Chapter 4 - The Betrayal
The charity gala was no longer a facade; it had become a battlefield. My family arrived uninvited, their desperation radiating off them like heat from an engine. My father, usually composed, looked disheveled, his expensive suit straining at the seams. Jaxson was twitching, his eyes darting toward the exits.
"Felicia," my father hissed, cornering me near the champagne tower. "We have the files. We know about the 'illness.' We have photos of him at the gym, of him walking without the cane. We’re going to the press. We’ll ruin him, and you’ll be an accomplice."
I looked at my father—the man I had spent twenty-six years trying to please—and felt nothing but cold, sharp clarity. "Go ahead," I said, my voice steady.
He blinked, stunned. "Excuse me?"
"Do it," I repeated, turning to see Julian approaching. He stood beside me, his presence magnetic. He didn't look like an old man; he looked like a king claiming his territory. "Everything you have on him is a lie. But everything we have on you—the embezzlement, the bridge construction fraud, the laundered accounts—that is the truth. And we have already uploaded it to the server of every major news outlet in the city. If you press 'send' on your blackmail, the police will be here before the ink dries on your headlines."
The color drained from my father’s face. Jaxson lunged forward, but Julian moved with terrifying speed, stepping between us. He didn't even raise his voice. He simply signaled to his security team.
"The show is over," Julian said, his voice carrying across the silent ballroom. "And so are your careers."
The scandal was catastrophic. By morning, my father’s company was being raided by federal agents. The public didn't just turn against them; they devoured them. I watched the news from the safety of Julian’s living room, sipping tea while the world burned.
"You did it," Julian said, standing behind me, his hands resting on my shoulders.
May you like
"We did it," I corrected, turning to look at him. "But they aren't the type to go quietly, Julian. They’ve lost everything. People like that are dangerous."
He pulled me into his arms, and for the first time, I felt the walls of his guarded heart finally crumble. He wasn't holding me because he had to; he was holding me because he was afraid of what came next.
