Chapter 55: A Definitive Sentence

"Sir, where are you going? We have an urgent meeting," Clarisa tried to stop him, running after him down the hallway.

Ethan did not even hear her. He moved forward with firm steps, his fists clenched and his brow furrowed. Rage blinded him. He could not think clearly after what had just happened in his office: Pamela, Miranda, the shouting. Everything swirled together in his head.

"Sir! Sir!" Clarisa insisted, but he kept going, without turning around.

At that moment, Ainara stepped out of her office, impeccable as always, wearing a white dress that highlighted her bronzed skin.

She smiled smugly, crossing her arms.

"Let him go, Clarisa." Her voice sounded soft, almost mocking. "It’s none of your concern if he doesn’t attend the meeting. That’s what Liam, the deputy manager of the company, is for."

Clarisa turned toward her, confused.

"Ma’am… the issue is that Mr. Rhodes has pending matters with the Singapore partners. If he doesn’t sign today, we could lose the contract."

Ainara extended her hand to take the documents.

"Perfect. Give them to me. We’ll take care of it."

Clarisa obeyed, somewhat fearful.

"In that case," Ainara said as she leafed through the folders, "hand all the pending matters over to me. I’ll handle everything."

"All right, ma’am." Clarisa hesitated for a moment.

"And how is your mother, Clarisa? Did she finally have the operation she was waiting for?"

Ainara lifted her gaze, smiling with false sweetness.

"Yes, ma’am. She already had the surgery. Thank you very much for asking. And thank you as well for your help. Without you, none of this would have been possible."

Clarisa smiled, a little nervous.

"It was nothing, Clarisa."

"Honestly… you were very kind. Mr. Rhodes never wanted to approve the loan for me. But thanks to you, my mother was able to undergo the procedure. You can count on me for whatever you need."

Ainara returned a cold smile.

"How thoughtful of you, dear. Go back to your desk… or better yet, since Mr. Rhodes isn’t here, take the day off. Go see your mother."

"Really?" Clarisa asked, surprised.

"Of course. You deserve it."

Clarisa nodded, thrilled, and walked away, failing to notice the satisfied look Ainara cast at her back.

As soon as the elevator doors closed, the woman turned down the opposite hallway and walked straight toward Liam’s office.

She knocked once, but did not wait for an answer. She went in.

"Shit!" Liam shouted, startled. "You could at least warn me, cousin!"

"What are you doing?" she asked, frowning.

"Gambling." He clumsily closed the browser window. "It was an important game."

"Online poker, Liam? In the middle of a corporate crisis?" Ainara let out a dry laugh. "Sometimes I forget how useless you can be."

He leaned back in his chair, lighting a cigarette with disdain.

"And what’s eating at you today?"

Ainara threw a stack of documents onto his desk.

"This. Ethan’s contracts with Singapore. If we cancel them, Venus’s signature becomes meaningless."

Liam raised an eyebrow, surprised.

"Cancel them? That would be… corporate suicide."

"Exactly." She smiled maliciously. "Call the representatives immediately. Cancel the meetings. Postpone the payments. If they demand compensation, promise a review of the clauses and then disappear from the agenda."

"I’m impressed by your level of evil. You’re incredible!" he said, taking a drag from his cigarette. "But tell me something, Ainara… why are you so determined to destroy Venus?"

Ainara leaned over the desk, lowering her voice.

"Because I’m tired, Liam. Tired of Elena controlling my life as if it were hers. Always imposing her authority, as if she were the only legitimate Rhodes."

He watched her closely.

"But… isn’t she? Aunt Elena is a wonderful person."

Ainara let out a bitter laugh.

"A wonderful person, you say?" she repeated with irony. "That woman never accepted that my father had another woman while they were married. And much less that that woman gave him a daughter. A damned forbidden fruit."

Liam froze.

"What are you saying?"

Ainara straightened up, looking at him coldly.

"Yes, Liam. I am not Elena Rhodes’s daughter."

His eyes widened, incredulous.

"Then… who is your mother?"

"The maid," she replied without blinking. "My father loved her, even though he never admitted it. Elena found out, and from then on she hated me. She never recognized me as part of her family."

Liam ran a hand over his face, processing the revelation.

"That… that’s serious, Ainara."

"What was serious was living all these years watching her enjoy power, while everyone looked at me like a bastard." Her voice cracked for an instant, but then hardened again. "My father promised me I would have what was mine, but Elena convinced him to change his will. He left everything to Ethan."

Liam let out a low whistle.

"So this isn’t just revenge. It’s justice."

"Exactly." She smiled. "I faked my pregnancy so she wouldn’t suspect anything. I know that sooner or later she’ll discover the truth, but by then… all the money will already be in my hands."

Liam looked at her with a mix of admiration and fear.

"You’re insane, Ainara. But a beautiful kind of insane."

She laughed softly.

"Don’t be ridiculous. All I need is time. Pamela is doing her part: keeping Ethan distracted, breaking him from the inside. And when he falls, no one will suspect us, and with Elena dying, everything is going exactly as planned."

Liam stubbed out his cigarette and stood up. He walked to the minibar and poured two glasses of whisky.

"You’re impressive, cousin. But this is risky. If Ethan realizes what’s going on, he’ll put you in jail."

Ainara took the glass without hesitation.

"That’s why we’ll leave before he takes control." She took a sip. "The idiot is so blinded by that whore that he doesn’t even notice what’s happening around him."

Liam laughed.

"And Pamela, what role does she play now?"

"She knows exactly what to do," Ainara replied, going back to the documents. "She’s pushing Ethan to the limit. The more he loses control, the easier it will be to justify his removal from the company."

At that moment, the door flew open.

Pamela walked in without knocking, her hair loose, her lips painted red, and a twisted smile on her face.

"My part is almost done," she announced, dropping her purse on the table. "Ethan and that little whore are no longer together."

Liam raised his eyebrows.

"So fast?"

"It didn’t cost me a thing," she replied mockingly. "Amber’s little friend took care of everything. She caught me in his office, without clothes. She ran off to tell the wife. The scene turned out perfectly—I still can’t believe it."

Ainara let out a triumphant laugh.

"So… it’s done!"

"Exactly," Pamela replied, taking the glass Liam offered her. "Now all that’s left is for him to completely fall apart. And he will. I know him far too well."

"Let’s toast, then," Liam said, raising his glass.

"To the fall of an empire," Ainara added with a blood-chilling smile.

"And to the ruin of a man who thought he had everything," Pamela finished, clinking her glass with theirs.

Liam returned to his desk, turned on the computer, and opened the corporate accounts.

"I’m going to make some small transfers," he said, typing quickly. "Daily movements, without raising suspicion."

"Perfect," Ainara said. "Remember, everything has to look like part of the normal flow."

"Relax." Liam smiled cynically. "No one checks small amounts."

Pamela leaned back on the sofa, watching them with delight.

"And then what?"

"Then," Ainara replied, "we disappear. Ethan will be left with his image destroyed and the company in ruins. Elena, weakened, won’t be able to intervene."

"And Amber?" Pamela asked with feigned interest.

"Amber is collateral damage," Ainara replied without blinking. "I don’t care what happens to her. That bitch has marital clauses. I managed to find out what Elena offered her. She’s not a threat—she must be crying, ready to ask my little brother for a divorce."

Pamela watched her with a crooked smile.

"You have a colder heart than mine, and that’s saying something."

"Don’t confuse coldness with determination," Ainara corrected. "I don’t kill for pleasure. I only eliminate obstacles."

"That’s what everyone says before doing it," Pamela laughed, raising her glass.

Liam watched them, amused.

"You know, if I didn’t know you, I’d say you’re two witches conspiring for pleasure."

"We’re not witches, Liam," Ainara corrected, setting her empty glass on the desk. "We’re the ghosts who come to collect what was stolen from us."

A heavy silence settled over the office. Only Liam’s typing and the distant sound of traffic could be heard.

Pamela stood up, walked to the window, and watched the city’s reflection in the glass.

"You know what the best part of all this is?" she asked with a twisted smile. "He’s going to come looking for me. He can’t stand loneliness. Sooner or later, he’ll come back to me. And when he does, he’ll have nothing left."

Ainara glanced at her sideways.

"Don’t fool yourself, Pamela. Ethan doesn’t love you. He uses you—that’s different. You should learn to tell the difference. The fact that you gave him sex when he was just a young boy doesn’t give you any rights over him."

"Maybe," she admitted. "But as long as he uses me, he’ll keep falling."

Liam burst out laughing.

"God… you’re crazy. But I love watching you work."

"Shut up and keep making your transfers," Ainara ordered. "I want the balance sheet to show losses by the end of the month."

"On it, boss."

She walked toward the door, stopping for a moment before leaving.

"Remember, Liam: no one can know anything. If something leaks, you’ll be the first to fall."

"Relax, cousin. I don’t plan to die for an idiot like Ethan."

Ainara watched him in silence and then left the office.

Pamela stayed a moment longer, playing with the rim of her glass, smiling faintly.

"He’s going to pay, Ainara," she murmured when the door closed. "I swear it on my life."

That same night, as the lights of the building went out one by one, Liam finished the last transfer and closed his laptop.

On the screen, the total amount diverted had reached a figure no one could ignore if it were ever discovered.

He smiled with satisfaction.

"See you tomorrow, Venus," he whispered, turning off the monitor.