Semua Bab THE HEIRESS: Bab 11 - Bab 20

Evelyn’s POVThe morning after the pact smelled like thunder and ink. Contracts printed, encrypted drives sealed, new security protocols spinning online; the mansion felt more like a corporate bunker than a home.But beneath the rush of logistics and power cables, something quieter hummed—an awareness that the war we’d agreed to fight together was now officially real.Elias briefed us in the glass conference room. “The annual SilverHarbor Charity Gala is tonight. Crane Industries is its largest sponsor this year. Charlotte Reed will be there. Victor won’t show in person…he never does but every one of his investors will attend. We use it.”Damian slid a tablet across the table: a list of names, seating charts, security feeds. “We leak enough to make Crane nervous,” he said. “While he looks for phantom enemies, Adrian pulls data from his inner network.”I frowned. “You’re assuming he can get in.”“He can,” Damian said. He turned the tablet toward me. Adrian’s name already shone on the g

Part I – Nine DaysSix floors above Midtown, Victor Crane watched dawn crawl over glass. Beneath his office, Manhattan looked like circuitry—bridges and freeways lit with a constant electric heartbeat.The city was already his, but today he meant to prove it.A secretary entered with coffee, eyes carefully neutral. He dismissed her before she finished the question. His attention remained on three walls of screens, each showing a different pulse of Project Ashes Phase Two. Data streams flickered in coral and indigo; countdowns synchronized down to the millisecond: 08 days 22 hours 47 minutes.Crane tapped a sequence on the console.“Initialize public‑sector node simulation,” he said.“Target?” asked the system.“New York City. All of it.”Behind him, Charlotte Reed’s reflection materialized from the conference shadows.“Premature launch,” she said. “You’re showing your hand.”“I’m showing inevitability.” Crane’s voice carried no volume, just gravity. “They think they stole my secret. L

Part I Manhattan’s skyline shimmered beneath a cold, deceptive sun…brilliant, untouchable, as if the city itself denied every rumour whispered through its towers. The morning papers had her face on them again. HARTMAN HEIRESS LINKED TO BANK FRAUD INVESTIGATION.Evelyn folded the newspaper on the marble countertop of her penthouse kitchen and exhaled through her nose. Another knife disguised as a headline. Another move from Victor Crane.She refused to flinch this time.It had taken thirteen months to rebuild herself from the ashes of her marriage, yet the world loved nothing more than a scandal in heels. The scar at her wrist caught the light as she reached for her phone, a smooth reminder that pain sharpened more than it paralysed.Elias: We’re handling the financiers. Don’t make any statements until I arrive.Damian: Our legal team’s ready. Remember the press loves tears…give them none.Her brothers moved like generals now, orchestrating defence before she even blinked. But public

Part IManhattan slept under a veil of frost and half‑lit secrets.Evelyn hadn’t. The newsfeed scrolling across her phone was a river of speculation…heiress hidden, family empire in crisis, regulators preparing raids.At 3:14 a.m., the secure server chimed.Incoming transmission – classified encryption.Her chest tightened. Almost no one had access to that line. She swiped it open.Anonymous sender: E001-Project Hartman // Priority 1.Use protection. Layers inside layers.Lines of code unravelled like snakes, then resolved into a folder of images. Her own signature appeared, dozens of documents she’d never signed. Digital forgeries. Someone was burying her credibility under a mountain of false approvals.Before she could breathe, another notification blinked: Forced decryption detected. Source location: Midtown West.She stared at it, pulse climbing.Only one person she knew owned military‑grade hacking tools capable of that signature.A knock echoed through the penthouse.Not the tim

New York wakes to chaos. Overnight, Hartman Holdings stocks plummet twenty‑seven percent. News anchors call it “the beginning of the end for old finance dynasties.”Evelyn arrives at headquarters flanked by Luca, stepping through a sea of flashing cameras...all calm spine and clipped heels. Every step is a statement: not defeated, not yet.Inside, the boardroom resembles a battlefield...investors demanding resignation, allies fracturing. Adrian’s evidence has bought her truth but cost him everything; Blackwood Enterprises is under investigation for aiding the fraud.When the storm of questions breaks, she faces the press alone.“Did you know the man who once betrayed you tried to redeem himself?” “Do you still trust Adrian Blackwood?” “Are you two...”She smiles neat and lethal. “What we are,” she says, “is none of your concern. What I am...is still in control.”But hours later, in the private trading wing, a coded message appears on her screen: “They’re coming for Luca next.”And a