Chapter 211

Chapter 211


The following days blurred into a whirlwind of meetings, strategy calls, and interviews carefully dodged. Liam barely left the penthouse. I barely slept.

And Ryan?

He was starting to notice the cracks.

He asked me that morning why people were whispering at school. Why his teacher looked nervous when Liam dropped him off.

I lied—told him it was because he was special.

He smiled, not knowing the weight of that word in our world.

Special meant exposed. Targeted.

A pawn.

By afternoon, Gabrielle had scheduled a quiet meeting at a secure location with someone who claimed they had information on Peris and Maeve’s next move.

“It’s risky,” Liam had warned, pulling me aside. “This could be a trap.”

I met his gaze. “Then let it be a trap. I want to know who’s pulling Maeve’s strings.”

And deep down, I knew.

It was never just Maeve.

She didn’t move without backing—financial or strategic. She wasn’t smart enough to orchestrate all this herself.

Someone with influence was helping her.

Someone who knew how to dig deep—and hit where it hurt most.

Liam sent one of his most trusted security men, Caleb, with me. The meeting was at a private apartment downtown, quiet and nondescript. I wore a hoodie, no makeup, and pulled my hair into a cap.

The man waiting for us was already inside.

He was older—maybe late fifties—with a scar just above his brow and an accent I couldn’t place.

He introduced himself only as “Michael.”

“Let me guess,” I said. “You used to work for Peris?”

“Used to,” he replied. “Until I realized the man was a snake. And snakes turn on their own.”

I folded my arms. “What do you have?”

He opened a laptop and turned it toward me. A grainy surveillance video began playing.

It showed Maeve and Peris meeting in what looked like a high-end hotel lounge. She was handing him something—a brown leather folder.

“What’s in that?” I asked.

“Custody documents. Bribery receipts. Old NDAs. Stuff tying Liam’s father to a quiet cover-up involving Evelyn’s hospital records.”

My breath hitched. “Evelyn?”

Michael nodded. “Peris knew your twin. Worked with her boss briefly. Let’s just say her pregnancy wasn’t the only secret being silenced.”

“What are you saying?”

He zoomed in on the folder. “I’m saying Peris and Maeve have been building a legal bomb. Not just for you and Liam. But for Evelyn. Avery. Your whole family.”

My head was spinning.

He slid over a USB. “Take it. But be smart. The moment you use this, they’ll know it came from an insider.”

I stared at the drive.

Proof.

But dangerous proof.

—

Back at the penthouse, I filled Liam in.

He was pacing again, his tie loosened, sleeves rolled up. “They’re going nuclear.”

I nodded. “And they’re going after Evelyn’s records too.”

“Why?”

“Because if they expose that Evelyn was under psychological evaluation post-pregnancy, they can claim I’m mentally unstable too. Try to undermine me as a mother.”

Liam swore. “They’re trying to get Ryan removed from both of us.”

I clenched my fists. “Unless we act first.”

Liam stared at the USB. “We go public with this, we risk dragging more names into it. Evelyn, Avery, even your mother’s history with Rockwell Industries. They’ll twist everything.”

“What if we don’t go public?” I whispered. “What if we use it another way?”

He looked at me.

And I saw it click.

Blackmail.

“I hate it,” he muttered. “But I’ll do anything to protect you both.”

His phone buzzed just then. A private line.

Liam glanced at the screen—and his face hardened. “It’s my father again.”

“Answer it.”

He picked up. “What do you want now?”

Victor Rockwell’s voice boomed through the speaker. “Your little PR stunt didn’t fix anything. The board is restless. Investors are pulling out. And now there’s talk about Evelyn Lockhart and falsified hospital records.”

Liam’s face turned to stone. “You’re the one who ordered that cover-up. Don’t pretend your hands are clean.”

Victor paused. “I did what was necessary to keep this family’s reputation intact.”

“At the cost of truth?”

“At the cost of chaos,” Victor snapped. “Your little affair has become a wildfire.”

“She’s not an affair. She’s the mother of my child. And I will never abandon her.”

There was a beat of silence.

Then Victor said, “Then you leave me no choice.”

Click.

The call ended.

Liam turned to me, voice grim. “He’s going to call an emergency board meeting. Try to vote me out.”

My stomach twisted. “Can he?”

“Not easily. But if Maeve or Peris shows up with that file… they might have enough scandal to sway the vote.”

I stepped closer. “Then we beat them there.”

He looked at me. “What do you mean?”

“We go to the board first.”

“Christabel…”

“We show them our narrative. Not the salacious version. The truth. We tell them I’m not your scandal. I’m your strategy. I’ve worked with you. I know the company inside out.”

He stared at me, his eyes searching. “They won’t listen.”

“Maybe not all of them. But some will. Enough to fracture the vote.”

Liam’s eyes burned with new fire. “You’d do that?”

“I’ll do anything to keep our family safe. Even stand in that boardroom and face your father myself.”

He reached out and took my hand. “You’re not alone.”

“No,” I said softly. “We do this together.”

He pulled me into him, kissing my forehead. “Then we prepare for war.”

And this time, we wouldn’t just defend ourselves.

We’d fight to win.