Amelia turned to Chole like she’d been pped.


    “You-what are you talking about?” Her voice trembled. “That’s not what happened!”


    2


    Chole’s eyes were wild, rimmed red with tears that hadn’t fallen. “It is what happened!” she shouted. “You said you couldn’t pay Olivia that much! That she was milking the Hawthorne family for everything they had!”


    “I never said-” Amelia faltered, her voice dropping as the crowd leaned in.


    I crossed my arms and said nothing. Watching them copse into finger-pointing and self-preservation was almost surreal. These were the people who had once controlled my life like I was just another pawn on their polished chess- board. Now look at them-turning on each other like cornered rats.


    “She raised the amount from $150 million to $250 million,” Chole sobbed, her tone sharp and rehearsed. “You said she was extorting the family! That if I really cared about Ethan, I would help fix it!”


    “You approached me first,” Amelia snapped, face flushed. “You said you knew how to get her signature! That she didn’t deserve that money!”


    “And then you said not to leave any evidence behind!” Chole cried. “You said I could contact someone to make her ‘understand’ her ce!”


    Each word hit harder than thest. And with every usation, every pathetic denial, more heads turned. More whis- pers stirred the air.


    I nced at Ethan.


    He stood still, like stone, but I could tell by the sharpness of his jaw and the fire behind his eyes that he was unravel- ing inside. This was the reputation he’d spent years building-crumbling under the weight of the very people he trust- ed most. His mother. His mistress.


    That’s the price of betrayal, I thought. It always collects interest.


    “I didn’t want it to go that far,” Chole whined. “I just wanted to scare her-get her to sign, not… not this!”


    Her voice cracked, and she looked straight at me.


    “I’ll pay for your hospital bills,” she said suddenly, the words blurted out like a bribe. “I’ll take care of it, I swear. I’m sorry. Just… don’t press charges.”


    She dabbed at dry eyes with shaking fingers, trying to muster some sympathy from the crowd. A few of the guests looked away in difort. Others just stared.


    0.0 %


    13:30


    I tilted my head.


    “No,” I said, voice calm. “I’ll never forgive you, Chole.”


    Her hand froze mid-dab.


    “And you won’t need to worry about hospital bills,” I added, eyes locked on hers. “Because I’ve already called the po-


    lice.”


    Gasps rippled through the ballroom.


    Her lips parted in shock. I saw it in her face-the hope dying out in real time.


    “Oh, and one more thing.” I straightened. “I know this will disappoint you… but I wasn’t vited.”


    Chole blinked, confused.


    “Someone got there in time,” I continued. “A good Samaritan. They stopped everything. I’m alive, untouched… and you’re still going to jail.”


    The silence that followed was ice-cold.


    Chole stood frozen, lips trembling. Ethan took a single step forward.


    “You’re telling the truth?” he asked, his voice strained, low. “They didn’t-?”


    I didn’t even look at him. Just stepped back and folded my arms.


    He didn’t deserve my answer.


    “Impossible,” Chole muttered, almost to herself. Then louder, as if disbelief alone would undo it, “That hotel is in the middle of nowhere! It’s private, locked, and no one even knew you were there-”


    She turned toward me sharply, her voice shrill with panic. “Who could have saved you, huh? What, was it an angel or something?!”


    I stared at Chole, her face twisted in disbelief and contempt.


    “If I had to call him an angel,” I said slowly, “he did kind of look like one.”


    That night, when everything was copsing around me and my body wouldn’t obey me anymore… I remembered his scent before I could remember his face. It was clean, steady. The scent of someone who didn’t panic. Who didn’t wa- ver. When his hand touched my cheek, it wasn’t rough or demanding—it was warm and steady, as if anchoring me to life itself.


    Chole rolled her eyes, arms crossed, scoffing. “Angels aren’t real. You just don’t want Ethan to think you’re dirty


    now.”


    I didn’t flinch.


    33.2 %


    13:31


    “I don’t care what Ethan thinks of me.” My voice was sharp, each word a clean slice through the growing tension. “If Iwasraped, I’d still be the victim. You and your hired men would still be the criminals.”


    Chole’s face twisted further, and for a moment, I saw the ugliness she had been trying to hide behind her makeup and


    crocodile tears.


    “Cut the crap,” she snapped. “If you’re gonna lie, at least make it believable. You say someone saved you? Then bring him out. Let’s all see this ‘angel’ of yours.”


    I didn’t respond.


    Not because I couldn’t.


    Because I wouldn’t.


    There was no way I was dragging Alexander into this cesspool. He wasn’t part of this story-he was the only reason I was still breathing. I couldn’t throw his name out just to prove something to these people. He didn’t belong here, not in this circus of hypocrisy and power ys.


    My silence made Chole smirk with triumphant cruelty.


    “See? No one. You’re lying,” she hissed. “You were caught with rogues, and now you’re ying the sympathy card


    “She’s not lying.”


    The voice was calm. Deep. Unfazed.


    It came from somewhere near the back of the hall.


    My chest tightened. Slowly, I turned around, my eyesnding on the man leaning casually against one of the marble pirs near the ballroom entrance.


    Yve stirred immediately in my chest.


    “Is that him?” she gasped.


    It was.


    Alpha Alexander Green.


    He stepped forward, his presence like a sudden shift in gravity. The air turned taut. A few murmurs erupted, and someone on the right side gasped audibly, “That’s Alpha Alexander!”


    I felt it ripple through the ballroom like a wave-shocked stares, gasps, whispers.


    “Why is he here?” someone murmured.


    “Did Hawthrone invite him?”


    “No, impossible. They’ve had no ties-”


    61.2 %


    13:31


    Chole’s lips parted in stunned disbelief, and her face paled further. I could practically hear the gears turning in her head as she realized how royally she’d messed up.


    Even I couldn’t hide my surprise. Alexander looked calm as ever-suited, sharp-jawed, and cold-eyed. Like none of this could touch him.


    He didn’t look at me right away. He kept his eyes on Chole.


    “I’m not an angel,” he said, voice still even, “but I was there. And I did save her.”


    Another wave of gasps shot through the crowd.


    Ethan stood frozen, his face unreadable. Amelia clutched her wine ss tighter, and even Madeline stepped back slightly, her expression warping into uncertainty.


    Finally, Alexander turned his gaze to me.


    “I was just dining nearby,” he said tly, like this was all some amusing detour. “Heard some buzz. Decided to check


    it out.”


    87.5%


    13:31


    Olivia’s POV