Valeria's POV
My phone wouldn't stop buzzing.
I stared at it on the breakfast table, watching notification after notification light up the screen. Twenty messages. Fifty. A hundred.
"Don't look at it," Sienna warned, sipping her coffee across from me. "Trust me. You don't want to see what they're saying yet."
But I couldn't help myself. I grabbed the phone.
The first headline made my breath catch:
BREAKING: Kane Rowe's Ex-Wife Revealed as Arden Heiress
Below it, photos. Me leaving the hotel last night. Me entering the estate. Old pictures from before my marriage, when I still attended family events.
"How did they get these so fast?" I whispered.
"Your mother works fast." Sienna smirked. "She made some calls this morning. By noon, every news outlet in the city knew. By dinner, the whole country will know."
I scrolled through more headlines:
The Billionaire's Secret: How Valeria Arden Hid Her Identity for Love
Kane Rowe's Biggest Mistake: Divorcing an Arden
From Coffee Shop Worker to Corporate Princess: The Valeria Arden Story
Each one felt like being stripped naked in public. Everyone now knew my private shame. My failed marriage. My stupidity.
"They're calling me a princess," I said, my voice flat.
"Better than what they're calling Kane." Sienna turned her laptop toward me.
Social media had exploded. Thousands of posts. Millions of views.
Can you imagine throwing away an ARDEN? Kane Rowe is officially the dumbest man alive.
Plot twist of the century! She was serving him coffee while being richer than his whole bloodline!
Poor little rich girl thought love was real. Girl, get your money and run!
Some posts were sympathetic. Most were brutal. All of them felt invasive.
My phone rang. Unknown number. I answered without thinking.
"Valeria Arden?" a woman's voice asked professionally. "This is Jennifer Hart from Channel 7 News. We'd love to interview you about—"
I hung up.
It rang again immediately. Different number.
"Miss Arden, this is Timothy Ross from the Daily Observer—"
Hung up.
Again. And again. And again.
"Make it stop," I begged Sienna.
She took my phone and turned it off. "Done. But Val, you need to understand. This is just the beginning. By tomorrow, everyone will want a piece of you."
"I don't want this. I never wanted attention."
"Too late." She squeezed my hand. "You're an Arden. Attention comes with the name."
The conference room doors burst open. Noah rushed in, his laptop under his arm, grinning like a kid on Christmas morning.
"You guys need to see this!" He set up his computer and pulled up a video. "Kane's office got swarmed by reporters an hour ago."
He pressed play.
The video showed Kane's building surrounded by news vans. Reporters shouted questions as Kane tried to push through the crowd.
"Mr. Rowe! Is it true your ex-wife is Valeria Arden?"
"Kane! Did you know about her family?"
"How does it feel knowing you divorced a billionaire?"
Kane's face was red, his expression twisted with rage and panic. "No comment. I have no comment!"
"Is it true she supported you financially during your marriage?"
"Did you cheat on her with Sarah Brent?"
Kane shoved a camera away. "Get out of my face!"
He disappeared into the building. The video ended.
"It gets better," Noah said, pulling up another screen. "His business partners are jumping ship. Three major investors pulled out this morning. His stocks are tanking. And Elias Ward? He just released a statement distancing himself from Kane entirely."
"Elias abandoned him?" I felt a strange twist in my stomach. Not quite satisfaction. Not quite pity.
"Like rats fleeing a sinking ship." Noah showed me the statement. "Listen to this: 'I had no knowledge of Mr. Rowe's personal deceptions. Our business partnership is under review.' Translation: he's throwing Kane under the bus to save himself."
Lucien entered the room, phone pressed to his ear. "Yes, I understand. Triple it." He hung up and looked at me. "That was our legal team. Kane's lawyers are trying to freeze the divorce proceedings."
"What? Why?"
"Because now he knows what you're worth." Lucien's smile was sharp. "He wants to claim you owe him compensation for emotional distress."
I laughed. Actually laughed. It came out slightly hysterical. "Emotional distress? He cheated on me!"
"Doesn't matter. He's desperate. Broke. And now he's realized his meal ticket just walked away." Lucien sat down. "Don't worry. Our lawyers will crush him. But Val, you need to prepare yourself. Kane is going to fight dirty."
My phone—still off—sat on the table. I could imagine it filling with more messages. More calls. More people wanting pieces of me.
"What about Sarah?" I asked. "What's she saying?"
Noah pulled up her social media. "She went private this morning. But before she did, people got screenshots."
He showed me her last public post from yesterday. A photo of her and Kane at some fancy restaurant. The caption read:
Sometimes the universe gives you exactly what you deserve. #Blessed #NewBeginnings
The comments below were savage now.
This aged like milk.
Girl, you stole a broke man from a billionaire. Congratulations on your downgrade!
Imagine being the other woman and the other woman is richer than you'll ever be. The math ain't mathing.
"She's been silent since the news broke," Noah said. "No posts. No comments. Nothing."
"She's scared," Sienna observed. "Good. She should be."
My mother swept into the room, elegant and composed. "Valeria, darling. We need to discuss your appearance at the gala tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" My stomach dropped. "I thought we had three days."
"We moved it up. The news created the perfect opportunity." She sat beside me. "Everyone will be watching. Expecting. We need to show them strength."
"Mom, I don't know if I'm ready—"
"You're ready." Her voice was gentle but firm. "You've been ready your whole life. You just forgot for a while."
A knock at the door. Grant entered, his expression grim.
"We have a situation."
Lucien stood immediately. "What kind of situation?"
"Sarah Brent just arrived at the front gate. She's asking to speak with Valeria. Alone."
The room went silent.
"Absolutely not," Damon's voice came from the doorway. I hadn't even heard him enter. "It's obviously a trap."
"Or she's panicking," Ivy suggested. She had been so quiet I forgot she was there. "The pressure is getting to her. She might be ready to crack."
"Either way, I'm not seeing her," I said firmly.
"Actually," Lucien said slowly, "maybe you should."
Everyone turned to stare at him.
"Hear me out. We have her on our property. Our security. Our terms." He looked at me. "What if she knows something about the threats? About who's really behind all this?"
"Or she could be working with them," Grant countered.
"Then we record everything. Video. Audio. Legal witnesses present." Lucien's eyes gleamed. "If she slips up, we have her."
My heart pounded. Face Sarah? The woman who destroyed my marriage?
"I'll do it," I heard myself say.
"Val—" Sienna started.
"No. He's right. If she knows something, I need to hear it." I stood up, surprised by how steady my legs felt. "But I want all of you watching. And if she tries anything—"
"We'll be there in seconds," Damon promised. His eyes met mine. "You're not alone in this."
I nodded.
Ten minutes later, I sat in the main parlor. Cameras hidden in corners. Grant and Damon positioned just outside the doors. My family watching on monitors in the next room.
The doors opened.
Sarah walked in, and I barely recognized her.
Gone was the confident woman from the hotel. This Sarah had dark circles under her eyes. Her hands shook slightly. Her perfect hair was pulled back messily.
"Valeria," she said, her voice cracking. "Thank you for seeing me."
"You have five minutes."
She sat down across from me, wringing her hands. "I know you hate me. You should. But I need to tell you something. Something important."
"Then talk."
She took a shaky breath. "Kane and I... we're in danger. Real danger. The people I borrowed money from, the ones I introduced to Kane... they're not just business people."
"I already know about the criminals."
Her eyes widened. "Then you know we're dead if we don't pay them back. And now, with the news about you being an Arden, they think Kane has been hiding money. They think he can pay them."
"That's not my problem."
"It will be!" She leaned forward desperately. "They know you were his wife. They know about the divorce. They think you have information about where Kane's assets are hidden."
"Kane doesn't have assets. He's broke."
"They don't believe that. And Valeria..." She paused, fear clear in her eyes. "They told me to give you a message."
Ice flooded my veins. "What message?"
"They want you to convince your family to bail out Kane's company. To pay his debts. Two million dollars by the end of the week."
I laughed coldly. "Or what?"
Sarah reached into her purse. Grant and Damon burst through the doors instantly, but she pulled out only a phone.
"Or this," she whispered, showing me the screen.
It was a video. Dark and grainy. But clear enough to see.
My mother. Walking to her car yesterday evening. A red laser dot on her back.
A sniper's targeting laser.
"They've been watching your whole family," Sarah said, tears streaming down her face. "And if you don't pay, they'll start killing the people you love. One by one."
The phone slipped from her fingers onto the floor.
"I'm so sorry," she sobbed. "I never meant for any of this to happen. I just wanted money and I made a deal with the devil and now everyone's going to die because of me."
I couldn't speak. Couldn't breathe.
The parlor doors flew open. Lucien stormed in, having seen everything on the monitors.
"Get her out of here," he ordered Grant. Then to me: "Val, it's going to be okay. We'll handle this."
But as Grant escorted Sarah out, she looked back at me with hollow eyes.
"It's too late," she whispered. "They're already inside. They've always been inside."
The doors closed behind her.
I looked at Lucien. "What does she mean, they're already inside?"
His phone buzzed. He looked at the screen and went pale.
"What?" I demanded. "What is it?"
He turned the phone toward me.
A text from an unknown number:
Check your mother's room. Now.
We ran. Through hallways. Up stairs. My heart in my throat.
Mom's bedroom door was open.
Inside, everything looked normal. Until I saw the window.
Written in red lipstick on the mirror:
TICK TOCK, VALERIA. 72 HOURS.
And lying on her bed, placed carefully on her pillow, was a single black rose.
The calling card of the Crimson Syndicate.
The most dangerous crime organization in the country.
"Oh God," I whispered. "What have I done?"