Chapter 5
I arrived at the restaurant exactly on time.
When the private room door opened, I found three people sitting stiffly inside, as if they’d carefully rehearsed their positions.
Knox sat in a seat facing the entrance, his expression grave.
Dahlia sat at his right, her eyes still red rimmed and looking deliberately exhausted.
Thea sat across from her, arms crossed tightly over her chest, her face a mask of impatience.
I walked in and took a seat opposite them.
No one spoke.
After about thirty seconds of tense silence, Thea couldn’t contain herself any longer.
“You’ve got some nerve showing up,” she snapped, her voice sharp enough to cut glass. “Kneel down right now and apologize to Dahlia, then hand over
the endorsement and the necklace!”
I looked at her without responding.
“Are you deaf? I’m talking to you!” Thea slammed her hand on the table. “Stop acting all high and mighty. The whole internet knows what a horrible person you are now!”
Dahlia tugged gently at Thea’s sleeve, tears conveniently beginning to fall again.
“Thea, please stop…” she choked out. “This is all my fault. If I hadn’t come back to the country, none of this would have happened.”
“Don’t blame yourself, Dahlia!” Thea immediately pivoted toward her. “You’re not the one at fault-she is!”
She jabbed a finger in my direction. “You think having money gives you the right to steal other people’s men and their belongings? Everyone online is dragging you right now, you know that?”
I remained silent.
Finally, Knox spoke up.
“Wren.” His voice was weary but carried that unmistakable tone of condescension.
“Apologize. This is your last chance.”
I raised my eyes to meet his.
His face showed no remorse-only impatience and coldness.
“You’ve had your fun, this story is all over the internet now, and it’s seriously damaging my career. Apologize to Dahlia and Thea, give up the endorsement, and we can put this whole thing behind us.”
“Otherwise…” he paused meaningfully, “you know what happens.”
What a threat. Plain and simple.
I took a deep breath, about to respond, when the door to our private room swung open.
My assistant Emily walked in, followed by a group of people:
The legal director of L&W Group.
The brand marketing executive.
The CEO of Stellar Studios.
Chapter 5
And several investment representatives I rarely met with, but whom Knox definitely recognized.
They lined up behind my chair in perfect formation.
The room fell utterly silent.
Knox’s face drained of color. Dahlia froze mid-sob. Thea’s mouth hung open in shock.
I slowly rose to my feet.
“Sorry to keep everyone waiting.”
“Let’s begin.”
The brand marketing executive stepped forward, placing a document in front of Dahlia.
“Ms. Stone, this is a cease and desist letter regarding your false claims about being L&W’s spokesperson and damaging our brand’s reputation.”
“You have three days to publicly retract your statements and compensate the company for damages.”
Dahlia took the document with trembling hands.
“What… what does this mean?” she whispered.
“It means that when you claimed in your livestream that the necklace was designed specifically for you, you committed brand infringement against L&W,” the marketing executive explained.
The CEO of Stellar Studios turned to Knox.
“Mr. Riviera, due to your personal conduct causing significant negative impact on our film investments, we are formally terminating our contract with you.”
He said, placing another document on the table. “The breach of contract penalties and damages total $80,000,000. Please settle this amount within one month.”
Knox’s face was now completely ashen.
“Wren, what are you-” his voice quavered, “what is this about?”
I didn’t answer him directly.
Instead, I removed the necklace from my neck and walked over to a promotional poster hanging on the wall of the private room.
It was a portrait of L&W Group’s founder.
In the poster, my grandfather sat behind his desk, with a younger version of me standing beside him.
The photo had been taken when I was 16. Grandfather had said it was time to prepare me for my future role.
I held up the necklace, examining it in the light.
“Allow me to introduce myself properly…”
I turned back to face the three of them.
“L&W Group belongs to my family.”
“Now, you were saying something about this being a counterfeit?”
