Chapter 2

I turned to Leo and said, with quiet contempt, "Tell your father that the humiliation I've suffered will be repaid—by every last member of the Lancaster family."

The color drained from his face in waves.

"Elara, don't be ridiculous," Vivienne cut in, looping her arm through Leo's. "She's an illegitimate child. She doesn't have the reach to pull something like this off."

I let my gaze settle on Vivienne for a long moment, then stepped toward her slowly, deliberately.

"Your punishment is coming," I said quietly. "Soon."

I turned to the butler. "See them out."

I walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows and sat down at my desk. Then I gave the order: short Lancaster Group stock. Across the board.

I watched the numbers shift on the screen, the graph dipping in real time, and felt the corner of my mouth lift.

The humiliation of that altar—I was repaying it, inch by inch, in the only language that mattered.

Three hours later, Lancaster Group's stock had dropped three points. But it wasn't enough.

My phone buzzed.

"Elara Hilton. Stop this. You'll drag the whole Hilton Group down with you." My father. Voice tight with fury. "You got dumped because you weren't good enough. Come home. We're going to go apologize to the old man Lancaster together."

I kept my tone even. "Father, if anyone is owed an apology—it's me."

"Have you lost your mind? As of tomorrow, you're no longer General Manager of the company. Your brother is taking over."

He hung up. Before I could set the phone down, it buzzed again. An old familiar number. I didn't answer. I let it ring.

It rang dozens of times before finally going silent.

Then a string of long voice messages appeared on my screen.

【What happened at the wedding was my fault—I know that. But Dad has already dealt with me over it. You had no right to auction off your marriage like that. You've publicly embarrassed the Lancaster family, and my parents are furious. Get to the Lancaster estate immediately and apologize to them. On your knees.】

【As for shorting our stock—we'll let that go for now. We can absorb the loss. But tomorrow morning, you will stand beside me in front of the cameras and confirm that the video of me and Vivienne was fabricated. You will play the loving wife. You will smile.】

I blocked Leo's number without hesitation.

The next morning, he was waiting outside my door.

"You didn't answer my calls. My parents are livid—if you don't come and apologize, they have ways of making your life very difficult."

He paused. When I said nothing, his voice shifted, softened slightly.

"I know I was wrong. I shouldn't have walked out on our wedding. But you can't just do whatever you want because you're angry."

"Leo." My voice came out flat. "Tell me about the child."

He went silent.

At the ceremony, he had stood in front of everyone and admitted it—an unborn child, gone. But in three years, he had never once mentioned it to me.

"That was a long time ago," he said finally. "You need to let it go."

I threw the termination report at his face.

"The procedure date," I said, "was right in the middle of when we were supposed to be falling in love."

He stood there. Motionless.

Who was it who had told me—just three years ago—that he had chosen to stay, that his heart belonged a hundred percent to me? Who had stood with both our families present and promised me the most extravagant, most unforgettable wedding Harbor City had ever seen—and then walked away, leaving me a public joke?

He had been running between two people all along. And now he had the nerve to call me the reckless one.

I watched his face cycle through expressions—caught, embarrassed, searching—and picked up my phone.

"Keep shorting Lancaster Group," I told my assistant.

"And hire people to flood every platform with everything you can find on Vivienne Pierce."

"Ms. Hilton," my assistant said, hesitating. "You—you should come in. Something's happened."