THE AWAKEN RAYMOND WEST STRIKE BACK

Chapter 7

Almost immediately, without allowing Megan to say anything Megan’s father stepped in, his voice calm but heavy with authority, as though he were delivering a final judgment.  

“I honestly don’t understand why you’re making things so difficult for yourself,” he said, shaking his head. “Why you insist on turning your own life into a battlefield like this.”  

He studied Raymond coldly. “Have you even stopped to think about what you’re walking into? Instead of doing the sensible thing getting down on your knees, just as my wife advised, and begging Simon properly you’re choosing stubbornness. Pride. Trying to prove some point that, frankly, I don’t even understand.”  

He scoffed. “You think this is strength? This is self‑destruction.”  

Then his tone shifted, turning sharp. “Or have you forgotten something very important? Something City Hall will not forget.”  

He took a step forward.  

“You know very well they’re going to fine you for forgery. You won’t win that case. We submitted the contract proposal first. We filed everything first. That means we hold the original documents.”  

His lips curled slightly. “Which makes yours a forgery.”  

The room felt suddenly smaller.  

“They’ll fine you five million dollars,” he continued calmly. “And I know you’re fully aware of that by now.”  

He then pointed at Simon.  

“And out of sheer kindness pure generosity Simon has agreed to cover that five‑million‑dollar fine on your behalf.”  

He paused, then added mercilessly, “But that’s not even the worst of it.”  

His voice hardened. 

“Your company has been flagged. Investigated. Labeled dubious and fraudulent. From now on, every regulator will be watching you closely. No one will want to do business with you. No one will trust you. No one will give you another contract.”  

He shook his head slowly.  

“So no matter what you do from this point forward, your company is finished. Dead. Completely dead. Not that it was ever impressive to begin with but now, it’s truly over.”  

He folded his arms, finality in his posture.  

“So take my advice. Start apologizing to Simon. Do exactly what my wife told you to do. Work under him.”  

He looked Raymond straight in the eyes.  

“That is the best option you have left.”

But instead of yielding, Raymond remained exactly where he was, shoulders squared, jaw locked, his silence doing more to provoke them than any argument could have.  

Megan’s father stared at him in disbelief. 

“Look at you,” he said bitterly. “Still lifting your shoulders like you have any room left for pride. As if you’re the one in control here. As if you still have options.”  

He gave a humorless laugh. 

“You’re being told to lower yourself, apologize, and work under Simon, yet you stand there acting defiant. If a man in your position cannot do something this simple, then how do you expect to survive in any serious family, in any serious business circle? If you can’t humble yourself now, what exactly do you think you’re capable of?”  

Before Raymond could answer, Megan’s mother cut in again, impatience flashing across her face.  

“I don’t even understand why we’re still explaining ourselves,” she snapped. 

“He’s acting as though we’re begging him, when this is a privilege. A privilege. Something he should have grabbed with both hands the moment it was offered.”  

Her voice turned harsher.

 “By now, he should already be on his knees before Simon, thanking him, pleading with him, asking for a chance. But instead he’s standing there as though he’s doing us a favor.”  

Then both she and her husband fixed their eyes on Raymond, their expressions hard and unyielding.  

“Well?” Megan’s father said. “Are you taking it or not?”  

For a moment, Raymond said nothing. He didn’t respond to their threats, their mockery, or their demands. It was as if their voices had faded into the background, as if only one person in that room still mattered.  

Slowly, he turned his eyes to Megan.  

“Megan,” he said.  

His voice was low, rough, trembling with something darker now something broken beyond restraint.  

Then the words came out, jagged and venomous.  

“Megan…are you going to answer my question or not?.”  

The room went still.  

But Raymond didn’t look away from her. Not even for a second.  

He said it again, this time not with rage alone, but with the devastation of a man whose last illusion was collapsing in front of him.  

“Tell me, Megan… is it true that you never loved me?”

For a brief second, Megan said nothing. She simply looked at him.  

There was no guilt in her eyes. No apology. No trembling. Only calculation.  

When she finally spoke, her voice was steady too steady.  

“Let me be frank with you, Raymond,” she said calmly. “Very clear.”  

She gently removed Simon’s hand from her shoulder, not in rejection, but in composure, as though preparing to deliver something official.  

“If you refuse—” she paused deliberately, “—and I mean truly refuse to come down from that high horse of yours and work under Simon for the time being, then I won’t hesitate.”  

Her gaze hardened.  

“I will divorce you immediately.”  

A faint murmur rippled through the room, but she continued without blinking.  

“You need to look at the reality of the situation. Not your pride. Not your ego. Reality.”  

She took a step closer to him.  

“You won’t achieve any of the things you promised me if you don’t accept this opportunity. You won’t build the empire you talk about. You won’t prove anyone wrong. You won’t rise. Everything is stacked against you right now.”  

Her voice lowered, but it carried more weight.  

“You’ve been flagged. You’re facing a five‑million‑dollar fine. Your company’s reputation is hanging by a thread. And you’re still talking about pride?”  

She shook her head slightly, almost in disbelief.  

“I don’t understand why you’re being this stubborn when the path is right in front of you. Work for Simon. Learn. Rebuild your name quietly. Then maybe, one day, you can stand on your own again.”  

Her expression softened but it wasn’t tenderness. It was practicality.  

“But if you refuse,” she said finally, “then this marriage is over.”