Chapter 27 Discovering Evidence
"What you've done?" Eva's voice hardened. "You mean drugging me? Destroying my reputation? Sleeping with my husband?"
"Among other things." Reena smiled. "But those were just the beginning. You have no idea how long I've waited for this moment."
"Then enlighten me."
Reena stopped just inches from Eva, the air thick with tension. Eva smelled Reena's strong, expensive perfume, and a shiver ran down her spine.
"You want to know why I hate you?" Reena's voice dropped to a whisper. "Because you had everything I deserved. The loving father. The family name. The inheritance. While I was hidden away like a dirty secret, you were living my life."
"I didn't even know you existed."
"Exactly!" Reena's composure cracked, her hands balling into fists as rage flashed in her eyes.
Her voice trembled with pain and fury. "You didn't know because our father chose you. He chose your mother, your family, your precious, perfect existence. And he threw me away like garbage."
Eva looked at her half-sister and, for the first time, saw the hurt, desperate child behind the mask of anger. Guilt twisted in her chest.
Reena grew up in an unhappy home. She remembered sitting behind the kitchen door as a little girl, listening to her mother complain about how unfair life was, with the smell of cigarette smoke and spilled gin in the air.
Her mother lied to her and used her to hurt people, whispering hateful things about the family she could never have.
From the start, Reena never really had a chance to be different.
For a moment, Eva almost felt sorry for her, a wave of sadness and unwilling sympathy tightening inside.
But then Eva pictured Lily lying pale in the hospital bed, remembered the years of abuse, and the humiliation of the video that ruined her reputation. Any pity she felt disappeared.
"You could have come to me," Eva said quietly. "When you found out the truth, you could have told me. Things would have been different. Maybe we could have been sisters."
"Sisters?" Reena laughed bitterly. "You really think we can stay as sisters? If you knew the truth, you would have looked at me with that same pitying expression you're wearing right now. 'Oh, poor Reena. The unwanted bastard child born with the same blood."
"No, that's not—"
"Don't lie to me!" Reena's voice rose sharply. "I know what I am. I know what I've always been. And I have already decided a long time ago that if I couldn't have your life, I would destroy it."
Eva's heart pounded, but she kept her expression calm.
Adrian's words echoed in her mind: Just buy as much time as you can.
She told herself to keep talking and keep Reena distracted. She needed to buy more time.
"So what now?" Eva asked. "You've already leaked the video. You've turned my husband against me. What's your endgame, Reena?"
Reena smiled again, but this time it was cold.
"My endgame?" She stepped back, spreading her arms. "I'm going to take everything, Eva. Everything you care about, no matter what."
Eva's blood ran cold. "You stay away from my children and my father."
"Or what?" Reena tilted her head mockingly. "You think you can stop me? You, who couldn't even keep your husband faithful? You, who spent seven years being treated like a doormat? You'll stop me?"
"I'm not that woman anymore. I'll protect my family." Even as she said it, Eva felt a wave of calm and purpose settle over her, grounding her after so many years lost.
Only a few months ago, she would have frozen, desperate for someone else to intervene or make things right.
Now she stood her ground, fully aware of the cost, her hands shaking a little, but her heart steady, finally ready to pay it for those she loved.
"Oh!" Reena moved closer again, her voice dropping to a venomous whisper. "Then why are you here alone, begging to make a deal? Why aren't you fighting back?"
Eva looked back at her without flinching.
A slow, confident smile appeared on her face. "Who said I was alone?"
Reena's smile faltered.
And then, from somewhere deep in the penthouse, came the sound of a door opening.
Reena's expression shifted from confidence to confusion to fury in the span of a heartbeat.
"What was that? Who did you bring?"
Eva didn't answer. She didn't need to.
The plan worked.
While Eva kept Reena busy in the living room, Adrian's team came in through the back door. They had a clear goal: in fifteen minutes, they needed to find the safe hidden in the penthouse, open it, and get the files inside.
Eva made sure to keep talking with Reena, making every minute count so the team had enough time to finish their job.
From the sounds coming from the bedroom, it seemed they had found what they were looking for.
Reena's eyes grew wide as she realized what was happening.
"You—" She lunged toward the hallway. "Guards! GUARDS!"
But no one came.
Adrian's team had already taken care of them.
Reena turned back to face Eva, her pretty face red with fury, lips curled, and whole body tense with rage. "What do you think you're doing? You think you're clever? You think this changes anything?"
"Yes, I think it changes everything." Eva's voice was steady, though her heart raced. "Whatever evidence you have—whatever leverage you've been holding—they are in my hands now. It's over for you."
"Over?" Reena laughed wildly. "Nothing is over! Do you think that is all I have? I have backups. Do you really think I'd keep everything in one place?"
"Maybe not everything." A new voice cut through the chaos. "But what we got in our hands is enough."
Both women turned.
Adrian stepped into the living room, flanked by two of his security team. In his hands was a thick folder bulging with documents and a small hard drive that glinted under the penthouse lights.
"We have everything we need, even more. The blackmail files on at least a dozen prominent figures." Adrian's voice was ice cold. "Including detailed evidence of your conspiracy with Helena Park to defraud the Fransis family."