Filed to story: Watch Me Win Alpha (Olivia & Ethan)
“But those projects-the funding ties to Alpha Ethan and the
Windsor family-“
“It’s business, Gai. Due diligence dictates reassessment.” He exhaled. “We can revisit once they resolve their internal issues.
Until then, no money flows.”
Gai’s concern etched deeper. “That’s hundreds of million, nd the Hawthorne-Windsor alliance…”
Alexander glanced at him. “Their alliance is voluntary. My agreement is conditional.”
At the Windsor estate, a long dining table stretched under a crystal chandelier. Wine glasses glistened in the warm glow.
The air was thick with indulgence and ego.
Bob Hawthrone sat at the end of the table, his expression tight, jaw ticking slightly as he pushed his fork through a piece of seared salmon without taking a bite. Across from him, Amelia smiled brightly, but her eyes darted, calculating. To her left, Chole leaned close, giggling into her wine, lips stained red.
“Oh, Amelia,” Chole purred, “you should’ve seen the media today. They’re tearing Olivia apart. I almost feel sorry for her.” She let out a laugh that made even Bob twitch.
Amelia poured herself more wine, ignoring the growing frown on Bob’s face. “Feel sorry? Nonsense. That girl walked right into it. You know how long we waited for this moment? Years. Years of her playing the good girl while secretly scheming. And now?” She raised her glass. “Justice.”
Chole clinked it. “She’s nothing more than a manipulative tramp. Seduced Ethan just to get into our family, and now she cries victim?” She scoffed. “I was his fianc?e. Everyone knew it. I’ve been beside him since we were teenagers.”
Amelia laughed out loud on Chole’s statement.
“And she certainly doesn’t have the class,” Chole added with a cruel smirk. “Did you see that video from the hotel hallway? She looked like a gold-digging escort.”
The Windsor matriarch, seated beside her daughter, chimed in, voice dripping with disdain. “Our family gave her every courtesy. She turned around and humiliated us. Shameless girl.
Hasn’t her father worked at our estate for decades?”
Someone else muttered, “It’s in the blood. Her kind always wants to climb up.”
“Now she’s trying to cry foul and play victim,” another sneered. “She seduced Ethan. She destroyed this family. And she’ll pay.”
Bob stared down at his wine glass, his grip tightening. He was clearly displeased by the display, but surrounded by the gloating and malice, he held his tongue.
Across the table, Chole sipped again and leaned closer to Amelia. “When Ethan finally realizes she’s poison, he’ll come back to me fully. I’ll be his Luna. It’s what was meant to be.”
Amelia patted her hand as if in approval. “Of course. You belong at the top. Not her. Never her.”
Just then, a loud crash echoed from the grand entrancew~”.
The dining room fell silent.
Someone had kicked the double doors open.
A servant screamed in surprise. Bob and Amelia stood abruptly, chairs scraping the floor.
Chole gasped, hand flying to her mouth. “What-who is that?”
Olivia’s POV
I rushed home as soon as Reed updated me about the current scenario of Olivia’s framing. This was wrong. Not just wrong but evil. And I knew, I had to stop it. Now.
I stormed into the Windsor estate’s family room. I could hear it before I saw it-Chole’s high-pitched screech in full vitriol. Her abuses at Olivia fueled me with disgust.
“Shameless!” she screamed, pacing forward as I opened the door. The family cluster-Amelia, Bob, Madeline-froze mid-sip. Glasses tilted, expressions drawn.
Chole charged at me, eyes wild, as if I were her prize. But I didn’t meet her halfway. I raised a single hand, palm outward, and she halted about three meters off, confusion flickering in her flushed cheeks.
“You fucking stay back,” I hissed. It came out harsher than I intended.
A tumble of words rushed around me-my parents whispering, aunts gasping-but I ignored them all. I stepped right past Chole into the heart of the room, illuminating the tension like a spotlight.
“Amelia,” I snapped, voice trembling yet anchored in controlled fury, “what in God’s name made you go public with those lies against Olivia?”
Amelia, cool and composed in her tailored suit, brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. She raised a single eyebrow. “Because Chole deserves her name cleared, and… frankly, this was for the good of everyone.”
“For the good of who?” I spat. “You drag Olivia’s reputation through mud, manufacture evidence-fabricated messag staged photos-and you call it ‘for the good”?”
“Ethan,” Bob intervened softly, stepping between us. “Emotions are running high-
I cut him off. “They’ve destroyedherlife, Dad”
Madeline shot me a furious look. “Then so be it! We lost everything-respect, standing. There are whispers now. What are you going to tell your friends? What about family legacy?”
I took a breath. “I’m going to tell them the truth. She’s innocent. I married her, and I will not undo that because of your political theater!”
Silence. Chole blinked and shrunk back, even as irritation flared in her eyes.
Madeline huffed. “You’re either with us or with her. We deserve loyalty.”
I squared my shoulders. “I’m with Olivia.”
Felix-Amelia’s younger brother-stepped forward, expression taut with frustration. “Ethan, you’re making things worse, man. She’s your wife… but you don’t know what this is doing to us. It’s too late. She’s probably moved on. This may be bigger than we can repair!”‘
My breath hitched at his words. “Moved on?” I echoed. “Don you thinkIfeel that, too?”
Felix pressed on, voice low. “You’re being irresponsible. You oweallof us an explanation. You’re our blood, brother. But you run off with Olivia, leave us behind,thenlet her drag us into public scandal?”
“You thinkIdon’t know what’s on the line? You think I don’t know how this looks? She’s family-I married her; she’s been there for me when… when we needed each other most. You think I have blood on my hands?”
I felt my voice crack. “You think I wanted scandal? You think I’d choose this?”
Silence again. Even Amelia, the so-called architect of the statement, looked uneasy.
Felix’s eyes softened a fraction, but his tone stayed clipped. “Honesty, Ethan. You need to own what you’ve done-if it was a mistake, say so. But to just dig in? You’re going to lose everyone. We can’t just lose our reputation because of you.”
“I don’t care about y’all reputation,” I said quietly, voice firm despite everything. “I promised her I loved her. I mean it.”
I returned to the table, straightened my spine, and looked each of them in the eye,
“I’m not marrying Chole,” I said coldly. “But I’m still open t continuing the business partnership, as long as it remains separate from personal matters.”
The room turned ice-cold.
“What did you say?” Amelia hissed, her wine glass trembling in her fingers.
“I said what I said,” I replied, voice sharp and calm. “I’ll honor the contract-strictly on a business level.”
“Are you insane?” Madeline Windsor exploded, rising from her chair. “You disgrace Chole, humiliate our family in public, and now have the audacity to act like you’re doing us a favor?”
