Back at her luxurious hotel suite, Delilah sipped champagne, confident and smug. She stood before the mirror, admiring the crimson dress she’d chosen symbolic, dramatic, unforgettable.“She’ll crumble,” she muttered to herself. “They both will.”Just as she lifted her glass again, her tablet buzzed. A single message blinked on the screen."Nice try. See you in court. H.F."She froze.Another notification appeared this time a link. She clicked.And watched, horrified, as her private phone call from two nights ago played in crisp HD quality. Every word, every manipulative plan laid bare.Her glass slipped from her hand, shattering on the marble floor.“No…”Meanwhile, in the Geneva estate, Henry stood with Adrian in the study.“Upload everything to our legal team,” he instructed. “Let’s play this smart. Quiet. But public.”Adrian nodded. “She’s going to lose everything.”Karen walked in, her expression unreadable.“I still can’t believe she’d go this far,” she said. “Even for her.”“She
The plane touched down just after sunrise, slicing through a pale fog that clung to the Swiss mountains. Karen stared out the window in silence, her fingers subconsciously brushing the edge of her necklace.Henry hadn’t spoken the entire flight.Not out of anger but distance. A kind of heaviness she hadn’t felt before. He was shielding something again, and this time, it was thicker than usual.They were met on the tarmac by a sleek black car. Adrian rode up front. Karen and Henry sat in the back, barely inches apart yet miles apart emotionally.“Why here?” she finally asked.Henry didn’t look at her. “This is where it began.”“What began?”“My father’s last deal. The one that nearly ruined the Frost legacy.”She studied his face. “The one you took the fall for?”His jaw clenched. “No. The one I finished.”They arrived at an estate tucked in the hills not as grand as the Frost mansion, but just as secretive. A man in his sixties opened the gate, nodded, and led them in without a word.
Rain slammed against the windows like a warning. Karen stood beside Adrian, watching the city disappear behind a sheet of grey. She didn’t flinch when thunder rolled. “I’m not scared of them,” she said. Adrian’s voice was flat. “Good. Because they’re not scared of you either.” He tossed her a file. Not flashy. Just black, unmarked, and sealed. She flipped it open. Photos. Names. A blood-stained ledger. One word stamped across the top: “FROSTLINE.” Her eyes skimmed the page. “What the hell is this?” “A cover operation. Old Frost money. Henry’s grandfather started it. Property deals, private security, under-the-table payoffs.” Karen’s breath caught as she saw Henry’s father’s name. Then Henry’s. But what made her skin crawl wasn’t the money. It was the list of names. People who’d disappeared. Karen’s phone buzzed again. Unknown number: Ask Henry what really happened in Geneva. She stared at it. “You need to tell me everything,” she said to Adrian. But before he could a
The studio lights were blinding. Delilah sat center-stage in a sleek wine-red dress, hands folded elegantly in her lap, her expression the perfect blend of calm and wounded dignity. The host leaned in, sympathetic and nosy just what Delilah wanted. “So,” the host said gently, “what was Karen Blake really like before all the headlines? Before the fame?” Delilah exhaled like she carried the burden of truth. “Karen was… difficult. Unstable at times. She resented structure, discipline. We did our best to give her a home, to raise her after her mother passed, but” she paused, eyes glistening, “sometimes love just isn’t enough.” Cue dramatic piano music. A few gasps from the audience. At Frost Tower, Karen stood in the hallway, watching the segment on a large screen with Mia beside her, arms crossed. “Unstable?!” Mia barked. “The only unstable one was the woman who kept an electric gate code on her own fridge.” Karen’s eyes narrowed but her voice was calm. “She’s painting a story. Sh
The next morning, the city woke to headlines that hit harder than coffee.“Karen Blake Shuts Down Stepmother in Viral Street Showdown.”“Frost CEO’s Woman Holds Her Ground And Wins It.”Karen didn’t need to say anything else.The world had finally seen her.At Frost Enterprises, Henry walked into his office to find her already there, barefoot on his couch, coffee in hand, reading the headlines.“You're early,” he said.Karen looked up. “So are the consequences.”He chuckled. “And?”“And I don’t regret a single word.”He moved closer, serious now. “She’ll come back harder.”Karen shrugged. “Let her. I’m done hiding.”There was something different in her today. Not just fire. Control.Henry saw it and for once, he didn’t want to lead.He wanted to follow her into the storm.Across town, Delilah sat stiffly in the kitchen, her phone on silent.Karen’s father entered, watching her like she was something small. “They’re calling you ‘the stepmother who created a queen.’”Delilah didn’t spea
Karen didn’t sleep that night.Not because she couldn’t. But because her mind was running wild calculating, unlearning, preparing.Delilah had dragged out the past, twisted it, packaged it for the media like some tragic story with herself as the martyr. And now, Karen’s photo was already circling blogs with the headline: “Blake Heiress: Betrayed or Built on Lies?”She tossed her phone aside. “She’s not just trying to hurt me. She wants to erase me.”Henry, standing at the window in his apartment, replied calmly, “Then we remind her why she buried you in the first place.”Karen raised an eyebrow. “Because I was a scared girl with no power?”“No.” He turned to face her. “Because even scared, you were a threat.”Meanwhile, at the Blake residence, the atmosphere was tense. Karen’s father stormed through the front door, slamming it shut behind him.Delilah looked up from the couch, feigning innocence. “You’re back early.”He tossed the phone on the coffee table. “Henry Frost just called me