Liam drove in silence, pulling up in front of a villa.
His tie, still slightly askew, hung loosely around his neck, faint red marks peeking from beneath the fabric.
I pulled out my phone, the glow of the screen cutting through the dim interior of the car.
A breaking news alert popped up at the top of the trending feed, stamped with a bold red “Breaking News” banner.
#Linda Dawson Taken in for Investigation
“Last month, my half–brother contacted Linda. He threatened her, claiming to know her secrets, and forced her to steal the bid proposal and other confidential documents from me.”
I was silent for a moment before replying softly, “I know.”
“You… know?”
Liam turned sharply toward me. “Did you plan this, Chloe?”
I nodded, digging my nails into my palm to steady myself, forcing myself to meet his gaze.
“I came back to destroy the Dawsons. To ruin Linda. To overturn the case they fabricated against my mother twenty years ago. For that outcome, I’m willing to pay any price.”
This had always been the driving force behind my career in media.
Twenty years ago, because my father had caught her eye, the Dawson family heiress, Rachel Dawson, orchestrated a setup, accusing my mother of being a prostitute.
And Linda, just a child at the time, helped them.
All to secure her life as the pampered princess of the Dawson family, she betrayed her own mother, pushing her straight into the abyss.
My mother was detained for fifteen days and lost her job.
When she returned home, the neighbors whispered behind her back, pointing fingers, taking my father’s side.
After the divorce, she had no choice but to leave the city in disgrace, taking me with her back to the countryside.
Shattered and broke, she lived out the rest of her days in quiet misery.
She didn’t even make it past fifty.
And the day she died, the hospital TV was playing the evening news.
The Dawsons were making headlines again.
