Chapter 84

Megra

A few days later, I find myself walking toward the courthouse for Nathaniel’s bail hearing. My heart feels like it’s caught in a vice, each step heavier than the last. As I approach the grand stone steps, my eyes catch on a newspaper headline blaring from a nearby stand:

**“Disgraced Billionaire, Adulterer, and Now Murder Suspect: Nathaniel Coven’s Fall from Grace.” **

The words hit me like a punch to the gut. I stop dead in my tracks, staring at the headline as it burns itself into my brain. Each word is like a dagger, twisting deeper and deeper. **Adulterer.** How did they find out? Who’s been feeding the press these lies, working so hard to paint Nathaniel as the villain, to make him look guilty before he even has a chance to prove his innocence?

I swallow hard, my stomach churning. This will destroy him. Nathaniel would see this. He would read those words and spiral into despair, believing that everyone has already turned against him and that there’s no point in fighting. But