SECRETLY The Billionaire Tycoon

They DESTROYED Me First!

The Ferrari LaFerrari was blood-red and cost more than most houses.

It pulled up to Apex Tower at noon, drawing stares from everyone on the street. The scissor door lifted, and a woman emerged in Chanel from head to toe—not the kind you bought off the rack, but the kind that required three fittings in Paris and a personal relationship with the creative director.

Ryker appeared at Adrian's desk within seconds. "Sir, Sophia Laurent is here. She's requesting to see you."

Adrian's pen stopped mid-signature. For the first time since the dinner with the Thorntons, something like actual emotion crossed his face. "Sophia? Here?"

"Should I send her up?"

Adrian stood, straightened his tie, ran a hand through his hair. Small gestures he hadn't made in days. "Yes. Immediately."

The elevator opened three minutes later. Sophia Laurent stepped out, and Adrian felt something in his chest unclench—a tension he hadn't realized he'd been carrying. She was exactly as he remembered: sharp cheekbones, dark hair pulled into an elegant twist, eyes that missed nothing and forgave almost everything.

They'd grown up together. Two heirs to impossible legacies, playing in gardens while their fathers discussed empires. She was the daughter of the Laurent Group, France's luxury conglomerate—fashion, hotels, vineyards, everything beautiful and expensive in Europe. And she'd been the only person who knew about his father's test, the only one who'd known where Adrian really was for five years.

She crossed the office and pulled him into a hug. A real one. Warm and fierce and completely unlike the cold interactions he'd had since revealing himself. Adrian hugged her back, and for a moment he was just Adrian again, not the vengeful heir or the discarded husband.

"Five years," Sophia said, pulling back to look at him. "I told you not to go through with that ridiculous test. Your father's obsession with 'building character' was always insane."

"I had to prove something. To him. To myself."

"And?" She studied his face. "Did you learn ruthlessness like he wanted?"

Adrian didn't answer. Sophia's expression changed, something like sadness flickering across her features. "Oh, Adrian. You learned cruelty instead."

"They deserved it."

"Maybe." Sophia walked to the window, looked out at the city. "I'm here to open Laurent Group's Asia headquarters. Flew in yesterday. And I heard about your situation. The Thornton family destruction is all over the news. Financial networks are calling it the 'Beggar's Revenge.'"

"Creative."

"It's beneath you." She turned back to face him. "You're becoming your father. Cold, calculating, willing to destroy anyone who crosses you. Is that really who you want to be?"

Adrian's jaw tightened. "You don't understand what they did to me."

"I understand perfectly. You told me everything, remember? Every phone call for five years, you told me about the humiliation, the abuse, the way they treated you like you were nothing." Her voice softened. "But this isn't justice, Adrian. This is just pain creating more pain."

______

Isabella found the photos on social media an hour later.

Adrian and a stunning woman embracing outside Apex Tower. Adrian and the same woman having lunch at the city's most exclusive restaurant. Adrian and her walking through a private art gallery, his hand on her lower back.

The captions were in French and English: Sophia Laurent reunites with childhood friend Adrian Kane. Sources say the luxury heiress has been close to Kane for decades.

Margaret appeared behind Isabella's shoulder, staring at the photos with undisguised rage. "He had a beautiful foreign heiress all along! An actual proper match! And he wasted five years using my daughter as his entertainment!"

But Isabella barely heard her. Something was twisting in her chest—something sharp and unfamiliar. Jealousy. Real jealousy, not the performative kind she'd used to manipulate Brandon. And underneath it, loss. The sudden, devastating realization of what she'd thrown away.

That woman got to touch Adrian like he was a real person. Got to stand beside him without shame. Got to be seen with him in public, in places Isabella had dreamed of going.

Kyle posted the photos with a new caption: My ex-brother-in-law's REAL wife appears! Turns out my sister was just the side piece all along! Karma PlotTwist

The post went viral within minutes. Isabella's phone exploded with messages—friends asking if it was true, enemies gloating, strangers sending hateful comments. The humiliation was different this time. More personal. Because everyone could see what she'd lost.

In his jail cell, Brandon saw the photos on the news. The other inmates were watching, making comments about how Isabella had been slumming it with a billionaire's son while claiming to be above everyone. Brandon laughed—a bitter, broken sound. She'd destroyed him for a man who'd been pretending to be poor. The irony was almost beautiful.

______

The charity gala that evening was for children's hospitals—one of those events where the wealthy went to feel good about themselves. Sophia attended as the Laurent Group's representative, stunning in a silver Dior gown that made cameras flash like lightning.

Isabella crashed it.

Security tried to stop her at the door, but she pushed through, wild-eyed and desperate. She'd spent an hour getting ready, trying to look like she belonged, but her dress was last season and her hair wasn't professionally done and everyone could tell she didn't fit anymore.

She found Sophia near the bar, surrounded by admirers. Isabella pushed through them. "You need to stay away from my husband!"

The room went silent. Cameras turned. This was better than the scheduled entertainment.

Sophia looked at her with something like pity. "Ex-husband. And he was never really yours, was he? You had the title but not the man."

"You don't know anything about us!"

"I know everything about you." Sophia's voice was calm, almost gentle. "Adrian told me. Every call for five years, he told me how you treated him. How you made him sleep on the floor. How you couldn't even look at him without disgust. So no, Isabella—you don't get to claim him now."

Isabella lunged. Actually lunged at Sophia, hands reaching for her perfectly styled hair. Security grabbed her before she made contact, hauling her backward as she screamed.

"He loved me! He stayed for five years because he loved me! You can't just appear and take him away!"

The media captured every second. Flash bulbs exploded. Videos started uploading before security even got Isabella outside. By the time they dumped her on the sidewalk, she was trending again—but this time as the crazy ex-wife who couldn't let go.

______

Midnight found Sophia at Adrian's penthouse. She used the private elevator, the one that required a code only three people in the world had. Adrian was still awake, standing at the window with a glass of whiskey, watching the city sleep.

"You shouldn't have come to the gala," he said without turning around.

"She needed to hear it." Sophia poured herself a drink from his bar. "Adrian, I have a proposition. Laurent Group will invest two billion dollars in Thornton Enterprises. We'll buy out your eighty percent stake, let them keep the company, let them rebuild."

Adrian turned, his expression unreadable. "Why would you do that?"

"Because I know the real you." Sophia walked to him, stood close enough that he could smell her perfume—something expensive and familiar. "And this isn't him. The Adrian I grew up with was kind. Patient. Strong enough to endure hell without becoming hell himself. That's who your father wanted you to prove you were. Not this." She gestured at the city. "Not someone who destroys people just because he can."

"They destroyed me first."

"No. They hurt you. There's a difference." Sophia's eyes held his. "And if you keep going down this path, if you let that hurt turn you into your father, then they'll have destroyed you after all. Just in a different way."

Adrian stared at her. At the offer. At the chance to step back from the edge he'd been walking since the divorce. Two billion dollars to make this all stop. To prove he was better than his revenge.

"Why do you care?" His voice was rough.

"Because someone has to." Sophia touched his face, gentle. "And because I've loved you since we were children, even though I knew you loved someone else. Even though I knew she'd never deserve you."

The words hung between them like a confession. Like a challenge. Like a choice he hadn't known he'd have to make.