2025-06-20 23:11:59
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
291. What Next?
Lila didn’t move.The envelope lay heavy in her lap, as if it knew what it carried. Not just a piece of paper. Not just numbers and names. But leverage. Poison. A truth twisted hard enough to become a weapon.She should have mailed it already.That had been the plan.Print the letter, slip it into an untraceable manila envelope, send it to a journalist with a grudge and a grinning appetite for scandal. She’d even printed two extra copies, just in case. One was in her purse. The other two were hidden— one behind the lining of her suitcase, the other taped under a drawer in the hotel room desk.Just in case.Lila always made backups.Always.But now, sitting at the edge of twilight, she didn’t feel powerful.She felt… still.And stillness had never been her friend.She took the envelope and walked.Not far. Just around the block. Letting the city buzz against her skin like static. Faces passed her— couples, businessmen, students in headphones, a woman crying quietly on a call. Everyone
290. Uncertain Futures
Lila stood by the window of her hotel suite, wrapped in a silk robe, staring down at the traffic crawling through the city like ants. The room was expensive, but hollow. Like a stage set waiting for a performance that never quite began.She had played her hand.And it hadn’t landed the way she wanted.Van hadn’t come crawling. He hadn’t begged. He hadn’t even flinched.Instead, he’d looked at her with cold, unflinching disgust. And worse— he hadn’t told Ivy. Not immediately, at least. Which meant Ivy had the power now. Not her.Still, Lila had time.She had the letter.The one Greaves had given her under the table, slid across the polished mahogany like some sacred relic. A single page written in Van’s father’s hand. Not an admission, not quite— but a whisper of something long buried. A name. A reference. A transaction that shouldn’t exist.She kept it hidden in the lining of her purse.She’d read it so many times she could recite the words backwards.She wasn’t even sure why she hadn
289. Ready
The private driver pulled up outside the marble facade of an old law firm in the city’s financial district. Ivy stepped out, dressed in a tailored navy coat, her heels quiet against the polished stone. The sky was gray and muted, just like her mood.She had rehearsed her questions all morning.She didn’t expect answers.But sometimes, just hearing how someone dodged the truth told you everything you needed to know.Alan Greaves’s office was at the very top. Not ostentatious, but heavy with the weight of old money. Walnut walls. Books no one read anymore. Brass finishes that had grown dull from being constantly polished.The receptionist led her to a glass -walled conference room. Ivy stood by the window, waiting.And then— he entered.Older than she remembered. Stooped slightly at the shoulders. His tailored suit hung a little loose. But his eyes— sharp. Watchful.“Mrs. Everest,” he said, smiling faintly as he extended a hand. “Or do you prefer Ivy?”She shook his hand. “Ivy is fine.”
288. Not Backing Down
It started with a name.Not one he spoke aloud.Just one he typed into a private browser window after Ivy had gone to bed.Alan Greaves.His butler had told him that that was his father’s old legal advisor. The man who had helped restructure the company when it was at the verge of going bankrupt all those years ago. Van barely knew the man. He had only met him a handful of times and he felt that Alan had always been tight-lipped.Friendly, in a sterile sort of way.But something about Lila’s tone— the casual confidence— made Van wonder if that man had been less loyal than he seemed. He remembered him leaving suddenly, right before Van took over. At the time, it had seemed like a retirement. Now, it felt like smoke.He stared at the search results. Nothing suspicious.But still— there was a file in the archives. Something about a sealed amendment to his father's will. It had always been off -limits.Van leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes.He had promised Ivy.He had said it
287. Secret?? Or Just A Plot
Van didn’t sleep that night. He couldn't. He laid in bed next to Ivy, listening to the rhythm of her breathing, watching the gentle rise and fall of her chest in the moonlight that came in through the curtains. The city hummed beyond the windows —car horns, a far- off siren, the low hush of night wind— but none of it was loud enough to drown out the voice in his head.Lila’s voice.“Leave Ivy, and I’ll tell you a secret about your family.”“Someone you’ve trusted your entire life.”He exhaled slowly, quietly. Ivy shifted in her sleep, her hand brushing against his. Even in her rest, she reached for him.It wrecked him a little.He turned his face to the ceiling and closed his eyes.She didn’t know.Not about Lila showing up today. Not about what she said. Not about the seed of poison now blooming behind his ribs.He’d told her the truth after the mansion incident.Every detail.But this?This wasn’t his truth yet. Just a threat. Just Lila’s game.Still —it felt like betrayal not to s
286. Something You Don't Know
Lila didn’t need to be close to see.She had the angle. The lenses. The patience.The park was a perfect theater —no cover, no shadows. The benches curved around the fountain in a soft crescent, like an audience waiting for a show to start.And there she was.Ivy.Sunglasses on. Shoulders squared. Hair pulled into a neat twist, not a strand out of place. The twins laughing beside her, tugging at the edges of her coat, full of questions and sticky fingers and joy.Lila didn’t blink.She studied every detail.The way Ivy sat, spine straight. The way she smiled, but not too much. A practiced smile, not born of ease but purpose.She was performing.Not for the children.For her.Lila shifted slightly behind the tinted windows of her borrowed car. She didn’t need to get closer. She’d done this long enough to know when someone was trying to speak without words.Ivy was saying;I know you’re watching. And I’m not afraid.Lila’s fingers clenched on her lap. She forced herself to relax them.T
You may also like
Hidden Billionaire Son-in-law
Deliaha Shine121.5K viewsThe Secretly Rich Man
Two Ears is Bodhi7.3M viewsRise of the Student Trillionaire
Ty Writes139.5K viewsRevenge of the Abandoned Heir
wounded_warrior124.0K viewsLegacy
Biggest Werey1.3K viewsDouble Agent: Stuck Between the Villain and Protagonist Camp
Antonigiggs1.3K viewsThe Indomitable Klaus Whitlock
Little Bunny 511 viewsThe Rise of the Useless Son-in-Law
Enigma Stone56.2K views