lNews of Gregor Bennett’s arrest shattered the media. Headlines screamed betrayal. "Philanthropist Billionaire Behind Fraud Ring!" "Family Empire Built on Lies!" Cameras camped outside the Grant Corporation headquarters like vultures, while talk shows dissected Gregor’s confession from every angle.Anita stood in front of the full-length window in Nathan’s office, watching the chaos unfold below. The city pulsed with scandal—but her heartbeat was calm.For once.Nathan stepped behind her, his arms wrapping around her waist. “The board’s meeting in thirty minutes. Maya’s presenting the entire case file.”“Will they back you?” she asked, voice soft but steady.“They’ll have no choice. Gregor’s confession confirmed everything. Eleanor’s involvement. Harry’s partnership. The shell companies. But most importantly…” His eyes met hers in the reflection, “They’ll see who saved us all.”Anita turned slowly. “Not me. Us. You stood beside me when I was a liability to your name. You fought for m
The lights of the press conference still flickered in Anita’s mind as the town car sped through the city. But her focus had shifted. Gregor Bennett.Her father.Her enemy.Nathan sat beside her, silent, his hand resting on hers as the car glided through the streets. There was comfort in his touch, but her thoughts spun too fast to let the warmth settle.“Walker Ventures was just a shell,” Nathan said, breaking the silence. “Maya found multiple layers of offshore accounts tied to dead companies—most routed back to Gregor. He’s been laundering Eleanor’s dirty money for years.”Anita’s chest tightened. “That means he was never just a bystander. He was part of the rot.”Nathan gave a bitter smile. “More than that. He may have planted Eleanor in power to begin with. Or used her as a shield. Either way, he's always been steps ahead. Which means we have to be too.”Anita nodded slowly. “I want everything. Emails. Communications. His calendar. Even the charity donations. If he so much as snee
Anita was roused from the last of her sleep the following morning by the gentle chime of her phone and the words displayed on the screen. It was Maya's message. Maya The board meeting is in two hours. Nathan’s already crafting the proposal to push ahead the reorganisation plan. The public publication of Eleanor’s materials is slated for midday. Things are progressing more quickly than we anticipated. Anita sat up, realising the importance of the day. After Eleanor Walker's avarice caused her reign to fall apart, Nathan and Anita had to take over and restore the business. For the first time in months, there was no sense of betrayal, dishonesty, or guilt around their future.The ordeal with her family, Harry, and Gregor was nearly done. Even so, Anita couldn't get rid of the impression that something else was waiting in the shadows as the final piece of her plan came together. The atmosphere in the boardroom was electrifying but tight. Sharp suits and unspoken promises filled the roo
The echo of Eleanor’s heels against the marble floors still lingered long after security escorted her out of the boardroom. The silence that followed wasn’t peace—it was stunned, reverent, electrified. For the first time since she had stepped into the world of the elite, Anita wasn’t merely surviving.She was standing at the epicenter of its unraveling.Sophia slumped in a corner chair, mascara streaking down her cheeks, her hands trembling as she stared at the documents in front of her—proof that her life had been a lie. Her carefully curated identity—Stacy Bennett, daughter of privilege, heir to power—had just been torn from her like silk peeling off scorched skin.Nathan was the first to speak. “There will be fallout. The press will pounce. We need to stay ahead of the narrative.”Maya, standing beside the screen, nodded. “Already working on it. A press conference is scheduled for tomorrow. We’ll release the verified evidence, frame it as a corporate cleansing. A necessary reckonin
The Walker estate rose in the distance like a ghost from the past—its sweeping architecture casting jagged shadows under the pale glow of the moon. Anita stared through the windshield as Nathan slowed the car near the rear entrance. The main gates were still guarded, but Nathan had spent his childhood navigating every secret passage the estate had to offer. If anyone could get them in, it was him.“You’re sure it’s under the greenhouse?” she asked.Nathan nodded, jaw set. “My grandfather built the greenhouse to hide it. Said he wanted a place where secrets could rot in peace. I always thought it was just metaphor.”Anita’s grip on her mother’s hand tightened. Patricia sat in the back seat, pale but alert, wrapped in a thick coat. She refused to stay behind. “I’m not letting them use me as leverage again,” she’d said, her voice lined with steel.They slipped through a hidden gate on the east wall, through ivy-covered archways and along the crumbling cobblestone path leading to the gree
The panic room’s silence was suffocating.Anita crouched on the steel floor, the laptop balanced on her knees, heart hammering like a war drum in her chest. Every thud on the reinforced door felt like a countdown—one heartbeat closer to the moment it gave way. But she couldn’t focus on fear. Not now. Not when the truth was unraveling at last.On screen, Maya’s face hovered in a shaky video call, her features pale, eyes wide. “Anita, you’re not going to like this.”“I already don’t,” Anita whispered. “Tell me anyway.”Maya took a breath. “The offshore company—the one the shares were funneled into—it was created under your name, yes. But it wasn’t just Eleanor. Sophia’s signature is all over it. And guess who authorized the last major fund transfer six months ago?”Anita’s throat tightened. “Harry.”Maya nodded grimly. “They used your identity to mask their transactions. You were their cover. If this leaks, the press won’t say Harry and Sophia stole money. They’ll say Anita Bennett embe
Anita paced the living room floor, the flash drive clutched so tightly in her fist that the edges bit into her skin. Every corner of the penthouse seemed colder, quieter, like the walls themselves were holding their breath.The fireplace crackled, casting shadows that danced across the marble floor, but the warmth didn’t reach her. Not when her mind was racing through a thousand dark possibilities. Offshore accounts. Shell companies. Eleanor. Harry. Her father.All of them tied together like a noose tightening around her neck.She slid the flash drive into her laptop and exhaled slowly. Nathan had told her the files were encrypted, and she didn’t expect instant answers, but the anticipation made her fingers tremble as she typed. Her screen blinked to life with the directory: rows of file names, long and coded in a way only someone trying to hide something would use.Still, she clicked the first one. Password protected. She tried “Eleanor” first—denied. Then “Harry.” Denied. “Walker.”
Nathan didn’t hesitate. The second the screen went black, he was already reaching for his jacket.“We need to move. Now.”Anita stood frozen, staring at the darkened screen as if willing it to come back to life. Her mother’s blood-streaked face, her trembling shoulders, the way Harry’s voice oozed with sadistic glee—it was all burned into her mind like a scar.“They have her,” she whispered. “They took my mother.”Nathan turned to her, jaw tight. “And we’re going to get her back. I promise.”“Where is she? Did the message give an IP address? Coordinates?”“Echo is already tracking it. He’s good. He’ll find them.”“But Harry knows that. He wouldn’t send the video unless he wanted us to chase him.”Nathan’s brow furrowed. “You think it’s a trap?”Anita nodded slowly. “It’s always been a trap, Nathan. This isn’t about money anymore. This is about legacy. Control. Eleanor, Harry, and Sophia—they’ve been playing a long game, and we just disrupted the board.”Nathan’s expression darkened. “
Anita didn’t sleep that night.Not really.She lay curled on the edge of their king-sized bed—too big, too cold—her laptop open beside her, the flash drive glowing ominously in its USB port. She'd run the initial encryption scan twice already. Military-grade. Whatever Eleanor was hiding, she’d gone to terrifying lengths to keep it buried.But why?Why keep files linking her to Gregor and Harry? What was the connection—money, power, or something far darker?At 2:46 a.m., her screen flickered.A line of green code crawled down the page—an external breach attempt. Someone was trying to access her system remotely.Her breath caught. “No, no, no—”She yanked the drive out instantly, but it was too late. A message flashed before the screen went black:YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED IN YOUR PLACE.Her blood ran cold.A second later, her phone buzzed on the nightstand. A blocked number. Hands trembling, she answered.No voice. Just static—and a soft, mechanical click.She knew that sound. A camera sh