Abandoned By My Family I Crowned Myself. Chapter 09
“What kind of garbage product did you sell us? People buy it and it breaks in two days!”
“The back panel battery exploded and burned several children’s wrists. How dare you put something like this on the market?”
“We sent it to a certified lab. The design has critical flaws, the materials are the cheapest available, and you’re charging premium prices!”
“Shameless! Frauds!”
Furious voices rose one after another.
My father and Piper stood there, battered by the onslaught, looking utterly wretched.
Off to the side, my mother and Noah were too terrified to make a sound.
My father whipped around and glared at Piper. “What the hell is going on?”
“I… I…”
Piper’s face went white as chalk.
In her panic, she spun and pointed directly at me.
“She did this to me! Ava set me up!”
Every eye in the room snapped toward me.
I shrugged and spread my hands.
“Your company’s products have nothing to do with me.”
“Unless, of course, you’re admitting you stole R&D files from me and used them to manufacture this?”
The room exploded into chaos.
My father drew in a sharp breath and roared: “Piper, tell me the truth!”
“I… I…”
Piper was shaking from head to toe.
“I got it from Ava.”
“Uncle Martin, I was desperate. It was the only solution I could think of. Everything I did was for you and the company!”
“Ava must have planted a fake set of specs on purpose. She’s the one who sabotaged us!”
*Slap!*
My father struck Piper hard across the face.
“You useless waste!”
He roared again.
“I never should have made you CEO!”
In that single second, regret hit him with its full, devastating weight.
Piper crashed to the ground, then looked up at me through streaming tears.
“Ava, it’s just a CEO position. It’s not like I was hell-bent on taking it from you.”
“Why would you do this to me?”
Even now—even at the very end—she was trying to pin everything on me.
I responded calmly: “I didn’t do anything to you.”
“That design was nothing more than a preliminary draft.”
“If you hadn’t stolen it, once the final version was complete, it could have generated over a hundred million dollars in profit for the company.”
“So really, I should be the one pursuing you for theft of trade secrets.”
Piper went rigid.
She couldn’t produce a single word of rebuttal.
Moments later, police officers and investigators arrived on scene.
The sight of them drained what little color remained in Piper’s face.
“Uncle Martin, help me!”
She screamed at my father.
But he kicked her away, teeth clenched. “You made this mess. You deal with it.”
She turned desperately toward me.
“Ava, I’m sorry. I know I was wrong. Please don’t press charges. Please.”
I couldn’t even be bothered to look at her.
“Ava!”
Noah rushed to me next, dropping straight to his knees.
“Piper forced me into it. I didn’t mean to steal those files.”
“Please let me go. Please.”
“I’ll do anything for you. You still have feelings for me, don’t you? I’ll marry you tomorrow.”
He wept without an ounce of dignity, a pathetic heap on the floor.
I laughed coldly.
“Don’t bother.”
“I find you revolting.”
I watched as the two of them were led away by the officers.
At the same time, my father’s phone rang. His assistant.
“Mr. Lawson, it’s bad.”
“Consumers and distributors have descended on headquarters. The Consumer Product Safety Commission and state regulators have sealed our warehouses.”
“Stock price is in freefall. The exchange just sent a delisting risk notice.”
The assistant’s voice was frantic.
“What? This… this…”
My father’s whole body trembled.
“How much cash do we have left in the company accounts? Pay people off first—contain this.”
The assistant’s voice dropped even lower: “There’s only one million dollars left.”
“Finance says Piper transferred the rest into crypto hedge funds. It’s all gone.”
At those words, my father’s vision went black.
If my mother hadn’t caught him, he would have collapsed right there on the spot.
None of this surprised me.
A long time ago, I’d warned my father—let Piper gain experience elsewhere before bringing her into the company.
I’d also noticed her obsession with high-risk investments, especially crypto funds.
But he’d accused me of meddling where I didn’t belong.
“Evan.”
“Let’s go.”
I took Evan’s hand and started to leave, but my parents rushed after us.
“Ava. My good girl.”
My father’s eyes were rimmed with red. His voice—for the first time in my life—was humble.
“It was all my fault. I shouldn’t have sacrificed you for the sake of my reputation for fairness. I shouldn’t have put Piper’s feelings above yours all those years.”
“I’m sorry. All of it was my fault.”
“From now on, come back and be CEO of Lawson Group.”
My mother jumped in:
“Ava, I know I treated you terribly before. I was taken in by that pitiful act Piper put on.”
“We do love you. You’re our flesh and blood, after all.”
“No matter what’s happened, we’re still family. Can’t we just start fresh?”
It was the first time my mother had ever spoken to me so gently.
In the past, her hand would have already been across my face.
Before I could respond, Evan couldn’t contain himself. He laughed.
“The company’s about to go under, and *now* you remember Ava is your daughter?”
“Don’t you find that pathetic?”
“You don’t actually realize you were wrong. You’re just terrified of losing the lifestyle you’re accustomed to.”
“Ask yourselves honestly—do you deserve to be called parents?”
“In all these years, when did you ever give Ava one shred of genuine love?”
Faced with that, my parents fell silent.
They had no answer.
And I never said a word.
I simply held Evan’s hand tighter, and together, we walked away.
Whether it’s romantic love or family bonds—
Once something shatters, it can never be made whole again.
—
Later, Piper and Noah were formally indicted for trade secret theft and product data falsification.
Noah, angling for a reduced sentence, handed over every chat log and wire transfer receipt. Piper could no longer play innocent. She broke down sobbing in the courtroom, but no one stepped forward to speak on her behalf.
Lawson Group was hit with massive regulatory fines. The stock cratered. The board ousted my father.
My mother sold the mansion to help cover his debts. It still wasn’t enough.
The once-untouchable Lawson couple ended up in a cramped apartment in the suburbs.
My father called me many times after that.
I never picked up. Not once.
They had finally lost Piper.
And they had lost me too.