Chapter 26
Isabella had always been a woman with extreme sobriety and pride in her bones. She clearly distinguished between gratitude and grudges and never let even the smallest slight go unaddressed.
If someone wronged her, she demanded restitution with interest. And if she owed someone else, she refused to leave even the faintest stain on her own ledger.
That night at the private club, James had stepped in for her once—shielding her from a humiliation she refused to remember in detail. She had noted that debt, tucked it neatly into the quiet corners of her mind.
And now, since he was willing to throw his dignity aside for Charlotte and come to her personally, fine—she would give him what he wanted.
She would trade Charlotte's year in prison to repay that one small favor.
A life for a favor. After that, she and James would be even. Clean. Done. Nothing left entangling them.
A soft knock tapped against the office's glass door.
Joseph stepped in.
His expression carried a rare heaviness as he crossed the room, a fresh folder from the legal department clenched in his hand.
"Isabella, I just got word from Legal. You issued a directive to withdraw the criminal defamation charges against Charlotte and downgrade the whole thing to a civil dispute?"
His brows tightened, confusion and worry thinning his voice.
"Why? We have a flawless chain of evidence. This was the perfect chance to end her. After everything she did—the way she tried to destroy your career—you're telling me you want to go soft now?"
She looked at Joseph's tense face, and a quiet warmth rose in her chest.
He was genuinely angry for her.
"Joseph, sit down." Her tone was steady, untouched by reluctance or regret.
He pulled out a chair, eyes pinned on her, searching her face for an explanation.
"Is this pressure from the Sinclair Family? Did James try to threaten you? Because if he did, you don't need to worry. Northstar Architecture's attorneys aren't exactly pushovers in the Amber District. If he wants a fight, we can give him one."
"It's not a threat." Isabella shook her head, a faint curl of irony at her lips that hadn't fully faded.
Joseph didn't know the old grudges between the Sinclair Family and the Johnson Family. But as he watched her calm, glass-clear eyes, something clicked.
"So you agreed?"
"I did." She leaned back in her chair, her voice ringing with the cold clarity of something carved into stone.
"The other night at the club, he helped me. And I don't take advantage of anyone—not even James. I also don't want any emotional or moral strings tying him back to The Johnson Family."
"I'm settling my debt. And I'm cutting his chains for him in the process. It's a fair trade."
Joseph fell silent.
She was too rational—so rational it bordered on brutal. She could turn her own pain into currency if it meant buying herself clean freedom.
"But Isabella," he said softly, though his gaze stayed sharp, "even if you're repaying a favor, you can't let that snake walk away untouched. Not going to prison doesn't mean she gets off scot-free."
"Who said I'm letting her walk away?"
Isabella lifted a brow. A cold gleam flashed beneath her lashes, sharp enough to cut.
She straightened, sliding a draft settlement agreement across the desk.
"I dropped the criminal case. But I added one condition to the civil settlement."
Her fingertip tapped the final line. "Charlotte has to post a public apology on her main social media account. The one with millions of followers."
Joseph scanned the line, and his eyes lit with sudden approval.
"In that apology, she must admit she ordered her PR team to forge the complaints from years ago. She has to admit she bought bot accounts to spread those disgusting rumors about me."
"That apology must include a photo of her handwritten signature. And it stays pinned at the top of her page for thirty days. Comments on. No deleting."
When Isabella lifted her gaze, her voice carried a chill that could freeze a river mid-current.
"Since she is so fond of maintaining her gentle, kind socialite persona online and relishing others' compliments with that condescending attitude, I will make her tear off her own dignity layer by layer, trample it underfoot in front of everyone in Amber District and every user in the country."
To break someone completely was to destroy their spirit.
For someone like Charlotte—whose entire identity was held together by vanity and social approval—this would be a slow, public execution.
Joseph let out a breath, the tension in his shoulders easing as the curve of a smile formed.
This was the Isabella he knew. The brilliant, untouchable force who never bowed to anyone.
"Good." He stood. "I'll have Legal send this to her lawyer immediately. Not a single word is up for negotiation."
Across the city, in the luxury apartment overlooking Emerald City's Central Park, Charlotte was unraveling.
"She's insane! Completely insane!" She shrieked, grabbing a crystal ashtray and hurling it against the floor.
Glass exploded across the carpet, slicing into her pale legs. Thin lines of blood seeped out, but she didn't seem to feel the sting. She only clutched her hair with trembling fingers, spiraling into a raw, frantic rage.
"She wants me to apologize publicly? On my main account? For thirty days pinned at the top? She's trying to destroy me in front of everyone. All of high society will laugh in my face!"
"How am I supposed to show up anywhere after that? What will my friends think? My fans? I'm not signing it! I won't! I'd rather die!"
Her lawyer's voice on the phone was drained, edged with warning.
"Ms. Johnson, I need you to calm down. If you refuse to sign, Isabella's team will restart the criminal case in ten minutes."
"I already reached out to Mr. Sinclair's assistant to ask for help. He refused. They told me Mr. Sinclair has ordered that he will not intervene on your behalf—not anymore."
A weary sigh traveled through the line.
"Ms. Johnson, you've lost the Sinclair Family's protection completely. Damaged reputation is painful, but a criminal record is permanent. Once you serve time, that stain stays on your file forever. And the Johnson Family's reputation will collapse with it. You must weigh this carefully."
The call ended.
Charlotte crumpled to the floor amid the broken glass, her entire body slackening as if her spine had been removed.
There was nowhere left to run.