Chapter 4

The harsh glare of the spotlight hit Alyse. Her black gown clung to her frame, radiating the absolute authority of a queen stepping out of the dark.

Gasps erupted across the ballroom floor. Several older Wall Street tycoons rubbed their eyes, refusing to believe what they were seeing.

"That's the Ellis girl," a socialite whispered, her hand covering her mouth. "The one they threw out five years ago."

The audio recording continued to play through the speakers. Kendal's sharp, malicious voice echoed off the walls.

"Cousin, who told you to get in my way?"

The sound of a glass shattering played next, followed by the heavy, sickening thud of a body hitting the floor. Every second of the audio ruthlessly shredded Kendal's perfect facade.

Preston, Kendal's father, turned purple with rage. He slammed his fist onto a cocktail table and screamed at the security guards. "Cut the main power! Now!"

The head of security ran over, sweating profusely. "Sir, we can't! The hotel's central system has been entirely locked out by an unknown hacker. We have no control!"

Hidden in the shadows of the second floor, Alyse's phone screen was rapidly scrolling with complex green code. It was the absolute, crushing power of Briar.

Godfrey stood frozen in the center of the crowd. He tilted his head back, his eyes locked onto the glowing figure on the balcony.

The words from the recording acted like a sledgehammer, smashing his entire reality to pieces.

He had spent five years believing she was a cheap cheat. He had never, not for one second, considered that the scandal was a meticulously planned trap fueled by drugs.

A violent wave of guilt, shock, and fury crashed into him. The blood vessels in his eyes burst, turning his vision red.

The reporters in the room snapped out of their shock. Like sharks smelling blood in the water, they rushed forward, cameras flashing wildly. The blinding lights illuminated Kendal's terrified, twisted face.

"It's AI!" Kendal screamed, backing away from the reporters. "It's a fake recording! She made it up!"

But the wealthy women who had just been praising her now took large steps backward, treating her like a disease.

Declan, Kendal's younger brother, pointed a shaking finger at Alyse on the balcony. He cursed violently and grabbed a heavy wooden chair, preparing to hurl it at the speakers.

Before he could lift it, two of the hotel's on-site security guards, who had been stationed by the emergency exits, rushed into the fray. They tackled Declan to the marble floor, pinning his arms behind his back to prevent him from destroying hotel property. The crowd shrieked and scattered.

Sitting in her wheelchair near the front, Beatrice, the matriarch of the Lee family, shook violently. She slammed her cane against the floor. "What is the meaning of this?!" she gasped, clutching her chest.

Alyse rested one hand casually on the white marble railing of the balcony. She ignored the screaming and the chaos below, her eyes resting coldly on Beatrice.

The audio finished playing. The green waveform vanished from the giant screen.

It was immediately replaced by a high-definition screenshot of a credit card statement from a hotel in the Hamptons, dated exactly five years ago.

The statement clearly showed Kendal's private credit card purchasing a massive quantity of date-rape drugs just one hour before the scandal broke.

The concrete proof sent the room into an absolute frenzy. The looks of shock turned into pure disgust as they stared at the pure, innocent bride-to-be.

Kendal's psychological defense shattered. She spun around and pointed directly at Godfrey, tears streaming down her face.

"I did it because I loved you!" she screamed, her voice cracking. "I did it all for you!"

The pathetic attempt to drag him down with her made Godfrey's stomach churn with physical nausea. He took a slow, deliberate step backward, severing any connection to her.

His eyes never left Alyse. He searched her cold, indifferent face, desperate to find a single trace of the warmth she used to have for him.

He found nothing but an abyss of ice.

Alyse picked up a microphone. Her crisp voice instantly cut through the screaming crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen," she said smoothly. "That was just the appetizer."

Her words swept through the room like a blizzard. Everyone stopped moving, holding their breath, waiting for the executioner's blade to drop.

Marlene shoved her way through the crowd, pointing a shaking finger at the balcony. "You ungrateful bitch! We took you in!" she shrieked, trying to use family loyalty to silence her.

Alyse shot her aunt a look of pure contempt. Her index finger tapped the screen of her phone.

The screen behind her flickered again. It wasn't a static image this time. It was a high-resolution security video.

The timestamp in the corner was locked onto that exact night, five years ago.

The video showed Alyse, completely unconscious, being dragged down a hotel hallway by two large men. They were pulling her by her arms, treating her like a broken ragdoll, dragging her toward the infamous hotel suite.