“You always have a choice,” I snapped, my voice shaking with fury. My chest burned, my ribs barely holding in the ache. Betrayal doesn’t just sting, it rots.Liam’s jaw tightened. He took one step closer. “Lena, it’s not what you think”I cut him off, yanking the letter from my pocket and shoving it at his chest. “Not what I think? Then explain this.”His face paled as his eyes flicked over the handwriting, his name, Mrs. Hills’s terms spelled out in ink.“If you bring the girl in, I’ll clear the path for you. Protect me, and I’ll give you what you’ve been waiting for.”My voice broke, rising. “You agreed with her. You made a deal. To bring me here. To use me.” My throat tightened, but I forced the words out, each one slashing at my own heart. “So tell me, Liam, the love you profess, the care you show, what was it for? Just another way of keeping me docile while you bargained pieces of me away to Mrs. Hills?”“Lena, I” His hand dragged through his hair, desperation flashing across his
My thumb hovered over the screen, heart pounding. Was this attachment against me or for me?I clicked.Nothing. Just a random, meaningless file. A string of numbers and letters that made no sense. No threat. No weapon. Just… empty.I exhaled shakily, cheeks burning with the rush of paranoia. Liam’s eyes were still on me, sharp and suspicious. “What is it?” he asked.“Nothing,” I lied quickly, sliding the phone into my pocket. “It’s nothing.”Before he could press further, I mumbled, “I need a moment,” and slipped toward the restroom.My steps were too fast, my head too clouded. I didn’t see the trash bucket until my shin collided with it. The metal clattered, toppling over, spilling paper, cups, and scraps across the floor in a noisy mess.“Damn it,” I hissed, crouching to gather the mess. My fingers brushed crumpled receipts, torn envelopes, and stained napkins. I scooped them back into the bucket, muttering under my breath, until something different caught my eye.A folder. Slim, tu
The room detonated.Voices crashed over one another, a storm of accusations and demands. Reporters shoved closer, microphones stretched like weapons toward my face. Camera flashes blinded me in bursts, white heat scorching my eyes.“Lena! Which brother first?”“Did they share you?”“Was this orchestrated, an arrangement?”“Are you in love with them or just their money?”Each word was a blade, stabbing from every angle. The air reeked of sweat, perfume, and desperation. I gripped the podium, my knuckles white, and tried to keep my breathing steady.Behind the cameras, I felt them. Liam, Zane, Kai. My storm of shadows.Liam’s voice cut through the din first, sharp and cold.“Enough.”He strode forward, shoulders rigid, his presence a wall of fury. “This circus ends here.” His glare sliced across the crowd like steel.But Zane, God, Zane, laughed. The sound was reckless, dangerous, echoing against the pressroom walls. He leaned against the side wall, slow-clapping.“Oh, don’t stop them n
The camera light seared into my skin. My heart thundered so loud I thought the microphone might pick it up. Still, I forced my lips to curve into something resembling control.“You want a story?” I said, my voice clear. “I’ll give you the truth.”The silence didn’t last.“Truth?” one reporter scoffed, waving his recorder like a weapon. “Let’s start simple, then. Did you sleep with them to climb into this house?”Heat flared across my cheeks. I could feel the brothers’ eyes drilling into me from offstage, but I didn’t look at them. Not yet.“No,” I said.Laughter exploded, sharp and cruel.“Come on, Lena,” another voice sneered. “You expect us to believe three heirs, three brothers, risked their reputations for a maid who irons shirts and scrubs toilets?”I swallowed hard, every muscle in me screaming to run. My father’s voice hissed in my skull: Born to take, not to build. A curse.I steadied my hands on the podium. “Yes. That’s exactly what I expect you to believe. Because it’s the t
That night, I broke.Ruby found me in the study, curled on the leather couch, the headlines still flashing in my mind like fire I couldn’t put out. The glow of my phone screen lit the room in sharp, merciless light. Every notification felt like another slap across the face. I wanted to throw it across the room, but I couldn’t stop looking, couldn’t stop watching myself be shredded apart in real time.She sat beside me, her hand brushing mine, grounding me when I felt like I was drowning.“You did good,” she whispered. Her voice was soft, careful, like she was afraid the wrong word might shatter me completely.I laughed bitterly, the sound cracked and hollow. “Good? They called me a whore on live television. They printed it in bold across every headline.” My voice broke. “How is that good?”Her hand tightened around mine, firm, steady, a reminder that I wasn’t entirely alone. “And you answered like a queen. Don’t you dare forget that.”The tears came then, hot and relentless, breaking
By dawn, the villa was under siege.Cameras flashed like lightning at the gates, a swarm of paparazzi pressed so close I swore the iron bars groaned. News vans idled on the road, reporters shouting questions through the crackling buzz of microphones. Protestors held signs painted in red: Gold-digger. Parasite. Carter curse.And inside, I couldn’t breathe.The PR team had invaded, suits slick with sweat and desperation. Their voices tangled together, a chorus of rehearsed lines and threats:“Damage control is essential”“We issue a denial”“Distance her from the family”“No, a united front! We’ll spin her as a victim”Each word pressed down on my chest until I thought my ribs would snap.Then Mr. Carter’s chosen mouthpiece, a woman with ice in her eyes and pearls strangling her neck, turned to me.“You’ll say nothing,” she said flatly. “You’ll sit there, smile, and let us clean up the mess.”Something inside me snapped.“I’m not your mess.”The words tore out of me, raw, furious. Every