The world was already waking up when the live broadcast aired. Agnes sat in the dimly lit apartment, staring at the screen, her heart hammering in her chest. Majek sat beside her, his fingers gripping the edge of the couch as they watched the unfolding chaos. The broadcast had begun innocently enough—Tolu introducing the facts, the evidence they had painstakingly gathered.
But as the live broadcast rolled on, it quickly turned into a storm of accusations, political drama, and personal revelations.
"Breaking News: SMG Conglomerate Scandal of the Century Unfolds. Political Corruption, Money Laundering, and Family Betrayal."
The visuals were gut-wrenching—images of her father standing proudly in front of the company's logo, his smiling face now juxtaposed with explosive headlines. And then, a series of clips—whistleblowers, anonymous insiders from SMG, revealing the depth of the corruption.
Agnes's chest tightened. This was it. The truth was out there now. Her father couldn't hide it anymore. But as the broadcast continued, she could feel the weight of what they had done crushing her. The world knew now, and there was no going back.
Majek squeezed her hand, his voice low, but steady. "It's done. We've done what we needed to."
Agnes nodded, though the words felt hollow in her mouth. She had fought for this moment, but now that it was here, she felt exposed. Vulnerable. The entire world was watching, and everything she had ever known—her family, her father's legacy—was crumbling in real-time.
The phone rang.
Her father.
She didn't need to answer it. The fact that it was ringing at all felt like an affront. She had expected the call, but nothing could prepare her for the gut-wrenching moment when it came.
The screen flashed again. The broadcast was now showing angry protests outside SMG's headquarters, crowds of people shouting for justice. The ripple effects were immediate, and already, the company was being forced to take a public stance. But Agnes knew the storm had only just begun.
And then, the headlines flashed once again—her face, now synonymous with the scandal.
"Agnes Lewis: The Heir Who Destroyed Her Father's Empire"
The Fallout
It didn't take long for the first threats to come through—disguised as anonymous phone calls and emails.
"I know where you live," one said. "You can't hide forever, Agnes. Your father will make sure of that."
Another was more direct: "Your blood is tainted, Agnes. You are nothing but a traitor. The world will turn on you soon enough."
Majek watched her closely, sensing the shift in her demeanor. The weight of the decision was taking its toll on her, and he knew it. It wasn't just the world coming for her. It was also the guilt, the pain of severing ties with her own flesh and blood.
"Don't let it get to you," Majek said, his tone gentle but firm. "We knew this would happen. They're scared. But we have to keep moving forward."
Agnes didn't look at him, her gaze fixed on the phone in her lap. "It doesn't matter how many times I tell myself it's the right thing to do. The truth is, I feel like I'm losing myself. I'm losing my family, my life. And for what?"
"For the future," Majek replied quietly. "For a chance at something better. For us."
She turned to face him, her eyes wide with a mixture of confusion and longing. "But at what cost? Look at what we've done. Look at what we've exposed. There's no going back from this. I can't even go back to my own life without people throwing stones at me."
The pain in her voice struck him hard, and Majek reached for her hand, his thumb brushing over her knuckles as though he could smooth away the hurt. "You're not alone in this. We're in this together, remember?"
Agnes shook her head, a bitter laugh escaping her lips. "Together. But how? How can we possibly be together after all this? After everything that's happened?"
The Strain
The days that followed were a blur of chaos. News outlets tried to paint her as a villain, a misguided daughter who had torn apart her father's legacy out of spite and jealousy.
Agnes had spent years in her father's shadow, always trying to earn his approval. And now, with the world turning on her, it was hard to tell where the pain of his betrayal ended and her own guilt began. Could she really live with the consequences of her actions?
But what cut the deepest was the tension between her and Majek.
Though they were fighting the same battle, the weight of their choices was pushing them in different directions. Majek was resolute, certain that exposing the truth was the right path. But Agnes felt herself pulling away, haunted by the remnants of her old life. She didn't know who she was anymore—was she the heir to an empire that had crumbled? Or was she someone who had destroyed it?
One evening, as they sat together on the couch, Agnes broke the silence. "Majek... do you think we did the right thing?"
He looked at her, his expression a mixture of frustration and understanding. "I don't know what's right anymore, Agnes. All I know is that we had to do something. We couldn't stay silent while people were getting hurt. But..."
Her eyes widened. "But?"
"But I feel like we're drifting apart," he confessed. "Like... like the more we expose the truth, the more we lose each other. I don't know if I'm losing you because of this, or if you were never really here with me."
Her breath caught in her throat. "What are you saying, Majek?"
"I'm saying that I can't do this alone. But I also can't be the only one holding it all together. You're pulling away from me, Agnes. And I don't know how to fix it."
The silence that followed was suffocating. Agnes swallowed hard, feeling as though the walls were closing in around her. She loved Majek. She always had. But the weight of everything—the pressure from her father, the betrayal, the very real fear that the world was turning on her—was threatening to break her.
"I'm not pulling away from you," she whispered, voice thick with emotion. "I'm pulling away from everything I thought I knew. I don't know who I am without all of this. I don't know how to reconcile the person I was with the person I'm becoming."
Majek's face softened, and he leaned in, gently brushing a strand of hair away from her face. "We'll figure it out. Together."
But even as he spoke those words, Agnes felt the distance between them grow. It wasn't that she didn't love him—it was that the world they had set in motion was so much bigger than both of them. And in this storm, she wasn't sure if they would survive it together.
The Turning Point
The tension between them simmered over the following days, reaching a breaking point as they prepared for the next phase of their plan. Agnes could feel the divide growing, a chasm between what she had to do and what she wanted to do.
The final phase of the campaign was set to take place within the next week—an exposé that would reveal every last secret her father had buried over the years. It was risky, but it was their last chance to completely dismantle the empire.
Majek wanted to go all in. But Agnes wasn't sure she could.