Chapter 5: The Price of Power
Weeks later, the estate was empty.
Sold.
Seized.
Gone.
Adrian Vale became a headline—and then a warning.
Vanessa disappeared just as quickly, her ambitions swallowed by the same world she tried to manipulate.
As for me—
I stood on the balcony of a quiet villa far from the city, the ocean stretching endlessly before me.
My scars were still healing.
But they no longer defined me.
My father joined me, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder.
“Do you regret it?” he asked.
I thought about the pain.
The betrayal.
The illusion I had once called love.
Then I shook my head.
“No,” I said.
“Because now I know the difference between being chosen… and being valued.”
The wind carried the past away with it.
May you like
And for the first time in years—
I was free.
