Chapter 5: The Fall of the House
By morning, the headlines were everywhere.
Fraud.
Corruption.
Investigation.
My father’s empire collapsed faster than I had predicted.
Accounts frozen. Assets seized. Partners vanished.
And Isabella?
Her golden world cracked under the weight of truth.
She found me in the empty ballroom, hours after the guests had fled.
“Why?” she asked, her voice trembling.
For a moment, I studied her.
She had never hurt me directly.
But she had never stopped them either.
“You had everything,” she whispered.
“No,” I replied calmly.
“You had everything.”
Silence fell between us.
And in that silence, something unexpected happened.
She broke.
Not in anger.
May you like
Not in pride.
But in understanding.
