Novels by authenticvivian001

The wheels of Veronica’s Bentley screeched against the driveway as she drove through the Harris estate. The slam of the car door echoed across the garage like a gunshot. She rushed inside, her heels clicking the marble floor with fury, emerald silk whipping behind her like a banner.“Unbelievable. Utterly unbelievable!” she spat as she flinged her pause onto the sofa. Her reflection stared back at her from the giant gold-framed mirror, and for the first time in years, she looked shaken—hair loose from its pins, makeup smudging at the edges.Her chest heaved. “How… how dare he speak to me like that?” she muttered, pacing across the parlor. “A loader boy. That nobody? Now threatening me? If Adrian exposes me—if the world learns of my affair—Harris Group will crumble. I’ll be finished. I cannot… I will not let that happen.”She gripped the edge of the marble table until her knuckles turned white. A plan. She needed a plan, fast.Her thoughts shot to Emily. Her daughter. Her pawn. Her lev

Adrian left for his office amidst all that,his heart still pounding from the weight of a hundred cameras, a hundred doubting eyes, this whole new him wasn’t going to be an easy one. The words he had spoken were still fresh on his tongue—measured, deliberate, sharp like blades—but now that the echoes of applause and whispers were gone, silence pressed down on him.He entered his office and finally sank into the leather chair, leaning back with a heavy breath. The wide floor-to-ceiling windows framed the skyline, but even that majestic view couldn’t drown out the deep thought twisting inside him:Did I say enough? He asked himself. His phone kept vibrating violently on his polished oak table. Once. Twice. Then continuously.Adrian’s jaw dropped as he picked it up. Notifications filled the screen like he had commuted a crime. Dozens of messages—every single one from ReedTech’s board executives. He scrolled through them, his eyes hardening with every line: “Are you serious, Adrian?”“T

Adrian left the office that evening and went back to his newly bought well furnished mansion. The whole house was silent, yet Adrian couldn’t sleep.He lay on his back in the massive bed, staring at the ceiling where a faint shimmer of moonlight sneaked through the curtains. The sheets beneath him were cool, expensive, and soft—everything about this new life screamed luxury. The polished marble floors, the curated art pieces laying on the hallways, the chandelier that shimmered dimly in the foyer downstairs.But all those luxuries couldn’t give him the peace of mind he always had wanted.Each time he closed his eyes, his mother’s face appeared. Not a good face of memory, but the broken ones he had last seen—the pain, the struggles, the unanswered questions. The pain and betrayal she could hide for years. Just like him.He turned on his side, then on his back again. The sheets twisted around his legs as if trying to bind him in place. He pressed his hands against his fore head and too

The chaos didn’t end with the headlines from the previous day. By noon, it had turned into a hurricane.Every news headline, every gossip blog, every social media influencer was chewing Adrian Carter-Reed’s name like wolves ripping at raw meat. Adrian was trending all over the media.“Illegitimate heir.”“Fraudulent takeover.”“ReedTech CEO built on a lie.”The words splashed across screens in banks, restaurants, and airport terminals. Stock tickers flickered red. Unknown rivals made calls behind closed doors. Reed’s empire was under siege, not with bullets, but with whispers that spread faster than fire.Inside ReedTech’s boardroom, the atmosphere was thick. Screens on the walls displayed headlines as his top executives argued over solutions.“We need an emergency press release now!” barked Michael Tran, ReedTech’s COO, pacing furiously. “We emphasize Jonathan Reed’s personal acknowledgment of Adrian as heir. We put out legal documents, maybe the DNA results. We need to stop this nons

The atmosphere outside matched the one building within ReedTech’s sleek glass tower. Rain dropped down the windows in harsh, silver lines as Adrian stood right in front of his desk, the recording still playing repeatedly in his ears. His mother’s fragile voice. Veronica’s cruelty, sharp as a blade. He had listened to it so many times the words felt itchy in his ears.But Adrian Carter-Reed wasn’t a man who let emotion steer his decisions. Not anymore. He stopped the record, set the headphones down, and slid the file into his locked drawer. There would be time for the ghosts later. Right now, he has enemies alive and moving, enemies who wanted him to bring him down.A sharp knock sounded on his office door.“Come in,” Adrian said.The door opened, Miranda Shaw showed up, one of ReedTech’s senior compliance officers. She was in her early thirties, tall, with long dark hair tied into a sleek ponytail, and eyes that gleamed with intelligence—and something else, something more unimaginable.

By Monday morning, the glamour of Emily’s birthday gala was gone, leaving behind the reality that dawned on them. ReedTech security showed up before sunrise. They changed the locks on Harris Industries’ executive suite like it was nothing. Veronica Harris’s gold nameplate came off her corner office door.Her calls started before breakfast, angry, urgent, dripping with venom, but no one picked up. The board members she thought were hers had already cut their deals, signed their NDAs, taken their severance, and disappeared. Some retired early. Some moved to ReedTech posts far away from Seattle. All of them were gone.Still, Veronica wasn’t the type to accept defeat. Stuck inside her mansion that felt more like a cage, as ReedTech security parked discreetly outside, she began plotting her counterattack. Days later, leaks appeared in the press. It began gradually before blowing up into a full story. Adrian Carter-Reed was painted as a bitter opportunist, out for revenge on the family tha