Chapter 31: The Price of Betrayal

"No," I said, my voice calm and sharp as glass. "You loved what I could do for you. There's a difference."His face twisted. But there was nothing left for him to say. Security flanked him on either side. Guiding him out of the boardroom he once ruled. The man who had humiliated me, stolen from me, and thought I would stay silent now looked like a ghost of himself. Pale, broken, powerless.The doors closed behind him with a heavy finality. A sound like the end of an era.For a moment, I just stood there, breathing in the silence. Margaret placed a hand on my arm. Her expression both proud and unreadable. Smith gave me a slight nod from across the table. The kind of look that said "we did it."But as the board members filed out, murmuring amongst themselves, the weight of it all sank in. I had won. The empire Allen built on lies and my stolen brilliance now belonged to me. And yet, instead of the sweet rush of victory, a chill settled deep in my bones.Because this was only the begin

Last Updated : 2025-09-13

Chapter 32: Character Assassination

I woke up to seventeen missed calls. Forty-three text messages waited. My phone was buzzing like an angry hornet on the nightstand.Smith was already awake beside me in his king-sized bed. His jaw clenched as he scrolled through his tablet. The morning light streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows of his mansion made his expression look carved from stone. I'd decided to stay over after our late night discussing the FBI investigation. Too emotionally drained to drive back to the Jones mansion."What is it?" My voice came out rougher than intended.He turned the screen toward me. The headline made my blood freeze:TECH HEIRESS EMELDA JONES: UNSTABLE GENIUS OR DANGEROUS OBSESSIVE?Beneath it was a photo of me from last month's charity gala. Something about it looked wrong. Distorted. My smile seemed manic. My eyes wild. They'd manipulated it somehow."There are four more articles just like this." Smith's voice was deadly calm. I could see the fury burning behind his eyes. "All pu

Last Updated : 2025-09-15

Chapter 33: A Mother's plea

I watched my legal team work. I felt Smith's steady presence beside me. Something important hit me.Rachel's attack wasn't going to destroy me. It was going to make me stronger. It was going to be the last mistake she ever made.Or so I thought.The storm I'd unleashed against Rachel was beginning to take shape. Then the charged atmosphere in the study broke. A soft, hesitant knock interrupted everything.Mrs. Howell stepped into the room. Our ever-composed housekeeper had served the family for decades. But something about her was different today.The calm efficiency I'd always admired was gone. A quiet unease replaced it. It immediately put me on edge."Miss Emelda," she began carefully. Her voice carried a trace of hesitation. "There's a woman at the gate."She paused. "She says her name is Katherina Carter."Mrs. Howell's eyes flicked briefly toward the lawyers. Then they returned to me. "She asked to speak with you. Alone."My heart faltered. Katherina Carter. Allen's mother.Smit

Last Updated : 2025-09-16

Chapter 34: Love Against Fury

As Smith's arms tightened around me, I let myself sink into his warmth, but Katherina's voice still haunted me."Someone's son… someone's child."I wanted to forget. To bury the memory of Allen, his promises, the way I once believed in him. But her words clung to me like smoke, seeping into every crack of my resolve.Justice had been my lifeline these past months. The thought of seeing Allen stripped of everything he'd stolen kept me going when I thought I'd break. Now... now there was a shadow of doubt threading through my fury, and I hated it.Smith kissed the side of my head softly, grounding me. "You don't have to decide anything tonight."His deep voice was calm against the storm in my chest, but I pulled away anyway. Something flickered in his eyes; concern, yes, but something else too. Fear. And that was when I wondered if my obsession with justice was starting to scare him."What are you thinking?" I asked, studying his face in the dim light filtering through the study windows

Last Updated : 2025-09-17

Chapter 35: The Point of No Return

"I never said you were a monster," he said quietly. "But maybe you should ask yourself why that's what you heard."He walked toward the door. His hand paused on the handle."When you're ready to remember who you used to be; the real you, not this version you've created to survive, call me." His voice was soft but firm. "Because that's the woman I fell in love with. And she's still in there somewhere, underneath all this rage."The door closed behind him. A soft click that somehow sounded louder than if he'd slammed it.I stood there in the growing darkness. My chest was heaving. My hands were shaking with the force of my anger. Outside, I could hear a car engine starting as he left.The silence pressed in around me. Heavy and suffocating.This was what I'd wanted, wasn't it? To focus on destroying Allen without distractions. Without anyone trying to talk me out of what needed to be done.So why did I feel like I'd just lost something infinitely more precious than anything Allen had e

Last Updated : 2025-09-19

Chapter 36: The Hollow Victory

I turned to look at her. This woman who'd raised me to be strong. To never back down. To always fight for what was mine. She was smiling. Proud of what I'd accomplished. Proud of the daughter who'd brought down the man who'd wronged her."Like ash," I whispered.Her smile faltered. "What?""It tastes like ash, Mom. It tastes like nothing at all."The silence stretched between us as the news continued playing. Another expert was analyzing the charges. Another anchor was speculating about Allen's sentence. Another reporter was standing outside the courthouse, talking about justice being served.But all I could think about was Smith's face when he'd left two nights ago. The disappointment in his eyes. The pity.And Allen's final words, echoing in my head. "Destroying me won't fix what's broken inside you."Margaret reached over and took my hand. Her usual sharp edges softened by something that might have been concern. "Darling, you did the right thing. That man stole from you. He deserv

Last Updated : 2025-09-20