Filed to story: Billionaire Bride’s Revenge (Vera & Howard)
Public opinion online could be easily manipulated. Howard had known Lily for years and believed he understood her well. To him, she was the embodiment of purity and kindness. He scolded himself internally for doubting the woman he had loved for so long, letting the words of others cloud his judgment.
With this in mind, Howard’s tone softened.
“I don’t want to doubt you,” he said. “I just need to hear the truth from you.”
Lily pouted, throwing herself into his arms as tears spilled down her cheeks.
“Howard, you’re all I have left. If even you can’t trust me, I might as well be dead. Maybe that’s the only way to prove I’m innocent. I just… I was so furious earlier.”
She didn’t know how much of her earlier meltdown Howard had witnessed, but she couldn’t afford for him to start doubting her now. Everything she had worked for would fall apart if Howard lost faith in her.
And if she couldn’t have someone like Victor, Howard was her last lifeline.
Howard held her tightly, his voice firm. “Don’t say things like that. The truth will come out in time.”
Lily nodded eagerly, but as Howard looked away, a cold, vengeful light flickered in her eyes.
Vera. Tricia. She would make them suffer, dragging them into a nightmare from which they would never escape.
Meanwhile, in Victor’s hospital room, Vera had been by Victor’s side all afternoon, her presence steady while Annette left to handle personal errands.
With her laptop in front of her, Vera focused on sketching out a design draft, her brows furrowed in concentration. Victor, propped against the headboard, was intently reading through a stack of documents.
Then, Vera’s phone buzzed. She glanced at the caller ID, her face clouding with hesitation as she debated whether or not to answer the call.
It was Aimee calling. Vera propped the phone against her shoulder with one hand while her other hand continued to glide across the screen, sketching away.
“What’s up, Aimee?” she asked, barely breaking her focus.
Aimee’s voice erupted with energy. “Kat, you have to check out the news! The Guerrero and Montgomery families are locked in a showdown like never before. It’s getting brutal, and they won’t stop until one side is finished!” Aimee had been glued to the news all morning, unable to pull herself away. The drama hit a fever pitch when Tricia leaked an explosive audio clip, sending the story into a frenzy.
Clutching a bag of chips, Aimee had spent the afternoon absorbed in the unfolding spectacle. Realizing she couldn’t keep this to herself, she decided to call Vera and share the excitement. “Seriously, what’s the latest?” she asked.
Vera stifled a chuckle, barely managing to keep her composure. After orchestrating the stage for the two families to clash, she had largely forgotten about it. To her surprise, the drama was still unfolding.
Aimee’s voice crackled with excitement. “I can’t explain everything over the phone. You need to see it yourself. That audio clip has put Mr. Adams and you back in the spotlight.”
Vera glanced over at Victor, her expression a mix of confusion and curiosity. Her mind raced, trying to make sense of Aimee’s cryptic words.
Just then, Victor looked up. Their eyes met, and Victor saw the bewilderment in Vera’s gaze. He closed his laptop with a soft thud. “What’s up?”
Vera shook off her confusion and replied, “Nothing important.”
She turned back to the phone and said, “I’ll check out the trending news now. Talk soon.”
“Hurry up. Make sure to get some popcorn,” Aimee teased. “This is even crazier than a soap opera.”
Vera grunted in response and ended the call with a quick swipe. Stories about Tricia and Lily dominated the top trending news, but Vera noticed her and Victor’s names repeatedly tagged at the bottom.
Their news had been pushed aside before, and Vera puzzled over why it was resurfacing now. Driven by curiosity, she clicked on one of the links. The reason quickly became clear.
The audio clip released by Tricia was from a confrontation with Lily. In the recording, Lily not only admitted to staging Tricia’s supposed suicide but also claimed that Vera and Victor were behind a grand scheme. That was why their names were making headlines again.
Vera’s expression tightened with irritation, her eyes flashing with anger. Lily had spun a web of lies to drag her down. As Vera played the audio, she kept the volume up, making it easy for Victor to overhear. His attention, however, was focused on Vera, noting the irritation that flashed across her face as she furrowed her brow.
“Lily is now acting like a wild animal, biting anyone who comes near,” he remarked.
After hearing the recording, Vera came to a grim conclusion. A shadow of concern crossed Victor’s face. He tapped his fingers on the laptop and said, “The Guerrero family isn’t going to back down. This won’t end well for either of us.”
Vera sighed deeply and looked up at Victor. “I’m really sorry, Mr. Adams. It’s because of me that you’re caught up in this,” she said.
Victor’s brows furrowed as he turned to her. “Why are you apologizing to me?” Victor asked, clearly puzzled.
Vera looked up, her eyes steady. “If Lily hadn’t gone to such lengths to drag me into this, she wouldn’t have made up those stories about us being involved,” she explained. Her tone was serious, and her words were measured as she continued, “I’m afraid we can’t do anything about the news for now. The more it’s talked about, the more it will impact both the Montgomery and Guerrero families. It really hurts your reputation, though,” she added.
Vera, who had become resilient from facing her own struggles, was concerned for Victor’s innocence in all of this.
“It’s nothing to worry about. I don’t really mind,” Victor said with a relaxed smile, his voice nonchalant. “What I’m more interested in is what you plan to do next,” he added, his gaze fixed intently on her.
Vera was caught off guard by the intensity of his look.
Vera didn’t hesitate to share. “Of course, I want this fire to burn brighter,” she said. A faint smile curled on her lips. Though she looked harmless, her words suggested otherwise.
The scene was set, but the people involved weren’t delivering what she wanted. Their constant arguing was getting them nowhere. She was after something more intense.
Victor raised an eyebrow, a playful glimmer in his usually serious eyes. It was as if a spark of excitement had entered his dull routine life. And that spark was Vera.
Vera reached for her laptop again, saving the drawing she had just completed. She closed the drawing software and immediately opened another program. As she entered the password, the screen suddenly shifted to a dark red hue.
The screen was nearly consumed by this unsettling color, with thin red lines forming a frame along the edges, giving the impression of some kind of boundary. From his spot across the room, Victor couldn’t make out the exact image on the screen, but he definitely noticed the unusual color. A sharp glint flickered in his eyes.
Vera, oblivious to Victor’s reaction, focused on typing. Her slender fingers danced swiftly across the keyboard like they were performing a graceful ballet. With each keystroke, she quickly located the information she was searching for.
Both the Guerrero and Montgomery families harbored secrets so dark that they couldn’t afford to let them see the light of day. If these secrets were exposed, the fallout would be catastrophic for both sides.
Vera’s lips curled into a satisfied smile. After securing all the evidence, she drafted an email for both companies. The real game was just beginning.
Sure enough, when the Guerrero and Montgomery families opened the email, they were left stunned and speechless. This wasn’t just evidence-it was the key that could determine the victor in their fierce battle.
Once the information leaked, it wouldn’t just sway public opinion; it could bring down the rival company entirely. The Guerrero Group wasted no time in preparing to unleash the contents.
The evidence detailed years of tax evasion by the Montgomery family and the unethical methods they had used to win contracts.
Meanwhile, the Montgomery Group was already gearing up to launch a counterattack.
The Guerrero Group had once developed property where five workers lost their lives on the construction site due to substandard materials. By law, the project needed to be fixed, with all faulty materials removed and proper approval given before continuing. But the Guerrero family didn’t follow the rules. Instead, they paid to smooth over the incident, ensuring the project proceeded as if nothing had happened. Amazingly, it even performed well afterward.
As the darkest secrets of both families came to light, the internet exploded with gossip. For companies of this size, the revealed information was solid proof.
When Jeff saw what the Guerrero Group had exposed, he sat at his computer, unable to believe his eyes.
“How is this possible?” he muttered, his disbelief palpable. “I’ve kept the tax evasion hidden well. How did the Guerrero family find out?”
He slammed his fist on the desk, his voice erupting in anger.
Lily rushed into the office, startled by the noise. When she saw the fury on Jeff’s face, her heart sank.