Chapter 21 Counterattack
An hour later, a new video from inside the room showed up online. This one was clear and harsh. Eva was slumped on the bed, trying to speak as voices argued in the background.
There was a flash of Reena's face in the mirror, her expression cold and triumphant.
The footage showed Eva saying things she didn’t remember. It had been edited to make her look complicit in everything that happened that night.
It made the whole scandal even worse.
The room went quiet.
"The hotel lobby had security cameras installed, but there won't be any cameras inside the room. Where did this video come from?" Eva asked with a tearful voice.
Leonard cleared his throat. "That's a good question. If the video was secretly recorded with hidden cameras or taken illegally, maybe by hacking, we might be able to press criminal charges against them."
"Criminal charges." Eva laughed bitterly. "What good will it do? People have already seen those videos. Whatever we do now won't undo what people have already seen."
"We know," Adrian said quietly. "But pressing charges will make sure the person responsible faces consequences."
"Suffering the consequences isn't enough." Eva stood and walked to the window. "I want to know why. Why does Reena hate me so much? What did I ever do to her? Was it really because of that night years ago?"
Sometimes Eva thought back to that awful party, when she told the truth about what happened in her room.
Reena looked at her like she had betrayed her, even though it was Reena who started the fight.
After that, everything changed between them.
Did Reena never forgive her for that? Or was there more that she never understood?"
Silence.
Eva turned to the others. "She was my best friend. Or at least, I thought she was. You all know we grew up together. I trusted her with everything." Her voice shook. "Then she drugged me, ruined my reputation, and spent seven years trying to destroy my life."
Her voice cracked. "Who does something like that?"
Richard glanced at Daniel.
Eva saw them.
"What?" she demanded. "You both know something, don’t you? What are you not telling me?"
Richard sighed, suddenly looking much older.
"There's something you don't know, Eva. Something your stepmother has kept hidden for a long time."
Eva felt a chill. "What?"
"Reena isn't just your stepmother's daughter from a previous relationship." Richard's jaw tightened. "She's... she's your father's daughter too."
The words stunned Eva.
She stepped back and held onto the windowsill for support.
"What?"
"Before I married your mother, I had an affair." Shame crossed Richard's face. "It was a short, meaningless fling. But it led to the birth of a child named Reena. Your stepmother kept Reena hidden for years, raising her in secret and taking money from me to stay quiet."
Eva tried to process what she’d heard.
Reena was her sister?
Her half-sister, to be exact.
"When your mother died, and I remarried," Richard went on, "your stepmother told me the truth. At first, even I didn’t know the truth. She said she had adopted Reena years ago and never told me. She used it to make sure I would marry her."
"And Reena?" Eva's voice was barely a whisper. "Did she know?"
"Yes." Richard's voice grew hard. "She's known since she was fifteen. And she has resented you ever since. You were the real daughter who had everything she thought should have been hers."
She knew about it when she was fifteen?
A memory flickered in Eva's mind: the summer she turned sixteen, it was exactly when Reena had started to pull away.
Before, they used to stay up late whispering secrets, but that year, Reena had stopped answering her messages, and whenever Eva came home, she left the room.
There had been fights over small things, sudden coldness where there used to be laughter.
Eva had told herself it was just growing up, but now she saw the shift for what it truly was.
"But to calm her resentment, I secretly gave her everything except the title of my daughter. And that's what she really wanted."
Eva sank into a chair, her legs no longer able to support her.
Now everything made sense.
The hatred in Reena's eyes. The careful plans. The constant effort to ruin Eva’s life.
It wasn’t just random cruelty.
It was jealousy.
Reena’s jealousy had grown for years, turning her into someone Eva no longer recognized.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Eva looked at her father, hurt. "All these years, you let me think she was just a friend who turned on me. You never said anything—"
"I was ashamed." Richard's voice broke. "I was ashamed of what I did, and I thought... I thought if you never knew, it would be easier."
"Easier?" Eva's voice rose. "Easier for who? Because it definitely wasn’t easier for me!"
"I know." Richard reached for her hand, but she pulled away. "I know I’m wrong, and I’m sorry. I failed you in more ways than I can count. But I’m telling you now because you need to know what we’re dealing with."
"Reena won't stop, Eva," Daniel said, his voice grim. "You get it, right? This isn't just about money or revenge now. It's personal. She wants to take everything from you."
He paused, glancing at the others before adding, "Reena doesn't just want you to lose your reputation or your place here. She wants you to disappear from your own life until there's nothing left that was ever yours. That's what she really wants."
"I won't let her win." Adrian’s voice was steady. "I don’t care who she is or why she’s doing this. She made a mistake by going after Eva. Now she’s going to pay."
Eva looked at him, the man who had come into her life and was now fighting her battles like they were his own.
"Are you sure you can stop Reena?" she asked. "How do you stop someone who has nothing to lose?"
Adrian’s eyes were cold and determined.
"Everyone has something to lose, Eva." He leaned forward. "Even Reena. We just have to find it."