Bye Loser! Love, Daddy's Heiress - Chapter 17: Chapter 17

The air in the courtroom hung thick with tension as Alessia's fate was sealed. Reporters leaned forward in their seats, corporate sharks in thousand-dollar suits licked their lips in anticipation, and the entire room seemed to hold its breath waiting for the final act of this spectacle.
Alessia sat defeated, her designer-clad armor now in tatters. The polished socialite was gone, replaced by a wild-eyed, desperate creature clinging to the last shreds of her crumbling empire. Her lawyer's final plea fell on deaf ears - the mountain of evidence against her was insurmountable.
I watched from the back, legs crossed, face unreadable as the judge delivered the killing blow.
"Alessia Carter, for attempted murder, fraud, and conspiracy, this court sentences you to twenty years in federal prison." The gavel's crack echoed like a gunshot. Gasps rippled through the crowd, but I didn't flinch.
For a heartbeat, Alessia simply sat there, her carefully constructed mask slipping as reality crashed down. It was almost poetic - watching the queen of deception finally get outplayed at her own game.
Then she snapped.
"NO!" Her shriek cut through the courtroom as she lunged forward, only to be wrestled back by guards. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!"
Her panicked gaze swept the crowd before locking onto him.
"Lothario!" Her voice cracked with desperation. "Lothario, help me!"
The man in question sat stone-faced just a few rows ahead. Not a muscle twitched. I watched with cold satisfaction as realization dawned in Alessia's eyes - her knight in shining armor wasn't coming to the rescue.
"You LOVE me!" she screamed, voice shredding to hysterics. "DO SOMETHING!"
Silence. Lothario's jaw clenched so tight I could see the muscle ticking, his white-knuckled grip on his thighs the only betrayal of emotion. The truth hit Alessia like a physical blow - she'd lost him. Lost everything.
When her wild eyes found mine, pure venom twisted her features. "You did this," she spat. "You ruined me!"
I tilted my head, a slow smirk curling my lips. "Funny, I thought you handled that all by yourself."
As guards dragged her kicking and screaming toward the exit, her final threats echoed off the marble walls: "I'LL KILL YOU, PEARL! I'LL GET OUT! I SWEAR TO GOD I'LL—"
The heavy doors slammed shut. Silence. I exhaled slowly. Just like that, Alessia Carter became nothing more than a bad memory.
The power vacuum her downfall created was delicious. Taurus and I moved like sharks in bloody water, carving our names into the corporate landscape with ruthless precision. Within months, every business section screamed our names:
CRESSIDA LANCASTER & TAURUS SULLIVAN: THE NEW POWER COUPLE OF WALL STREET
I flipped through the glossy magazine spreads, amused.
"Always knew you had a taste for power," Taurus drawled from my office couch, swirling his bourbon.
I arched an eyebrow. "And you don't?"
Those ice-blue eyes glinted. "Oh, I do. But watching you savor it?" His voice dropped to that dangerous purr. "That's my new favorite pastime."
Warmth spread through my chest. Unlike Lothario, Taurus never saw me as an accessory - I was his equal. His partner in crime. And that made him the most thrilling kind of dangerous.
"We're officially the most feared power couple in Manhattan," he mused.
I leaned back in my chair, lips curving. "Good."
Taurus set down his glass and prowled toward me, caging me between his arms. "What about being the most loved woman in the city?" His breath warmed my lips.
My pulse jumped. "That depends."
"On?"
"Whether you plan to make me love you, Sullivan."
His calloused fingers traced my jawline as his voice dropped to that velvet growl: "Sweetheart, I already have."
My father wasn't one for apologies. But that night in his study, with decades of unspoken words between us, the impossible happened.
"I made mistakes," Alexander admitted, the ice in his scotch clinking as he fidgeted - a rare show of nerves.
I couldn't resist. "Alexander Lancaster admitting fault? Should I call a doctor?"
A ghost of a smile touched his lips. "Don't get used to it."
Then his face softened. "I should have been there for you."
The words hung between us. Finally, I shrugged. "I don't regret any of it."
His brows knitted. "You don't?"
"If I hadn't gone through hell," I said, crossing my legs, "I wouldn't have become her."
My father studied me for a long moment before nodding. "I'm proud of you, Pearl."
Something warm and unfamiliar blossomed in my chest. First time for everything.
Curiosity - not guilt, never guilt - led me to Alessia's prison months later. The woman they brought to the visitation room was a hollowed-out shell. The fire in her eyes had been reduced to dying embers.
I tilted my head. "Not quite the penthouse view you're used to, is it?"
Her cracked lips parted but no sound came.
I leaned forward. "Game over, Alessia. You lost."
A broken laugh escaped her. "I should have killed you when I had the chance."
"Tried and failed." I inspected my manicure. "Like everything else."
Her fingers curled into fists. "You took everything from me."
My eyebrow arched. "I took from you?" When she glared, I sighed dramatically. "Still playing the victim? Some people never learn."
As I stood to leave, I gave her one last look - the same icy smile that haunted her downfall.
"Enjoy your new home. Though honestly?" I adjusted my gloves. "I'd already forgotten you existed."
This time when I walked away, I didn't glance back. Not even once.