LOGINThe late afternoon sun filtered through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the penthouse, casting long, golden shadows across the designer furniture. Seven months had passed since the Greg empire had imploded in a firestorm of federal indictments and viral livestreams. The world had moved on to newer scandals, but inside these walls, time felt like it was moving through honey.Lily sat on the velvet chaise lounge, her hand resting habitually on the swell of her stomach. She was eight months along now. In the beginning, the pregnancy had felt like a ticking time bomb—a constant, physical reminder of her betrayal with Jamal and the mess she had helped create. But the chaos of Greg’s arrest and the subsequent fallout had done something unexpected. It had stripped away the pretenses.Across the room, Ethan was pouring two glasses of sparkling cider. He moved with a quiet grace that Lily had finally started to truly notice. For months, their marriage had been a business transaction, a merger
The press conference hall was a literal crime scene. FBI agents were bagging laptops, journalists were screaming into their microphones, and the energy was pure, unadulterated chaos. But as the crowd surged toward the exit to catch a glimpse of Greg being shoved into a black SUV, I felt a strange, cold stillness. The big boss was down, but there was still one more snake slithering around the garden."Kassy, we need to go," Marie said, grabbing my arm. She looked like she’d just won a marathon—exhausted but glowing with the thrill of the takedown. "The press is going to descend on us in T-minus two minutes.""I’m not leaving yet," I said, my eyes scanning the room. "Where is he?"I didn't have to look far. Jamal was huddled in a corner near the emergency exit, looking like he wanted to phase through the wall. He was frantic, his thumbs flying across his phone screen, probably trying to call a lawyer or delete his search history. He looked small. Without Greg’s shadow to hide in, he was
The vibe in the press conference hall was absolutely suffocating. It smelled like expensive floor wax, over-brewed coffee, and the kind of nervous sweat that only comes when a billionaire knows he’s about to lie through his teeth. This was supposed to be Greg’s "Main Character" moment—the big clean-up where he’d tell the world the DNA scandal was just a glitch in the system. He stood at the podium, adjusting his silk tie with a smug look that basically said, “I’m too rich to stay in trouble.”I wasn't on that stage. I didn't want to be a prop in his fake-family aesthetic. Instead, I stayed low-key in the crowd, sitting in the fourth row between Marie and James. I was wearing a simple black blazer and dark shades, looking like a background character, but I was the one holding the remote. Greg’s eyes skimmed over me without a flicker of suspicion. He thought I was there as his "supportive daughter." He had zero clue that the Meta glasses I’d worn at Elsa’s villa—the ones he thought were
The drive back from Elsa’s house was a blur of red lights and rage.Beside me, Marie was unusually quiet, probably because she knew the version of Kassy sitting next to her wasn't the same girl who had woken up that morning. That girl was dead. This new Kassy was made of glass and gasoline."Kassy," Marie said softly as we pulled into the long, winding driveway of the Greg mansion. "What’s the move? We have the recording of Elsa. We have the bank records. Do we drop the nuke now?""Not yet," I said, staring at the massive front doors. "I have to talk to Elena. She’s been living in a simulation for twenty-four years. She thinks she birthed me. She thinks Greg is a devoted husband who 'saved' her when she lost her mind from grief. She deserves the truth before the rest of the world sees it.""She’s going to break," Marie whispered."Better she breaks now in private than on the 6 o'clock news," I replied. "You find James. He’s the Golden Boy, and this is going to wreck his entire reality
Kassy’s POVThe GPS was screaming at me to turn left, but my brain was still stuck on the call records. Marie sat in the passenger seat, her leg bouncing at a million miles per hour. We were heading to an address on the outskirts of the city—a place where the houses were big, but the secrets felt bigger. My hands were gripped so tight on the steering wheel that my knuckles were turning white.“You okay?” Marie whispered.“I’m about to meet the person who might hold the key to my entire existence,” I said, my voice sounding like it was coming from a different room. “I’m not okay, Marie. I’m vibrating on a frequency I didn’t even know existed.”We pulled up to a gated villa. It wasn't Greg-level mansion status, but it was definitely "I have a lot of money and I want to be left alone" status. I put the car in park and just stared at the front door. This was it. The person Greg called to keep hidden. The "arrangement."“Let’s go,” I said, stepping out of the car.We walked up the path, a
Two days later, Marie still couldn’t sleep properly. Every time she closed her eyes, she heard Greg’s voice again: "If anyone hears a word of this… I will kill your daughter." The threat sat in her chest like a heavy stone. Marie stood in her kitchen early that morning, staring at her phone. The sunlight coming through the window looked normal and the street outside looked normal, but nothing in her life felt normal anymore. She rubbed her forehead, whispering to herself, “I have to tell Kassy.” Keeping the secret felt wrong, but telling it felt dangerous. Greg was powerful—the kind of man who could make problems disappear, the kind of man people were scared of. Marie looked at the photo of her daughter on the fridge; the little girl was smiling with two missing teeth, and her stomach twisted. “I will find another way,” Marie muttered. She picked up her phone and typed: I need to talk to you. It’s urgent. Let’s meet at the lounge, the quiet spot. A few seconds later, the reply came
The air in the dining room felt different to Kassy now. It was as if she had been wearing tinted glasses her whole life and someone had just ripped them off, revealing that the "gold" around her was actually rusted iron.She sat back down next to Jamal, the man whose heart she had just fel
It was the kind of morning that belonged in a commercial for a happy marriage. Lily sat across from Ethan, picking at a plate of fruit, her eyes bright with a secret that had been burning a hole in her soul for weeks.She reached across the table and took his hand. Her touch was soft, but
I woke up early, feeling that cold, sharp clarity that had become my new best friend. Jamal was still asleep, snoring lightly. He looked so peaceful. It’s crazy how men who do the most dirt sleep the best. I looked at his face and didn’t feel that butterfly-flutter anymore. I just felt like I wa
I was actually having a decent morning, which in my life lately, was basically a miracle. The sun was out, my iced matcha was hitting just right, and I was on my way to get my nails done. I had a vision for this set—deep, "rich girl" red with a almond shape.







