He slammed the brakes, the car skidded due to the wet road and crashed into the guardrail. For a moment, everything was still. Liam's head was banging, and the ringing in his ears was deafening. He turned to Cate worried,
"Cate... are you okay?" he asked, his voice a little shaky.
She blinked, breathing hard, her face pale.
"I... I think so. But what the hell just happened? Are you okay also?"Her voice cracked, and she looked at him worried also.
Liam still couldn't make sense of what just happened when, out of nowhere, the sound of camera flashes hit him. Click. Click. Click. Then, voices—shouting, people scrambling around the crash site trying to help them and other injured people. Cate was frozen, still clutching the seat. Her eyes widened as she saw the reporters, and she tried to scramble out of the car, panic written all over her face.
"No. No, no, no," she whispered, trying to open the door.
Liam reached out, grabbing her arm.
"Cate, lets get you to the hospital."
But it was too late. The damage was done. Cameras kept flashing. Cate's hands started to shake not as a result of the accident but as a result of the several camera knowing fully well that her identity is about to be exposed.
"This isn't good. This isn't good at all," she whispered, her eyes darting around, looking for a way out.
Then it hit her. The truth. The reporters didn't just get pictures of the accident. They had caught her face too. Her worst fear. She didn't want to be exposed like this, especially when she's yet to confess to Liam.
An Hour Later… Liam was sitting in the hospital waiting area, after the injury on his arm has been treated and bandaged. His body ached from the crash. His phone ranged in his pocket, snapping him back to reality. He pulled it out to see a message from his buddy, Mark.
"Yo, dude, you're all over the news. You and Cate. There are pictures everywhere. Media's freaking out."Liam's stomach dropped.
He opened the news app, and sure enough, there they were—photos of the wreck. It was bad enough they'd crashed, but now they were the headline. His eyes narrowed as he saw the headline.
"Catherine Blake, heir to the Blake Corporation fortune, involved in car accident. Her companion's identity still unknown."Liam clenched his fists.
How did they know her name?
Obviously not reading the news fully, caught off guard at the sight of Catherine name been mentioned. Liam couldn't sit still. He paced outside Cate's room, waiting for any news. The picture of Cate's face plastered on the news felt like a slap in the face. She didn't deserve this. And now, all of it was out in the open. The quiet life she had been trying to keep was shattered. The door to Cate's room opened, and he stepped in. She looked just as lost as he felt, her eyes red from tears. When she saw him, she froze.
"Liam… I… I'm sorry. This was never supposed to happen."
Then the news popped up on again on the TV screen in the room.
HEIR TO THE BLAKE CORPORATION, Catherine Blake involved in car crash while cheating on her Fiance
Liam exhaled deeply.
"What the hell is going on, Cate? Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell me who you are?"
Cate's face crumpled, and she looked down.
"I didn't want you to see me like this. I didn't want you to know… who I really am. It's not just about me, Liam. It's my family. It's everything I've been running from."
He stepped closer, his voice shaking with frustration.
"So, what? You thought you could just hide it all forever? Keep lying to me?".
Cate backed away slightly, tears welling up in her eyes.
"It wasn't like that. I never meant to hurt you. I wanted to believe we could just... be normal, you know? But I couldn't keep pretending. I couldn't keep hiding from my past."
Liam stared at her, struggling to understand.
"But this… everything's out in the open now. The media knows. Your life is out there for everyone to see. How could you keep this from me, Cate? I trusted you."
"I know," she whispered, her voice breaking.
"I never wanted to drag you into this, Liam. I never wanted anyone to know. But Ethan... he found a way to use his sister's connections to expose me. He's the one who's been pulling the strings all along."
"Ethan?. Who is that?" He asked
" The one who called earlier, the one controlling the man you saved me from twice"
Liam's head snapped up. "Really? Ethan did this also? That bastard..."
"I couldn't stop him," Cate said, her voice barely audible.
"He knew everything. He knew about us. He knew how to make sure the media would get involved."
Liam was seething now.
"And what about me? What about us? Liam swallowed hard.
"I don't know what to believe anymore. This is all too much."
Cate didn't say anything. She just stood there, crying silently. Her whole world had come crashing down, and Liam wasn't sure where he fit into it anymore.
Later That Evening… At Liam's apartment,the silence between him and Cate was suffocating. He sat on the couch, staring out the window, while Cate paced around, her mind clearly elsewhere.
"I don't know what to do now, Liam," she said, voice strained.
Liam didn't look at her.
"I don't know either. But I know one thing… Ethan's not going to stop. He's going to keep coming for you."
Cate dropped her head into her hands.
"I never wanted any of this. I just wanted to be me—just Cate. Not some business pawn."
Liam stood up and walked over to her.
"You are you, Cate. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."
He placed a hand gently on her shoulder, his voice softening.
"But you can't keep running from this. It's going to catch up with you. And me."
Her breath hitched as she wiped her tears. "I don't know how to face it, Liam. I don't know how to face them."
Meanwhile… At Ravenshore Headquarters, Camille was going through a file of old family documents when something caught her eye. It was an old newspaper clipping from years ago—nothing special at first glance. But then she saw written in the margin: The birth of a third generation Prince, the Hartwell welcomes a baby boy. She squinted at the paper, her mind racing. A third generational prince? She flipped through the rest of the file, looking for any connection. She found another document—an old family photograph from a charity event years ago. And there it was again: a little boy sleeping peacefully on her father's lap. Her pulse quickened. No way. She flipped through a few more pages, finding a birth certificate that had her heart racing. There it was, hidden in plain sight: Leo Hartwell, listed as part of the Hartwell family.
"I have an brother that I don't know of?... a elder brother?
She rushed out with the files in her hands....
Later that evening, at her apartment. Cate's phone rang, cutting through the tension like a knife. She looked at it, her face draining of color. The name on the screen made her blood run cold.
Ethan.
Without thinking, she answered it.
"Hello, princess," Ethan's voice was smooth, dangerous.
"I see the little game's over. I know what you're up to. But it's too late now. You've already played your part. And now, everyone will know who you really are. You can't hide from me anymore."
Cate's face went white. She slammed the phone down, her body trembling.
Next Morning… Liam woke up on the couch with a pounding headache. His body was sore, and everything from last night still felt like a blur. The crash. The cameras. Cate's Identity. He sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes, went to the Cate's Apartment,
"Cate?" he called out,
No answer. He called again, no reply. He tried opening the door, it opened. Her bed visibly not slept in, Suitcase gone, Bags and boots were gone also. His heart started to race. Empty.Then he saw it. A piece of paper, folded once, sitting on the pillow. His chest tightened as he walked over and picked it up. Just a few words, written in her soft, slanted handwriting
"'Im sorry, Liam. Please don't look for me. Thank you for everything"
He stared at the note, not moving, not breathing. His heart sank like a stone. He didn't even know what to feel. Hurt. Angry. Confused. All of it.
Meanwhile… Cate sat in the backseat of a black Rolls Royce, dressed in all black. Her eyes were red from crying, she wiped the tears gathering in her eyes and became determined. Her face was cold now. Harder. Like something inside her had shut off. She stared out the window looking at familiar places, reminiscing memories with Liam.
"No more running," she whispered to herself.
She pulled out her phone and dialed the number of the secretary of her Father.
"Put me through to my father," she said.
"Tell him... I'm coming home."
Her voice didn't shake this time.
Later That Day… Her private jet waited on the tarmac. As she climbed the steps, she paused, looking back at the city behind her. The place where she had started to feel free... and where she had left a part of her heart.
"I will be back stronger," she whispered.
She clenched her fists.
"No more weakness. No more hiding. I'm taking my life back. And no one's gonna use me again."
As the jet door closed behind her, she shut her eyes, making a silent vow
"Revenge wasn't just a word anymore. It was her new beginning".