Chapter 26
Two nights later, when the media circus moved on and the world forgot her name, I found out where she was buried. A remote, unmarked grave tucked behind a Masterson–owned villa that used to be their safe house.
No flowers. No name. No mourners.
I waited until it rained until even the guards got tired and went back inside.
I walked out there alone. Just me, a black coat, no makeup, and my mother’s silver hairpin in my hand.
I stood over the dirt.
And I looked down at the woman who took everything from me.
“You killed my mother,” I said quietly. “You burned her alive while laughing. You humilated me. You let them hit me. You tried to kill me again. And you stabbed me just for standing in a spotlight that was never yours.”
I crouched down, pressed the hairpin into the soil like I was returning a weapon to hell.
“Bring this to her.”
“Ask her to forgive you. But even death can’t pay for what you did to us.”
I stood back up. Spit on her grave. And walked away like I never knew her name.
That same evening, Cassian got a call. I was by the balcony with a glass of red in my hand, watching the wind play with the edge of the curtains, when I saw him freeze mid–step, phone pressed tight to his ear. His jaw clenched, brows furrowed, and he didn’t say anything for a while. Just listened. Then I heard the voice on the other end even from where I stood.
It was Hakeem.
His voice was low and cracked like something was burning inside him.
“She’s Harmony,” he said, sharp and certain. “Celeste is Harmony. My wife. I’m taking her back. With or without force.”
Cassian didn’t say a word. He hung up, slow and steady, like ending that call was him deciding not to snap someone’s neck.
He turned to me. Walked up and set the phone down on the table without breaking eye contact. His voice was tight but calm.
“He knows.”
I sipped my wine. Didn’t even blink. My heart was quiet. My rage wasn’t. It sat in my chest like something I’d fed every night and now it was full and ready to hunt.
“I at him try” I said “He wants to come for me? I’ll let the whole world know who I am
My Husband Begged for My Love after Destre
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“Let him try,” I said. “He wants to come for me? I’ll let the whole world know who I am.
Then let’s see who they’ll stand with–his empire of blood or the woman he tried to erase.”
Cassian just nodded once, and I saw it in his eyes. He was ready to go to war for me.
But this time, I was the one going first.
I didn’t sleep that night. I stood in front of the camera, no makeup, no lights, no production. Just my voice. My truth. My rage. And I pressed the record.
I called the video:
“My Name Was Harmony Masterson. You Tried to Bury Me.”
And I began.
“I’m not hiding anymore. I was Harmony. I was a wife. And I was abused.”
“That video you saw, where I was whipped? That wasn’t acting. That was real. My husband did that to me. For his mistress. For Margaret.”
“He threw my mother’s ashes at me like it was some party trick. He watched me cry. And when I tried to press charges against Margaret, Hakeem used my little brother–my Aziel, a boy with special needs–as leverage. He strapped him to a crane and threatened to drop him if I didn’t back off. Aziel almost died. And you know why? Because Margaret killed my mother. She burned her alive. And the world clapped for her charity work while my mother
screamed in the fire.”
I breathed. But not to calm myself. I didn’t want to be calm.
“They erased me. They stole my name, my story, and they turned me into a villain. But you know what?”
“Margaret? She killed herself. And even death was too soft for what she did to me and to the woman who raised me. Her father? That senator everyone worshipped? He’s the one who had my father killed. Because he wouldn’t fund dirty arms deals. And Hakeem? Hakeem covered it all. He made sure no one believed me. He silenced me…with fear, with
pain.”
I stared into the lens.
“Harmony is dead. She died the moment they buried my past like trash. But Celeste… Celeste is alive. This face is no longer afraid. I’m not playing victim. I’m holding the knife now. And I’m telling the world how they broke me and who broke me. And if Hakeem wants to come here? Let him. I’m not scared. I’m not running. I am ready.”
I pressed upload.
And the world shattered.
People cried. People screamed. Women wrote essays online about how they saw their own abuse in my words. News anchors choked up reading my name. Celebrities reposted
Chapter 26
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my video with messages like “Believe her.” “Harmony is Celeste.” “We stand with her.”
Hashtags exploded:
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#IAmHarmony
#CelestelsHarmony
#MastersonTruth
#BelieveHer
Cassian walked into the room hours later, holding his phone like it was smoking from all the notifications. He looked at me like he was seeing me for the first time.
“You didn’t just burn them,” he said. “You became the fire.”
I smiled and took his hand. “Now we finish it. Hakeem thinks he’s coming to reclaim me. Let’s make sure he walks into the grave he dug for me instead.”
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Chanter 26
