The room felt cold despite the heat of the summer evening pressing against the windows. Cambria could feel the weight of the moment hanging in the air as she stared at the screen in front of her. Her father's name had already been dragged through the mud in the past few hours, his legacy threatened by Elena's calculated moves. But this? This was something entirely different. The video Elara had sent was not just a threat, it was a full-scale assault on everything Cambria had worked for.
Her hands shook as she held the tablet, her mind struggling to process the contents of the file. The footage wasn't just about her father's past dealings. There was more. There was a video, dark and damning, of a young Cambria's father standing side by side with none other than Elena's father.
The connection between their families had been buried long ago. Cambria had always believed her father's business practices were nothing more than driven ambition, with no dark undercurrent, no scandalous involvement with the very people who had, in her mind, been nothing but enemies. But there it was, the image of her father, in a shady business meeting, shaking hands with the man who had been Elena's greatest weapon in the fight for power.
"This isn't real," Cambria whispered to herself, as if denying the truth could somehow make it go away. She swiped the screen, her pulse quickening with each frame. But each time she looked, the same men her father and Elena's were there, together in a way that was far more personal than she could have imagined.
"Elara, what the hell is this?" Her voice was barely above a whisper, raw with disbelief.
Elara's response was calm, though her voice betrayed the anxiety she must have been feeling. "It's worse than we thought, Cambria. This isn't just about your father's old dealings. This goes back further. Elena's been holding this over you for a long time, but now, she's making her move."
Cambria's throat tightened as she stared at the men in the video. The quiet agreement, the subtle gestures of familiarity, it was all too much. The man who had raised her, the person she had idolized and depended on, was now tied to Elena's family in ways she couldn't comprehend. Her father had always been a figure of strength in her life. But now, all she could feel was the weight of betrayal.
Her fingers trembled as she clicked on the video again, trying to pause the footage, trying to make sense of the silent exchange. But Elara's words kept echoing in her mind: Elena's been holding this over you for a long time.
Cambria swiped through the video again, her chest tightening with each frame.
She needed answers. She needed to understand how deep this went and why her father had never told her about the people he had been involved with. This wasn't just a business connection, it was a partnership. And Elena had been waiting for the perfect moment to use it against her.
"Cambria," Elara's voice broke through the chaos in her mind. "I've been tracking Elena's moves. This video is about to go public. She's ready to unleash it."
Cambria's breath caught in her throat. "When?"
"Soon. The video's already circulating. We have to act fast. You can't let this go live."
Her mind raced as she realized the stakes. The empire she had worked so hard to build her father's legacy was now at risk. But more than that, it was her name that was on the line. Elena had figured out a way to tie everything back to her back to her father and now, she would use it to destroy her.
"I can't believe this," Cambria muttered, pacing back and forth in the room. The anger that had been building inside her turned into a quiet storm. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, but the fire that had once fueled her ambition now burned with a cold vengeance. How could he?
"Elara, I need everything you can get," Cambria said, her voice sharp. "I need to know what else she has. How long has she been planning this?"
"I'm working on it," Elara replied. "But Cambria, you need to understand this isn't just a business war. This is personal."
"I know," Cambria snapped. "I can see that now."
The minutes ticked by slowly as the reality of the situation sank deeper into her chest. She had always been prepared for battles. For rivals. But this? This was something entirely different. She wasn't just fighting for her business anymore. She was fighting for her name, for her family, and for everything she had worked so hard to create.
But there was one person she had to face before she could make any move. The one person who had known more about her family's past than she had realized.
Maddox.
Just as Cambria tried to steady her breathing, her phone buzzed again. This time, it was a message from Elara.
"Cambria, I've found something else. Elena's not just releasing the video to destroy your father's name. There's more in the footage. There's someone else in the background who's been working with her. Someone close to you."
Cambria's blood ran cold. "Close to me?" she whispered, the words barely leaving her lips.
"Elena's been working with someone from your inner circle, Cambria," Elara continued. "Someone who's been feeding her information. Someone who knows your every move."
Cambria's heart skipped a beat.
The pieces were starting to fall into place.
And as she stood in her penthouse, watching her empire begin to crumble, the one name that kept echoing in her mind was the one person she hadn't expected: Maddox.
"No," Cambria whispered to herself, the weight of realization crashing down on her. "It can't be. It just can't be."
But as she turned toward the door, her thoughts began to spiral.
What if she had been wrong? What if Maddox had never been on her side?
And what if, in the end, it was Maddox who had been playing her all along?