The sprawling gardens and ornate gates seemed almost mocking to her now, symbols of a future that had been cruelly snatched away.As she left the drawing room, Mrs. Devereux walked her to the door, offering parting words of reassurance.“Remember, Charlotte,” Mrs. Devereux said as the younger woman stepped into the car, “the Devereux family stands by those who prove their loyalty. Alexis may have a foothold now, but the tides can change swiftly.”Charlotte nodded, her eyes blazing with determination. “Thank you, Mrs. Devereux. I won’t let you down.”The car pulled away, leaving the grand estate behind.As it disappeared into the horizon, Mrs. Devereux stood at the door, her mind already crafting the next steps in her silent campaign against Alexis Montgomery.Charlotte wasn’t the only one reeling from the news.Across the city, the whispers of Julian and Alexis’s sudden marriage rippled through the upper echelons of society, sparking speculation and controversy.Headlines speculated o
Julian leaned back in his chair, his thumb hovering over his phone screen.Alexis’s message glowed back at him, cheerful and sweet, but the weight of his conversation with his mother bore heavily on his chest.He typed slowly, as if choosing his words carefully could change the course of everything.“I can’t make it tonight. Something’s came up. Will call you tomorrow.”He hesitated before hitting send, staring at the words for a moment longer than he intended. Finally, he pressed the button and set the phone down with a sigh.His jaw tightened as his mother’s voice echoed in his mind.“Are you using her? Or lying to yourself about your feelings?”He closed his eyes, rubbing his temples. But before he could dive too deeply into his thoughts, the sharp trill of his phone cut through the silence.It was Alexis.For a moment, Julian considered letting it ring out. He wasn’t sure he could face her voice right now, wasn’t sure he could handle the warmth and trust she carried for him. But h
That day had been the turning point.Seeing Alexis in person had reignited his resolve for vengeance. But this time, he didn’t just want to destroy the Montgomery name, he wanted to unravel them from the inside.He had his men begin keeping tabs on Alexis, tracking her every move.It wasn’t difficult, her socialite status meant she was often in the public eye.Photos from charity galas, business events, and vacations poured in. But the more he watched, the more he realized that Alexis wasn’t quite what he expected.She wasn’t just a pampered heiress living off her father’s fortune. She was hardworking, driven, and surprisingly kind to those around her. It was… disarming.Still, he reminded himself that this was all part of the plan.She was just a means to an end.When news of Ryan Pierce’s affair with Sophia reached him, Julian saw his opportunity. It was all too easy to have the evidence sent anonymously to Alexis.He remembered how calculated and cold he had been in those moments,
While waiting for Victoria’s update, Julian moved to the kitchen to pour himself a cup of coffee, his mind replaying the events that had led him to this moment.Back then, his hatred for the Montgomerys had consumed him. Harrison Montgomery’s ruthless business tactics had driven the Devereux family company to the brink of bankruptcy. It was his mother’s connections that had saved them, but the scars of that time had never truly healed.Julian had vowed to make the Montgomerys pay, and Alexis had seemed like the perfect entry point.But now, as he stood in his kitchen sipping coffee, Julian felt a pang of guilt.Somewhere along the way, the line between vengeance and something deeper had blurred. He didn’t just enjoy Alexis’s company, he needed it.His phone buzzed, snapping him out of his thoughts. It was Victoria.“Sir, there’s a situation at the Montgomery Group. It appears a confidential design manuscript for their upcoming collection has been leaked online. It’s causing quite a st
Outside the conference room, the office buzzed with activity as teams scrambled to address the crisis.Alexis pulled out her phone and hesitated for a moment before texting Julian, “Things are worse than I thought. It’s going to take a while. I’ll keep you updated.”Sliding the phone back into her pocket, she took a deep breath and strode toward the IT department, ready to face the storm head on.Alexis spotted Sophia lingering near the hallway that led to the design department.Her polished appearance, perfectly styled hair and her sharp red blazer, was as impeccable as always, but there was something about her posture that felt uneasy.Taking a deep breath, Alexis decided now was as good a time as any to address the elephant in the room.“Sophia,” Alexis called out, her heels clicking softly against the tiled floor as she approached.Sophia turned, her expression guarded but polite. “Yes?”Alexis motioned toward a quieter corner, away from the prying eyes of other employees around.
Alexis gestured for Ethan to sit, her focus sharpening.Ethan placed his laptop on the desk and opened a detailed report. “We’ve been combing through the access logs for the design server. So far, there’s no evidence of an external breach, which strongly suggests this was an internal issue.”Alexis frowned, leaning over the screen. “So, someone from the company leaked the manuscript?”Ethan nodded grimly. “It’s looking that way. Only a select group had access to this particular design file, yourself, the head designers, and a few key members of the marketing team. We’ve narrowed down the list of activity during the suspected timeframe.”He tapped a few keys, bringing up a chart. “Here are the access records from the last 48 hours. You’ll see that most logins were routine, except for one unusual activity early yesterday morning.”Alexis’s eyes scanned the chart, her pulse quickening when she noticed the flagged entry. “Whose login is this?”Ethan hesitated before replying. “Sophia’s.”
One thing was clear, Julian couldn’t let this slide.His mother and Ryan had crossed a line, and he wouldn’t stand by and let them hurt Alexis any further.The cafeteria buzzed with quiet conversations as Alexis sat at a corner table, her hands gripping the edge of her coffee cup.She had chosen the place carefully, a quaint café tucked away from the busy streets, offering a semblance of privacy.Her heart pounded as she waited for Sophia, the weight of the earlier meeting and the mounting suspicions gnawing at her.The bell above the door jingled, and Alexis looked up to see Sophia entering. Her expression was guarded, and her heels clicked sharply against the floor as she approached the table.“You wanted to meet?” Sophia said curtly, sliding into the chair opposite Alexis.Alexis didn’t waste time with pleasantries. “Thank you for coming. I wanted to talk about the logs.”Sophia arched a brow, her lips pressing into a thin line. “I already told you, I didn’t do anything. If this is
The doctor looked between the two of them and then spoke calmly but firmly. “Miss Sophia, you’re pregnant. About eight weeks along, based on the results of your blood work.”The room fell silent, the words hanging heavily in the air. Sophia’s eyes widened in shock, her lips parting as if to say something, but no sound came out.Ryan’s expression shifted from confusion to disbelief. “Pregnant?” he echoed, his voice low and strained.Sophia finally managed to find her voice, though it was barely above a whisper. “That’s... that’s impossible. I mean... I...”The doctor raised a hand gently. “I understand this might be unexpected, but I recommend you start prenatal care as soon as possible. Rest is crucial, especially after today’s incident. I’ll give you some referrals for an OB GYN to follow up with.”He placed a pamphlet on the bedside table and left the room, leaving Ryan and Sophia to process the bombshell in stunned silence.Ryan ran a hand through his hair, pacing again. “Pregnant,
Julian exhaled slowly, nodding. “I don’t want you to forget,” he murmured. “I just want you to let me make it right.”His fingers brushed over her knuckles, tentative, as if giving her the chance to pull away. But she didn’t. She let him hold her hands, let him be close.“I spent years blaming your father for what happened to mine,” Julian continued, his voice thick with emotion. “And maybe some of that blame was justified. But I made the mistake of thinking you were just another extension of him, that hurting you would somehow fix what was broken inside me.”A pained look crossed his face, regret etched into every feature. “But all I did was hurt the one person who had nothing to do with any of it. And I will never forgive myself for that.”Alexis swallowed the lump in her throat, her own regrets beginning to surface.She had tried to ignore the way her heart had ached in his absence. She had told herself she was better off without him, that his betrayal had severed the connection be
As they strolled beneath the Eiffel Tower, the golden glow of the city casting long shadows around them, Alexis felt an unfamiliar warmth settle in her chest. She had spent so long running, from her past, from Julian, from herself. But now, in this moment, it was as if time had slowed, allowing her to breathe, to truly take it all in.Julian didn’t rush her. He simply walked beside her, their fingers still loosely intertwined, as if he was afraid that if he held on too tightly, she would slip away.“Do you remember what you told me that night?” Julian asked softly.Alexis frowned slightly, searching her memory. “Which night?”“The night of the gala,” he clarified, glancing at her with a knowing look. “You told me that I was a mistake waiting to happen.”Alexis let out a small, breathy laugh. “That does sound like something I would say.”Julian’s lips curved into a smirk. “And you weren’t wrong.”Alexis tilted her head up, watching the soft glow of the tower above them. “It wasn’t just
Harrison Montgomery had always been a man of power, control, and strategy. He built an empire from the ground up, ensuring that his family never lacked anything. To him, emotions were liabilities, love was a distraction, and personal connections were just another battlefield where the strongest prevailed.And yet, as he stood by the large windows of his estate, watching his daughter through the glass as she sat in the garden, something in him shifted.Alexis was smiling. A real, genuine smile.For months, she had walked around with a guarded expression, a shadow of the confident, fierce woman he had raised. She had been betrayed, humiliated, and hurt in ways no father would ever want for his child. He had watched her hide her pain behind work, pretending she was fine, but he had known better.But now, this was different.She was laughing softly as she stared at her phone, a small, almost shy smile on her lips. Her fingers hovered over the screen, typing something before deleting it an
Julian answered on the first ring.“Alexis?” His voice was cautious, unsure.She swallowed hard, her grip on the phone tightening as she stood outside his childhood home. The wind rustled through the overgrown grass, carrying with it the echoes of the past she had just walked through.“I went to your house,” she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper.Silence.For a long moment, there was nothing but his breath on the other end of the line. When he finally spoke, his voice was rough, strained. “You didn’t have to do that.”“But I did,” she countered. “I had to see it. I had to understand.”A bitter chuckle escaped him. “And? Do you understand now? Do you finally see what your father did to me?”Her heart clenched at the raw pain in his voice.“I see everything, Julian,” she said softly. “The eviction notices, the empty cabinets… the house falling apart. You had nothing.”He exhaled shakily. “We had worse than nothing.”She closed her eyes, imagining a younger Julian standing in th
Julian sat in his car, gripping the steering wheel tightly. His heart still pounded in his chest, the image of Alexis standing in the doorway burned into his mind.She hadn’t told him to leave.She hadn’t slammed the door in his face.That had to mean something, didn’t it?He let out a heavy breath, resting his forehead against the wheel. He had spent so long fighting battles against Charlotte, against his mother, against the world… but this was the most important fight of all. The one for Alexis.And if waiting was what it took, then he would wait.He just prayed she would give him the chance to prove himself before it was too late.Julian knew better than to push.For the first time in his life, he was stepping back, not because he was giving up, but because he finally understood that love wasn’t something he could win like a business deal or a war. Alexis wasn’t a prize to be claimed. She was a woman who had been hurt, who had every right to doubt him, and if he truly wanted a futu
Alexis pressed the power button on her phone, silencing the vibration that followed Julian’s call. Her heart was pounding, her emotions tangled in a war between longing and self preservation. She had spent weeks convincing herself that she was done with him, that she had buried every last trace of love she had for him beneath the rubble of his betrayal.But then, there he was, standing in front of the entire world, stripping himself of his armor and baring his soul in a way she never thought he would. And now, she didn’t know what to do with the feelings clawing their way back to the surface.A knock at the door jolted her from her thoughts. Her breath caught. Had he come to see her? No, Julian wouldn’t be that reckless, would he?Slowly, she made her way to the door, her pulse racing. When she opened it, she wasn’t sure whether she felt relieved or disappointed to see Sophia standing there instead.“Can I come in?” Sophia asked softly, her eyes searching Alexis’ face.Alexis stepped
The world erupted in a frenzy the moment Julian Devereux's press conference ended. News outlets, social media platforms, and television channels dissected every word he had spoken, every frame of his expression. His admission of love for Alexis Montgomery, combined with the exposure of Charlotte’s corruption, sent shockwaves through the business world and beyond.Some lauded Julian for his honesty, praising his courage in standing against Charlotte. Others, however, were less forgiving.“So Alexis was really nothing more than a pawn in a revenge plot?”“She should’ve never married him in the first place. He destroyed her.”“Why is Julian being praised for ‘love’ when he manipulated her from the start?”Within hours, #AlexisMontgomery trended worldwide. News anchors debated whether she had been complicit in Julian’s schemes or simply another victim of powerful men playing dangerous games. Everyone had an opinion, and Alexis, despite her best efforts, could not drown out the noise.She
Alexis blinked, but she remained silent.Julian took a step closer. “I love you, Alexis. Not because it’s convenient. Not because I want to win. But because even after everything, even when you have every reason to hate me, you are still the best thing that has ever happened to me.”A flicker of something crossed her face, something he couldn’t quite place.But then she inhaled sharply and shook her head. “Love isn’t enough, Julian.”He knew that. He had always known that.But he wasn’t giving up.“I know,” he said softly. “But I’m going to prove to you that I can be the man you deserve.”Alexis looked at him, searching his face, as if trying to find the lie.She didn’t respond right away. And for now, Julian didn’t expect her to.This was just the beginning.And he would fight for her, for them, with everything he had left.Alexis’ chest tightened as she stared at Julian, his words still hanging in the air between them. I love you, Alexis. She wished she could believe him, wished she
Harrison Montgomery stared Julian down, his sharp gaze cutting through the younger man like a blade. Julian had confessed everything, his revenge, his betrayal, his regret, but none of that changed what he had done to Alexis. None of it erased the pain he had caused.Harrison leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers. His expression was unreadable, but Julian could see the fury simmering beneath his composed exterior.“You don’t deserve her,” Harrison said, his voice cold and absolute.Julian swallowed but didn’t argue. He knew it was true.“And yet,” Harrison continued, his eyes narrowing, “I have never seen my daughter care about someone the way she cared about you. Even now, after everything, she still feels something.”Julian’s breath hitched. He had spent weeks believing Alexis wanted nothing to do with him. That her hatred had erased any trace of love she once held for him.Harrison sighed, standing up and adjusting his cufflinks. “So, here’s how this is going to go, Deve