Semua Bab The Comeback of a Star: Bab 71 - Bab 80

VICTORIA"These are arranged horribly and they are wrong!" I said, staring at the sample arrangements spread across the dining room table. "Completely wrong! Do you even understand what I'm saying or are you slow?"The wedding planner, whose name I could never remember, looked exhausted. "Miss Smith, these are the exact flowers you selected three weeks ago. Premium white roses with—""I know what I selected. But they look cheap now. I said premium, not basic. Not something I could get from the dollar store." I pushed the arrangement away. "Give me something more impressive and better looking.""Victoria," my mother called from where she sat reviewing the seating arrangement. The guests she invited are all important people who my father hoped to curry favor from. "The flowers are fine. We have bigger problems to worry about.""Bigger problems? This is my wedding, Mom. Everything needs to be perfect.""Your wedding is in two weeks and half the guest list is canceling because of your ste

AYRA "I love that you're going to the wedding," Raven smirked as she watched me scroll through designer websites on my laptop. "Oh, I intend to. Victoria, my darling sister, made sure to invite me in public, so why ever would I turn down such an invitation? And besides, if I don't go it would look like I'm hiding." I clicked on another outfit option. "My mother also thinks I should go." "I love her too. And she just woke up!" "She's surprisingly clear-headed about family politics." I smiled, remembering our conversation yesterday. Mom had been adamant that I attend Victoria's wedding, that not going would make it seem like I was bitter or hurt. "She said the best revenge is showing up looking incredible and unbothered." "Your mom is savage. I like it." Raven leaned over to look at my screen. "But everything you're looking at is so... muted. Very appropriate guest attire." "Yeah, I could go all out but the news would do the talking anyway." "So?" Raven grabbed my laptop and sta

BRIELLEHe glanced at the clock. "Two hours, maybe less.""So this is it? You're just gone?""No. Not 'just gone.'" He tilted my chin up to look at him. "Brielle, last night meant something to me. You mean something to me. This isn't me running away.""Then what is it?""It's me having responsibilities I can't ignore. My family's company, our legacy—it's complicated." He stood, pulling on pants. "I'll call you as soon as I land. Every day, I'll call. And I'll come back as soon as I can."I watched him dress, feeling like this was some kind of cruel joke. We'd finally gotten together, finally crossed that line we'd been dancing around for months, and now he was leaving the country."Can I ask what the legal trouble is about?"He hesitated. "Some business dealings that my father was involved in. Contracts that weren't properly documented, regulations that weren't followed. It's a mess, and I'm the only one who can sort it out.""Don't you guys have lawyers to sort this out?""I'm the on

VICTORIAI turned to see my father standing in the doorway, looking concerned."Dad, I can't do this.""Yes, you can. You're doing fine." He came closer, awkwardly patting my shoulder. "It's just wedding day jitters.""It's not jitters! Everyone in there is talking about Ayra instead of me! She wore red, Dad. Red! To my wedding!" The words came out in a rush. "And Chris doesn't love me, and I don't love him, and we just got married for the stupidest reasons, and now I'm stuck."My father was quiet for a long moment. "You want to know the truth, Victoria?""What?""Ayra won. She escaped. She got out of this family and became something better." He looked back toward the reception. "You and I? We're still here, still playing these games, still pretending any of this matters.""Dad—""Your mother pushed for this wedding because she wants to maintain status. Christopher's family pushed for it because they want connections. Neither of them care if you're actually happy." He met my eyes. "An

OLIVIA Three Months Later I stared at the audit report on my desk, my jaw clenched so tight it hurt. Three months since Christopher's wedding disaster. Three months of watching everything I'd carefully constructed fall apart piece by piece. Liam had won over the board. Completely. After cleaning up Christopher's embezzlement mess in the transportation division and recovering the missing funds. And actually making the division profitable for the first time in years, the board looked at him like he was some kind of savior. And now he was turning his attention to other divisions. Specifically, mine. The Art Division audit report sat in front of me, flagged with so many red marks it looked like it was bleeding. "Irregularities in authentication processes." "Unexplained gaps in provenance documentation." "Sales to offshore entities with unclear ownership structures." He knew. Or he was close enough to knowing that it was only a matter of time. After my years of carefully manag