The silence was shattered with a sudden ripple of voices. People were no longer whispering—they were talking. Openly. Boldly.“They really had nothing.”“This was all just noise?”“They tried to destroy her with fake evidence?”“How did they both lose the same file?”Across the ballroom, heads turned toward Persis. She hadn’t moved from her spot—hadn’t lifted a finger. But somehow, she’d won.She recalled Howard telling her that any phones that came near their car and lingered too long would be hacked immediately. And if they tried to take pictures and share them, the files would be deleted on the spot.<

Athena dropped to the floor, stunned. She landed hard on her butt, but the sting on her cheek burned far more than the fall. She had been slapped in front of everyone. And worse, she had failed to give any kind of response to Persis’s final words.Now, the truth was out. Everyone knew she had been part of it.Her pride was shattered. Her confidence? Gone. All she had left was the echo of that slap and the weight of dozens of judgmental stares.At that moment, Savina was panicking. Persis’s calm threat about involving lawyers still rang in her ears.“Expect a message from my lawyer soon.”Those words terrified her.Her family was nothing compared to the Damons. There was no way her parents could fight back—not legally, not financially, not socially. The Damons held power in every room that mattered. If they pressed charges, even minor ones, it would ruin her family’s name—and their business.Savina turned to Athena, wide-eyed. “This is your fault,” she hissed in a whisper. “You dragged

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He had assumed she was avoiding him—deliberately staying out of sight whenever she knew he’d be around. But he had no idea she’d been locking herself in her room and refusing to even shower.The realization made him chuckle in disbelief. It reminded him of when they were kids—how she once locked herself in her room just to force their parents to buy her a thousand-dollar doll.Despite growing older, she was still the same brat who threw tantrums when things didn’t go her way.“She’s still the same,” he mumbled to himself. “Only worse now.”Shaking his head, he snapped out of the thought. He was supposed to be mad—furious that she had woken him with her screams over something so trivial. Now, his sleep was ruined, and so was the rest of his day.His shoulders relaxed slightly. He let out a short, annoyed huff and rubbed the bridge of his nose.Then he spotted Xander coming down the hallway.Xander’s face was thunderous. His shirt was wrinkled, h

The next morning, Tedmond was awakened by the soft sound of footsteps entering his room. His eyes snapped open instinctively, his body tensing for a moment, until he saw it was just Persis and a maid.The maid moved quietly across the room, opening the curtains to let the early morning sunlight stream in. Warm light flooded the space.Persis sat calmly at the edge of his bed, his phone in her hand, her brows slightly furrowed as she scrolled through the long list of voicemails that had piled up.Tedmond groaned lightly, his voice still thick with sleep. “What are you doing? Is there anything interesting on my phone?”She didn’t even glance at him. “You left it unlocked.”“Oh.” He blinked slowly, memories returning in fragments.Last night. The voicemails. Maxine's voice was laced with venom. He remembered heading from the study to the lounge to listen to them, then crawling into bed to finish the rest. Somewhere along the way, he’d drifted off, falling asleep mid-playback. And now, the

Her eyes met Tedmond’s, wide with disbelief and a surge of panic. She hadn’t expected to see him. Not here. Not now.Of all the places in the estate, this lounge was the one space she’d always kept to herself. A quiet little secret. He wasn’t supposed to know it even existed, let alone find her in it.Her fingers tightened around the edge of the door.He stood there, one hand still lowered from knocking, eyes locked on hers with unsettling calm. He didn’t say a word, just stared at her, his gaze tracing every detail: her tangled hair, the blanket still draped around her shoulders, the slight puffiness in her eyes.Persis’s breath hitched. Her heart began to pound. She did the only thing her instincts screamed, slam the door. But she barely got it halfway closed before his foot wedged into the gap and his hand pressed firmly against the door, stopping it.Her eyes flew wide. “Tedmond—don’t—”“I’m not leaving,” he said calmly, though there was a certain steel in his tone. “Not until we