Chapter 4 - The Vipers' Last Stand
But a wounded predator is at its most dangerous. Celeste Vale, Adrian’s mother, was not a woman to lose her high-society status without a vicious fight.
Three days after the raid on the office, a smear campaign flooded the tabloids. Headlines screamed: “Bipolar Heiress Staged Abuse to Steal Husband’s Empire.” Doctored audio clips of me sounding confused and frantic—recordings Adrian had secretly taken while I was drugged—were leaked online. The public court of opinion began to turn. Vale-Carter’s stock began to wobble.
That evening, Celeste arrived at the mansion alone, demanding to see me. Evelyn warned me against it, but I agreed. I met her in the grand drawing room.
"You think you've won, you ungrateful little bitch?" Celeste hissed, pouring herself a drink without asking. "My family has elite blood. Your father was a glorified construction worker who got lucky in real estate. Adrian made you respectable. If you press these charges, I will release the medical records from the private clinic. I will ruin your father’s memory by revealing how he really died."
My heart froze. "What did you say about my father?"
Celeste smiled maliciously. "You think his heart attack was natural? He was under so much stress from Adrian’s financial pressure... Adrian knew exactly which buttons to push to break his weak heart. If you destroy my son, I will drag your father’s legacy through the mud until the world remembers him as a fraud and a failure."
I felt the familiar surge of panic rising in my chest—the old conditioning Adrian had beaten into me. Fragile. Unstable. Helpless.
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and remembered the taste of blood on the marble floor. The fragile girl was dead.
I opened my eyes and looked at Celeste. "You think I'm afraid of the mud, Celeste? I've been living in it for three years. But you? You’ve never had dirt on your Chanel suits."
I pulled my phone from my pocket. The screen showed a live broadcast indicator.
May you like
"I'd like you to meet my audience," I said, showing her the screen. "I started a live stream the moment you walked through the door. One hundred thousand people just heard you admit that your son intentionally harassed and stressed my father to death."
Celeste’s glass shattered on the floor.
