Chapter 7 - The Desperate Beggar at the Gates
Five days after the night of the incident, I returned to the estate after a long day of reorganizing the company’s executive leadership.
The sun was setting, casting a warm golden light over the long iron gates of the property. As my chauffeur-driven SUV approached the main entrance, I noticed a figure standing outside the gates, leaning against the cold iron bars.
It was Gavin.
He looked unrecognizable. The immaculate tailor-made suits were gone, replaced by a rumpled, wrinkled dress shirt and dirt-stained trousers. His hair was messy, his face covered in dark stubble, and his eyes were bloodshot with exhaustion and desperation. He looked like a man who hadn't slept or eaten in days.
As my SUV slowed down near the gate, Gavin spotted me through the tinted windows. He threw himself forward, grabbing the iron bars, crying out frantically.
"Victoria! Victoria, please! Stop the car! Please, I beg you!"
I looked at Arthur, who was sitting in the front passenger seat. "Stop the car, Arthur. Open the window slightly."
The SUV pulled to a stop just inside the gate. The automatic window rolled down a few inches, allowing Gavin’s panicked voice to flood into the quiet luxury of the vehicle.
"Victoria!" Gavin sobbed, reaching his trembling hands through the bars. "Please... you have to talk to your father! You have to stop the prosecutors! They’re going to indict me! The IRS seized my remaining bank accounts! I don't even have enough money to buy food!"
I looked at him with an absolute lack of emotion. It was strange—a week ago, this man’s words had the power to make me bleed, to make me feel worthless. Now, looking at him, I felt nothing. No hatred, no vengeance—just an overwhelming sense of embarrassment that I had ever loved someone so remarkably small.
"Where is Brielle, Gavin?" I asked quietly. "I thought she was the one who understood the pressure you were under. Why isn't she helping you build your future?"
Gavin’s face twisted in pure bitterness and rage, before quickly collapsing back into pathetic desperation. "She left me! She took her jewelry and ran off with some club promoter the second she realized my cards were canceled! She used me, Victoria! She was a leech!"
"And what were you, Gavin?" I asked, my voice rising slightly with firm clarity. "What were you when you took my father's money, claimed my family's hard work as your own, and brought a mistress into my home? What were you when you raised a belt against the woman who protected you for eight years?"
Gavin broke down completely, falling to his knees on the concrete outside the gate, clutching the iron bars like a prisoner in a cage.
"I was wrong!" he wept, his tears smearing the dirt on his cheeks. "I was stupid! I lost my mind! I got arrogant, Victoria! The power, the money... it went to my head! But I love you! I’ve always loved you! We can fix this! Remember our wedding? Remember the promises we made?"
"I remember the promises I made," I said coldly. "And I kept them until you broke the covenant. You didn't just break a marriage, Gavin. You tried to destroy my dignity. You thought because I was quiet, I was weak. You mistook my kindness for surrender."
"Victoria, please!" he begged, hitting his forehead against the metal bars. "They’re going to send me to prison! I can't survive in prison! Just tell your father to drop the criminal charges! I’ll sign whatever divorce papers you want! I’ll walk away and never come near you again! Just give me a second chance!"
I looked down at him, remembering the cold sting of the leather belt across my back, remembering the sound of Brielle’s laughter, remembering how he looked at me like I was dirt beneath his shoes.
"You had eight years of chances, Gavin," I said softly. "Every day I stayed silent while you boasted was a chance. Every time I smiled through your disrespect was a chance. You used them all up."
I looked up at Arthur. "Roll up the window, Arthur. Drive up to the house."
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"Victoria! NO! VICTORIA! PLEASE!" Gavin screamed, his fists pounding uselessly against the iron gate as the window slowly rolled up, cutting off his frantic cries.
The SUV accelerated smoothly up the long, tree-lined driveway, leaving the broken, weeping fraud on his knees in the dirt behind us.
