جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 140

CHAPTER 132Derrick’s POVFor the first time in weeks, things were finally going my way.I stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of my office, a glass of whiskey resting in my hand as I looked down at the city below. Morning traffic crawled through the streets like veins pumping life into a body that never truly slept. From this height, everything looked small. Manageable. Mine.People always talked about power as if it was some complicated thing that only a select few could understand. They wrote books about it, gave speeches about it, and pretended it was built on respect or loyalty.It wasn’t.Power was simple.You either had it or you didn’t.And right now, I have it.Clara was still scrambling to keep her head above water. Spencer was too busy pretending to be the loyal son while constantly chasing problems he couldn’t solve. Florida remained exactly where I needed her, and Rose was still the perfect bargaining chip whenever I needed leverage.A slow smile pulled at my l

CHAPTER 134Clara’s POVThe afternoon sun hung high in the sky as I stepped out of the bookstore carrying two new books pressed against my chest.One was about corporate governance.The other was about shareholder litigation.A few weeks ago, I wouldn’t have even understood the titles.Now I was spending my free time reading them voluntarily.The realization almost made me laugh.If someone had told me six months ago that I would willingly spend hours studying business law, I would have assumed they were insane.Yet here I was.My bag felt heavier than it should have, but I didn’t mind.For the first time in a very long time, I felt like I was moving forward.Slowly.Painfully.But forward nonetheless.The streets around me buzzed with life as people hurried between shops and restaurants. Cars moved steadily through the road while conversations drifted through the air from every direction.Normal.Everything felt normal.Which was probably why I didn’t notice her immediately.“Clara.”

CHAPTER 136Clara’s POVI couldn’t breathe.The moment the footage appeared on the television, it felt like the walls were closing in around me.My chest tightened painfully as I stared at the screen, watching Florida’s face flash across the news broadcast before the video played again. Then my face appeared.Again.And again.And again.The reporters kept talking, analyzing, speculating, building an entire story around a few seconds of footage.A story that wasn’t true.Yet somehow looked convincing enough to destroy me.My fingers tightened around the edge of the dining table as panic slowly crept up my throat.I knew exactly how this worked.I knew how quickly people chose sides.How strangers suddenly became judges.How lies spread faster than explanations.The last scandal had nearly broken me, and now it felt like someone was dragging me right back into that nightmare.“No…”The word escaped my lips before I even realized I had spoken.My breathing became uneven.The room felt h

CHAPTER 138Florida’s POVThe moment the second video hit the internet, everything collapsed around me.“No… no, no, no—”My hands shook violently as I refreshed the page over and over again, desperately hoping the headlines would somehow change if I looked away long enough. But they only kept getting worse.RAW FOOTAGE EXPOSES STAGED INCIDENT.NEW ANGLE CLEARS CLARA.FLORIDA CAUGHT FAKING ALTERCATION.A sick feeling twisted violently in my stomach.This wasn’t supposed to happen.Everything had been planned perfectly. The cameras were positioned exactly where they needed to be, the angle had worked flawlessly, and for one beautiful moment the entire internet believed Clara had attacked me. They were already turning against her again. The reporters were eating it up. The comments were vicious.It was perfect.So where the hell had the second video come from?I clicked another post, then another, then another, watching the views climb into the millions while the comments flooded in fas

CHAPTER 140Florida’s POVThree days after the scandal, I was officially losing my mind inside the penthouse.Not dramatically.Not emotionally.Literally.I had spent the last seventy-two hours hiding from social media, avoiding calls from my PR team, and pretending not to notice the fact that half the internet had turned me into a meme.At some point, someone edited dramatic violin music over the video of me falling.It had fifteen million views.Fifteen.Million.Views.So naturally, I decided the only reasonable solution was shopping.“A shopping spree,” I announced while Derrick sat at the dining table going through emails on his tablet.He didn’t even look up.“No.”I blinked.“No?”“No.”I stared at him in disbelief before slowly setting down my coffee cup.“Derrick.”“No.”“You didn’t even let me finish.”“I know exactly where this is going.”His tone remained flat as he continued scrolling through whatever business document had captured his attention.“You’re bored, emotional