link. The orderly was young, soft-eyed, and too eager to impress. Chloe spun her tale like a spider spinning silk—how Jax had isolated her, gaslit her, destroyed her confidence. How she just needed one call to her lawyer, someone on her side.
The boy slipped her a burner phone two nights later.
Her fingers trembled with rage as she dialed the number from memory.
Julian answered on the second ring.
“Get me out of here, Julian!” she hissed, pacing the room like a mad queen. “I’m locked up like some lunatic. And Jax? When does he pay?”
Julian’s voice was cool, composed. “Patience, my dear. Everything’s in motion. His side company—Harding Industries?—let’s just say the paperwork’s gotten… complicated.”
He paused, just long enough for effect.
“Forged signatures. Hidden transactions. Very convincing. It all leads back to him.”
Chloe sank onto the edge of her bed, a slow, feral smile spreading across her face.
“Good,” she whispered. “I want him to lose everything. Just like I have.”
Days later, it began.
Headlines screamed from every major outlet:
“HARDING INDUSTRIES CEO ACCUSED OF MASSIVE FRAUD”
“SHOCKING FINANCIAL SCANDAL INVOLVING RISING MUSIC STAR JAX HARDING”
“INVESTORS DEMAND ANSWERS AS STOCKS PLUMMET”
In a cold, glass-walled boardroom, Jax stood surrounded by men and women in sharp suits and colder stares. The air buzzed with tension and betrayal.
Before him lay a thick stack of documents. Loan agreements. Share transfers. Equity movements.
Every one of them bore his name. His signature.
Except… he’d never signed them.
“This is a lie!” Jax’s voice was hoarse, desperate. “These signatures are forged—I never approved any of this!”
The lead attorney didn’t blink.
“You have twenty-four hours to prove that, Mr. Harding,” he said, sliding a sleek leather folder across the table. “Otherwise, legal action proceeds—and you’ll be removed from the company immediately.”
The walls felt like they were closing in.
Jax’s mind spun. The betrayal was too familiar, too deliberate.
Julian. Chloe.
Of course.
Across town, Ben sat on his worn apartment couch, the flickering TV illuminating his grim smile.
He watched the headlines scroll, the commentators speculate, the vultures circle.
He sipped his coffee, picked up his phone, and dialed a number he hadn’t called in years.
When the voice on the other end answered, he didn’t waste time.
“Yes,” he said. “I have more information about Harding Industries. Incriminating evidence. Emails. Phone records. Transfers.”
A pause. The voice asked something cautious.
Ben’s reply was cold.
“It’s time the world knew the whole truth about Jax Harding.”