Chapter Three ; ORION’s POV
884 Words
I sat in the small study of my temporary countryside refuge or should I say home, the rain outside thudding against the roof in a rhythm that seemed to matched the pounding of my thoughts. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her Eliora Everette. Not the journalist who had destroyed my company, not the name behind the scandal but the girl in the rain, struggling with her papers, her doe eyes bright and curious even when she didn’t know the truth.
It was frustrating.
I had spent two decades gaining power, sharpening every instinct, controlling every outcome . And yet, it was as if being in her presence dismantled years of training. I hated it. I hated it so much that I couldn’t stop thinking about her.
But hate was a luxury I didn’t have tonight. The scandal had left my business bruised. Stock prices were dropping by the hour , partners were calling their lawyers, and the press ,my own enemies were circling like vultures.
I stood abruptly, pacing back and forth. My thoughts drifted to my father first. Victor Vale. Weak, cowardly, incapable of controlling even his own house. And Valeria… she had planned every move with precision. My mother had been the obstacle. Dead, now, and yet even from beyond the grave, her absence weighed on me.
The most dangerous piece was Theodore, my stepbrother. Smart enough to stay in the shadows, but arrogant enough to think he could outsmart me. Each scandal had a finger pointing to him hidden, but there. I’d known from the start that someone close to my father had orchestrated this, and Theodore had the skill and the nerve to do it without leaving a trace.
I picked up my phone and started tracing the connections. Emails, Messages ,Bank transfers,Anonymous tips.
Every thread led back to a single name: Valeria Vale.
I should have expected her. She had a way of moving through life with a predator’s patience, always one step ahead. But she hadn’t counted on me.
I smiled faintly, a sharp twisted smile that had nothing of warmth. They thought they could humiliate me. Drive me out of the city and make me to crawl back to them for mercy.
They were about to learn just how wrong they’ve been.
Later that day, I visited the one person I trusted to help me uncover the full scope of the scandal: an old associate from my mother’s family, someone who had believed in me when I was just a boy with rage and a plan. He was quiet, methodical, and his loyalty was beyond question.
“You need names,” I said, pacing his office. “I don’t just want to survive. I want them exposed. Every one of them. From Victor to Theodore to… her.” My jaw tightened. “Valeria.”
He nodded, pulling out a folder. “We’ve started mapping the network. Transfers, fake companies, shell corporations. Theodore’s fingerprints are all over the edges, but he’s careful and She’s careful. Whoever leaked the files to Everette? That’s your leverage.”
I froze. My hand hovered over the folder. “Eliora?”
“Yes,” he said calmly. “The journalist. She thinks she’s righteous. She doesn’t know the full story. Doesn’t know she’s been manipulated.”
I leaned back against the wall, thinking. My pulse was steady, but my heart raced. She was part of this even if unknowingly. Part of the chaos they had orchestrated . And yet… every memory of her face in the rain, the way she had moved, the way she had looked at me like I was just another stranger, made my chest ache.
I hated myself for having these thoughts.
I decided not to act recklessly or emotionally but carefully. I would confront her, but not yet as the man she had ruined. Not yet as the billionaire who could crush her world with a single revelation.
First, I needed answers i needed to see how deep Valeria’s influence ran. Theodore had to be neutralized or at least contained. Victor was weak ,predictable. But Valeria.. she was the queen of the house, the mastermind behind everything.
I left the countryside briefly, moving into a small, discreet safehouse on the outskirts of the city. From there, I could watch, wait, and plan.
And Eliora? She would be the key. Not because I trusted her far from it. But because she represented the one way to dismantle everything Valeria had built.
I remembered her hands, small and determined, when she had picked up her papers in the rain. I remembered her eyes, sharp and wary, the kind of eyes that saw too much, too soon , strong willed yes. But I could work with strong willed. I could manipulate it. I could bend it to my purpose.
I didn’t trust her. Not yet.
But I would need her.
That night, I watched from the shadows as she walked through the town, her silhouette outlined by streetlights. She didn’t see me. She didn’t know I was there.
And in that moment, I realized something terrifying and exhilarating.
If she had the power to destroy me without knowing it, what would happen if she knew the truth?
A slow smile spread across my face. I would find out.
- Writer
