Nancy couldn't sleep.
Even after finding out Lily may have been behind the leak, the wound was fresh. Her reputation was bleeding. Her company, already losing a major client. Her name, now tangled with scandal.
But this time, she wouldn't cry.
She'd fight.
---
Monday – Carter & Co. HQ
Nancy called an emergency meeting. The office was tense, but her voice was clear.
"We're not running," she said. "This firm was built on truth, strategy, and resilience. Someone tried to take that from us. Now we show them who we are."
Mia raised a brow. "You thinking what I think?"
Nancy smirked. "Time to flip the narrative."
They launched a counter-campaign that morning: a video of Nancy telling her truth—no filters, no fluff. She admitted the contract, explained how she found her own strength through it, and called out toxic power games in corporate politics.
It was raw. Brave. And it worked.
The public responded.
Not with shame.
But respect.
---
Meanwhile – Blackwood Tower
Adrian stared at the screen as Nancy's video went viral. It was everything he'd always admired about her—fierce, vulnerable, real.
And now he had a mission too.
He pulled up Lily's old contact files, something that had bothered him ever since the leak.
Then he found it. A deleted message thread from weeks ago—her manager contacting a scandal blog, offering "exclusive details" in exchange for publicity for Lily's upcoming film.
His blood ran cold.
Lily hadn't just leaked their private documents.
She'd sold them.
---
That Evening – Private Event, Downtown
Nancy walked in wearing war paint in the form of a black velvet gown and unapologetic confidence.
She didn't expect to see her there.
Lily.
Smiling. Camera-ready. Acting like she hadn't burned everything behind her.
Nancy approached her with slow, graceful steps.
"Funny," Nancy said coolly. "I didn't know jealousy had a dress code."
Lily's smile twitched. "Still bitter, Nancy? You were just a pause in his story. A favor to his grandmother."
Nancy leaned in close. "And you were the reason he realized love isn't selfish."
Lily blinked.
"You lost him when you left," Nancy continued. "I didn't steal him. He gave himself away."
Then she walked off—leaving Lily standing in her own silence.
---
Later That Night – Nancy's Apartment
Adrian waited at her door, holding a flash drive.
"Proof," he said quietly when she opened the door. "Lily leaked everything. I have the logs."
Nancy looked at him, then the drive. Then him again.
And she didn't cry. She didn't fall apart.
She just opened the door wider and said, "Come in. Let's burn her down together."