ROBERT'S POV
The room was charged with tension. The Baron's anger seemed to swell, filling every corner of the office. His face twisted with rage, and his hand clutched a gun, the metal gleaming ominously in the dim light. Without thinking, I moved into full protective mode, stepping in front of Ariana and the others. Josh quickly joined me, standing firm by my side.
“Think about the consequences of your actions,” I said, my voice steady but laced with urgency. “Shooting us won't solve anything.”
The room was thick with fear. I could hear Ariana’s breathing, rapid and shallow behind me. I edged closer to her, moving slowly to avoid provoking the Baron. When I r
ARIANA'S POVThe breath seemed to leave my body all at once. Maria’s words echoed in my ears, louder than the gasps and murmurs from the courtroom. My heart pounded furiously as if trying to drown out the shocking revelation. Rob had always been my rock, the one person I could trust implicitly. Yet here was Maria, a colleague we both trusted, accusing him of an affair with Odette Moreau. I struggled to believe it, but the look on Maria's face was resolute. Rob’s hand found mine, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. I kept my gaze fixed on the wooden bench in front of me, my mind racing. Could Maria be lying? I wanted to believe she was, but the conviction in her voice was undeniable. And then there were her claims of proof—emails a
ARIANA'S POV Shock rippled through me as I saw my mother standing in the hallway. Margaret Vanderbilt was the last person I expected to see, especially after everything that had happened. Rob had sent her away, and we hadn’t heard from her since we decided we were contesting the will. Her sudden appearance felt like a punch to the gut.“Josh, I’ll be fine,” I said, my voice steady despite the turmoil inside me. Josh nodded, squeezing my shoulder before walking away. I turned back to face my mother, feeling a mixture of anger and confusion. She stood there, dressed in a black skirt and a pink coat with golden buttons. The outfit was elegant, but her hair was unkempt
ROBERT'S POV As I drove home, the weight of Ariana’s words pressed heavily on my chest. I gripped the steering wheel tightly, my knuckles turning white. How did it come to this? How had we reached a point where she couldn’t even look at me, let alone trust me? The image of her face, filled with pain and doubt, haunted me. Odette’s lies, Maria’s betrayal—it all swirled in my mind like a toxic brew. Maria had been my one confidante in Vanderbilt Holdings. She had told me I was voted out of Vanderbilt Holdings, and I had believed her. I had gone to her for help with Odette. How much were they paying her to spread these lies? How deep did the betrayal run?The drive home was a blur, my thoughts consumed by anger and exhaustion. I could barely process the fact that Ariana had sent me away. She was going to see Odette, to confront her. But what did she hope to learn from that viper? Odette had always been a master manipulator, twisting truths and creating chaos. Ariana had to know that.W
ARIANA'S POV I sat across from Odette, suddenly at a loss for words. The woman before me was a far cry from the broken figure I'd seen before Victor LaSalle's murder in the courtroom. Today, she was every bit the cunning, seductive persona she had always been, the same woman who had once vividly described how she planned to take over Vanderbilt Holdings and make Rob hers.Odette’s eyes gleamed with a predatory light as she leaned back, her posture relaxed despite the cuffs. The corners of her lips turned up in a sly smile, as if she knew the turmoil raging inside me.I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. “This was foolish,” I said, my voice wavering despite my best efforts. “I shouldn’t have come here. I have nothing to say to you, Odette. I know you’re just going to lie.”Odette leaned forward, her eyes locking onto mine with a predatory intensity. “Are you afraid to hear the truth, Ariana?” she asked, her voice a soft, mocking whisper. “Don’t you know your man is the beau
ARIANA'S POV I gripped the back of the chair, my knuckles white with fear. The figure that stood before me was unmistakable. The Baron, short and unassuming, cast a long shadow across the room as he stepped into the office, his presence filling the space with an oppressive weight. Alone. He sighed, the sound heavy with frustration, and walked in, closing the door behind him. “What are you doing here?” I demanded, my voice trembling. “How did you get into the building?”The Baron ignored my questions, his gaze piercing through me. “You made a mistake going to the jailhouse,”
ROBERT'S POV The guard at the desk glanced up at me, irritation etched on his face. “Calm down, sir,” he said, holding up a hand to placate me. “I’ll check the visiting book.”I watched him flip through the pages with painstaking slowness, my impatience mounting. Finally, he found Ariana’s name.“You just missed her,” he said, looking up. “She left a few minutes ago in a cab.”I muttered a curse under my breath and rushed back outside. The summer night air was thick and he
ARIANA'S POV I paced the living room, my heart pounding with anxiety. The silence of the house only amplified my unease. I couldn’t believe that Odette had managed to escape from jail. The sheer improbability of it was staggering. Who had helped her, and why? Questions swirled in my mind, each one more unsettling than the last.The clock on the wall ticked steadily, each second dragging by like an eternity. I glanced out the window for the hundredth time, hoping to see Sylvia or Rob and Josh pulling into the driveway. Instead, darkness greeted me, the empty street offering no solace. The sound of a car approaching broke the stillness, and I rushed to the door. I flung it open just a
ROBERT'S POV My mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. Odette was dead? How could this be? I replayed the Baron’s chilling words over and over, trying to make sense of it. The shock of the news left me numb, but confusion quickly followed.“How can this be possible?” I blurted out. “We just saw her. She was in the car that rammed us.”Josh, wincing as Sylvia pressed a cloth to his head, looked equally perplexed. “It doesn’t make any sense. We barely survived that crash, and she was laughing like a maniac. How could she be dead now?”Ariana, her face pale with worry, hu