All Chapters of Pretend to Be Mine: Chapter 41 - Chapter 47

Walter Crane sat in his office, lights dimmed, whiskey glinting in a crystal glass. The faint hum of the city rose from below—cars, sirens, and the occasional echo of life—but inside, everything was still. Power had a sound, and tonight, Walter couldn’t hear it anymore.Savannah perched gracefully on the edge of his desk, her legs crossed, her smile sharpened like a blade. Her phone’s glow reflected off her eyes as she scrolled through the morning headlines—every one of them stamped with the same image. Elena Ramirez: The Woman Who Rose from Scandal.Walter’s jaw flexed. “She’s untouchable now,” he muttered, the words biting. “Every blow we land turns into a badge of sympathy.”“She’s good,” Savannah said lazily, scrolling. “But we’ve been playing the wrong game. You can’t destroy someone the public pities. You destroy the person protecting her. You take down Adrian Harrington, and Elena will collapse on her own.”Walter lifted his eyes, slow and dangerous. “You want to make her bleed

Walter Crane sat in his office that night, lights dimmed, whiskey in hand. I could almost imagine him there — savoring his next move while the rest of us tried to breathe again. Savannah, no doubt, perched on his desk like she owned the room, scrolling through her phone with that snake-slick smile.“She’s untouchable in the court of sympathy now,” he must’ve muttered, his voice low and bitter.And he was right. For once, the world was starting to see me not as the villain, but as a woman standing her ground. My name was trending with words like bravery and strength instead of scandal. But Walter wasn’t the kind of man who lost gracefully. I knew that too well.Savannah probably leaned forward then, eyes glinting. “If we can’t destroy Elena, we destroy Adrian. Take away her shield, and she’ll crumble on her own.”And that’s exactly what they did.The next morning, I woke to chaos. My phone buzzed nonstop. Notifications exploded one after another. When I opened the first headline, my st

The world outside Harrington Tower looked calm, but inside me, everything was burning. My phone buzzed nonstop—messages, calls, updates from Marcus—but none of it mattered. All I could think about was the way Adrian’s name had flooded the headlines again.Another storm. Another war. Another attempt to break us.I stared at my reflection in the mirror, the woman looking back at me almost unrecognizable. My eyes had dark circles under them; my hair, once perfectly styled, now hung in soft waves around my shoulders. I looked like someone who hadn’t slept in days. And the truth was—I hadn’t.Adrian had been at the tower since dawn, fighting the board and the investors who were ready to gut him alive. Every time I thought things couldn’t get worse, Walter Crane found another way to tighten the knife.Maya’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. “You’re shaking again,” she said softly, holding out a mug of tea.I took it, forcing a smile. “Thank you, baby.”She sat beside me, eyes full of worry