THE LIE THAT WORE A RING - Chapter 21: Chapter 21
You are reading THE LIE THAT WORE A RING, Chapter 21: Chapter 21. Read more chapters of THE LIE THAT WORE A RING.
Alina didn’t cry.
She didn’t scream. Not yet.
After Nicholas confiscated the envelope and Ethan escorted her to the guest room—the one where she once entertained wealthy guests and wore silk like armor—she sat in silence. Legs crossed. Back straight. Eyes empty.
They thought they’d won.
They thought the truth, a few recordings, and a confrontation would be enough to tame her.
But Alina didn’t break.
She calculated.
And within an hour, she was already planning her counterstrike.
The estate grew tense. Nicholas was making calls—first to his lawyer, then his security advisor. Ava and Ethan hovered, refusing to let Alina out of their sight for more than a few minutes.
“She’s dangerous,” Ava warned her father. “Don’t let your guard down.”
Nicholas nodded, but his gaze drifted—haunted, still caught in the web of betrayal.
Meanwhile, Alina smiled sweetly to the housekeeper, asked for tea, and waited for her moment.
It came late that night.
At 2:43 a.m., Alina slipped out of the guest room barefoot, phone in hand. She tiptoed down the hallway like a ghost. No lights. No sound. But her target was clear.
Nicholas’s private study.
She needed one thing—and it wasn’t revenge.
It was leverage.
She remembered the hidden drawer in the bottom cabinet. The one Nicholas never locked, where he kept sensitive company documents, property deeds, and signed authorizations.
She knew exactly what to take.
And just as her fingers brushed the edge of the folder labeled “Winchester Private Holdings,” the light flicked on.
Ethan stood in the doorway, phone raised. Recording. Again.
“Looking for something?” he asked, voice sharp.
Alina didn’t flinch. She smiled slowly. “Just a little reading before bed.”
Nicholas arrived moments later, face drawn, robe undone. Behind him, Ava held her phone too—live-streaming it to a private cloud server.
“You really don’t know when to stop,” Ava said.
Alina straightened, still clutching the folder. “I told you. I don’t go down easy.”
“You’ll go down eventually,” Nicholas said. “And this time, I’ll make sure you stay down.”
That was when Alina played her last card.
She opened her phone and pulled up an email draft. Attached were scanned documents—personal financial details, sensitive accounts, charity embezzlement rumors she’d dug up during their marriage.
“I have everything I need to burn you down with me,” she said calmly. “Your company. Your reputation. That perfect billionaire façade you hide behind.”
Nicholas stepped forward. “And I have everything you’ve ever done—recorded, documented, backed up in three places.”
“I’ll still destroy your name,” she spat.
“Then you’ll destroy yourself in the process.”
The standoff pulsed with silence.
Alina’s fingers hovered over the “send” button. But something flickered across her face.
It wasn’t guilt.
It was realization.
She’d lost control.
And no matter how loud she screamed now, no one in this house was listening anymore.
She dropped the phone.
Ava picked it up, erased the draft, and turned to her father.
“She’s done.”
Nicholas finally nodded. “Get her out of this house.”
That morning, security escorted Alina out of the estate.
No screaming. No sobbing. Just silence.
But as the gates closed behind her, and the black car drove off into the city, a smile tugged at her lips.
Because in her mind, the war wasn’t over.
Not yet.
She didn’t scream. Not yet.
After Nicholas confiscated the envelope and Ethan escorted her to the guest room—the one where she once entertained wealthy guests and wore silk like armor—she sat in silence. Legs crossed. Back straight. Eyes empty.
They thought they’d won.
They thought the truth, a few recordings, and a confrontation would be enough to tame her.
But Alina didn’t break.
She calculated.
And within an hour, she was already planning her counterstrike.
The estate grew tense. Nicholas was making calls—first to his lawyer, then his security advisor. Ava and Ethan hovered, refusing to let Alina out of their sight for more than a few minutes.
“She’s dangerous,” Ava warned her father. “Don’t let your guard down.”
Nicholas nodded, but his gaze drifted—haunted, still caught in the web of betrayal.
Meanwhile, Alina smiled sweetly to the housekeeper, asked for tea, and waited for her moment.
It came late that night.
At 2:43 a.m., Alina slipped out of the guest room barefoot, phone in hand. She tiptoed down the hallway like a ghost. No lights. No sound. But her target was clear.
Nicholas’s private study.
She needed one thing—and it wasn’t revenge.
It was leverage.
She remembered the hidden drawer in the bottom cabinet. The one Nicholas never locked, where he kept sensitive company documents, property deeds, and signed authorizations.
She knew exactly what to take.
And just as her fingers brushed the edge of the folder labeled “Winchester Private Holdings,” the light flicked on.
Ethan stood in the doorway, phone raised. Recording. Again.
“Looking for something?” he asked, voice sharp.
Alina didn’t flinch. She smiled slowly. “Just a little reading before bed.”
Nicholas arrived moments later, face drawn, robe undone. Behind him, Ava held her phone too—live-streaming it to a private cloud server.
“You really don’t know when to stop,” Ava said.
Alina straightened, still clutching the folder. “I told you. I don’t go down easy.”
“You’ll go down eventually,” Nicholas said. “And this time, I’ll make sure you stay down.”
That was when Alina played her last card.
She opened her phone and pulled up an email draft. Attached were scanned documents—personal financial details, sensitive accounts, charity embezzlement rumors she’d dug up during their marriage.
“I have everything I need to burn you down with me,” she said calmly. “Your company. Your reputation. That perfect billionaire façade you hide behind.”
Nicholas stepped forward. “And I have everything you’ve ever done—recorded, documented, backed up in three places.”
“I’ll still destroy your name,” she spat.
“Then you’ll destroy yourself in the process.”
The standoff pulsed with silence.
Alina’s fingers hovered over the “send” button. But something flickered across her face.
It wasn’t guilt.
It was realization.
She’d lost control.
And no matter how loud she screamed now, no one in this house was listening anymore.
She dropped the phone.
Ava picked it up, erased the draft, and turned to her father.
“She’s done.”
Nicholas finally nodded. “Get her out of this house.”
That morning, security escorted Alina out of the estate.
No screaming. No sobbing. Just silence.
But as the gates closed behind her, and the black car drove off into the city, a smile tugged at her lips.
Because in her mind, the war wasn’t over.
Not yet.
End of THE LIE THAT WORE A RING Chapter 21. Continue reading Chapter 22 or return to THE LIE THAT WORE A RING book page.