Chapter 21 up
“What is the meaning of all this?!”
Selina’s voice shattered the room like glass thrown against marble.
The tablet in her hand trembled violently, nearly slipping from her grip as the headline flared across the screen once again—large, merciless, impossible to deny:
DARK SCHEME BEHIND THE ATTACK ON WIBISANA GROUP: THE NAME SELINA MARCELLO EMERGES
“This is slander!” she screamed. “This is their dirty game!”
No one answered.
The small conference room—once crowded with people laughing too loudly, flattering her, competing for proximity—was now silent. Empty chairs stood in neat rows. The projector was off. There were no allies left. Not a single one.
Selina spun toward the closed door, breathing hard.
“You’re all cowards!” she shouted at the empty space, as if they were still there. “We had an agreement! You promised—!”
Her phone buzzed.
One message.
I’m sorry. I can’t be involved any further. For the safety of our business.
Another followed.
My name is too close to this now. Don’t contact me again.
Then another.
This is too big, Selina. I’m pulling out.
Her hand shook uncontrollably.
One by one, the people who had once crowned her the most influential woman in the elite circle were fleeing—running as if her name itself carried contagion.
Selina laughed.
Short. Sharp. Almost hysterical.
“Adrian Wibisana,” she muttered. “That old bastard…”
She hurled the tablet at the wall. The screen shattered, the crack echoing through the room. But the satisfaction she expected never came.
Only a vast, hollow emptiness.
Axel learned everything from his laptop screen.
He sat in his dim office, the pale glow of the monitor illuminating his drained face. Articles, leaked documents, investigative analyses opened one after another—like layers of skin being forcibly peeled from something rotten underneath.
Selina’s name appeared in every critical paragraph.
Shell companies.
Dark political funds.
Media manipulation.
Fictitious contracts.
Axel swallowed.
His fists clenched without him realizing.
“No…” he whispered.
But facts didn’t stop just because he refused to accept them.
He read further.
His own company’s name appeared—listed as a conduit, a shield, a tool.
Axel slumped back in his chair.
Everything finally aligned.
Selina’s dangerously bold ambition. Her unwavering confidence that she was always one step ahead. The way she had nudged Axel toward decisions that once felt necessary.
He remembered every whisper. Every subtle push. Every time Selina had said, Trust me.
And now he understood.
He had never been controlling the game.
He had been a pawn—used cleanly, efficiently.
Axel found Selina at her apartment that night.
The door opened after his third hard knock.
“Have you lost your mind?!” Selina snapped the moment she saw him. Her hair was disheveled, her eye makeup smeared. “Why are you here now?!”
Axel walked in without answering.
He closed the door slowly behind him. The soft click sounded like the end of something.
“Is it true?” he asked at last, his voice low, trembling with restraint. “Answer me, Selina.”
Selina laughed bitterly. “Oh, so now you believe the media?”
Axel stepped closer.
“I believe documents,” he said. “I believe signatures. I believe the money that flowed through my company.”
Selina fell silent.
For a single second.
Then she shrugged.
“Then you already know the answer.”
The words dropped easily.
Without regret.
Without defense.
Axel felt as if he’d been struck across the face.
“You used me,” he said softly, as if testing the reality of it in the air. “From the beginning.”
Selina crossed her arms.
“Did you really think I’d survive with a man who couldn’t even protect his own wife?” she shot back. “You had a name. Access. I used it. That’s all.”
Axel let out a hollow laugh.
“And you said you loved me.”
Selina scoffed. “Love?” She stepped closer, staring at him with cold eyes. “Love is a luxury for people who aren’t starving for power.”
The words cut deeper than any insult.
Axel shook his head.
“I destroyed my life by trusting you.”
Selina lifted one shoulder. “You destroyed it because you’re weak.”
Silence fell between them—thick, suffocating.
Axel looked at the woman in front of him.
He remembered how Selina had once smiled sweetly at Vanesa. How she had dismissed the quiet woman. How she had savored every small victory.
And now—
Now Selina stood alone in a luxury apartment that felt like a cage.
“Do you regret it?” Axel asked finally.
Selina was silent longer this time.
Her gaze drifted to the window, to the glittering city—the city that had once bowed to her.
“Regret?” she repeated softly.
A small smile curved her lips.
“I only regret one thing.”
Axel waited.
“I should have destroyed Vanesa faster,” she said coldly.
That was the last moment Axel saw Selina as someone who had ever mattered.
“Get out,” he said.
Selina turned. “What?”
“Get out of my life,” Axel repeated, his voice firm now. “You will not use my name again. You will not hide behind me again.”
Selina laughed loudly. “You think you still have power?”
Axel met her gaze steadily.
“No,” he said. “But I have a choice. And for the first time… I’m not choosing you.”
A few days later, everything collapsed.
Sponsors withdrew their support. Selina’s accounts were frozen. Invitations stopped arriving.
Her name was no longer spoken with admiration—but with caution.
At a small private event, Selina stood alone in a corner. Her dress was still expensive, her posture still proud, but the way people looked at her had changed.
No one approached.
No one greeted her.
Her status vanished—not because of a single scandal, but because she lost the one thing that could never be bought back: trust.
Axel read the news with mixed emotions.
There was no satisfaction.
Only exhaustion.
At last, he understood—losing Vanesa wasn’t the only price of his mistakes.
He had also lost himself… the moment he allowed someone else to define his worth.