Chapter Sixteen
938 Words
The press conference was at the Wolfe Industries headquarters.
Not the penthouse. Not some rented hotel ballroom. The actual building, the one Adrian's grandfather built, the one with his name on the side in gold letters. It felt like a declaration.
"This is your turf," I said, looking up at the towering glass and steel.
"This is our turf now."
Adrian took my hand. Squeezed once. We walked inside together.
The conference room was already full. Cameras. Reporters. A forest of microphones on the podium. Ms. Vane stood near the back, tablet in hand, expression unreadable. Chen was at the front, arranging papers, whispering to a paralegal.
And in the front row, hands folded, face neutral, sat Liam.
"You didn't tell me he'd be here," I whispered.
"I didn't know," Adrian said. His voice was tight. "Chen must have invited him."
"To what? Watch us destroy him?"
"To give him one last chance."
Liam looked up. Caught my eye. He didn't smile. Didn't glare. Just... watched.
Like he already knew how this would end.
---
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming."
Chen's voice was calm, measured, the voice of someone who'd done this a hundred times. She stood at the podium, gray hair perfect, suit impeccable.
"Today, we are here to address the allegations made against Mr. Adrian Wolfe and Ms. Ivy Cole. We are also here to present evidence of a coordinated campaign to defame them, orchestrated by Mr. Liam Wolfe."
The room buzzed. Reporters typed. Cameras zoomed.
Liam didn't move.
Chen pressed a button. The screen behind her lit up.
Emails. Bank statements. Text messages. Photographs. All of it documented, timestamped, undeniable.
"The evidence shows that Mr. Liam Wolfe forged documents to suggest a contractual relationship between Mr. Wolfe and Ms. Cole. He bribed journalists at three separate publications. He arranged for photographs to be taken of Ms. Cole's mother's hospital room without consent. And he is responsible for the theft of Ms. Cole's cat—an animal that was returned only after direct negotiation."
The room erupted.
Questions fired from every direction. Chen held up a hand.
"There will be time for questions. First, Mr. Wolfe has something to say."
Adrian walked to the podium.
He didn't look nervous. He looked like a man who'd finally stopped running.
---
"Everything Ms. Chen said is true."
Adrian's voice was steady. No notes. No teleprompter. Just him, and the truth.
"My cousin, Liam, has been stealing from this company for years. I tried to handle it privately. I tried to protect him. Because he's family. Because my father would have wanted me to."
He paused. Looked at Liam.
"But Liam didn't want protection. He wanted revenge. And he was willing to hurt anyone—including Ms. Cole and her sick mother—to get it."
A reporter shouted, "Is the engagement real?"
Adrian looked at me. Right at me, through the cameras and the lights and the chaos.
"Yes," he said. "It's real. It wasn't at first. I hired Ivy to play a role. I was desperate. I was lonely. I was wrong."
The room went quiet.
"But somewhere along the way, the fake became real. She became real. And I fell in love with a woman who saw past the money and the power and the name and saw... me."
He turned back to the cameras.
"So here's the truth. The whole truth. I'm not a good man. I've done things I'm not proud of. But I'm trying to be better. And that starts with telling the truth—even when it makes me look bad."
He stepped back from the podium.
The room exploded with questions.
But Adrian wasn't listening. He was walking toward me. And I was walking toward him.
---
Liam stood up.
The room went quiet again.
"I have something to say," he said.
No one moved.
Liam walked to the podium. Slow. Deliberate. He didn't look at the evidence on the screen. He didn't look at the reporters. He looked at Adrian.
"You're right," Liam said. "About all of it. I stole. I lied. I bribed. I threatened."
Adrian's face went pale.
"But you're wrong about one thing." Liam's voice cracked. Just a little. "I didn't do it for the money. I did it because I was jealous."
The room was so quiet I could hear someone breathing.
"Jealous of what?" a reporter asked.
Liam laughed. Bitter. Broken.
"Of him. Of the way people look at him. Of the way my father looked at him. Of the way Isabel looked at him." He turned to me. "Of the way she looks at him."
Liam stepped back from the podium.
"I'm not asking for forgiveness. I'm not asking for anything. I just wanted you to know that I'm not a monster. I'm just a man who wanted what he couldn't have."
He walked out of the room.
No one followed.
---
The car ride home was silent.
Not the good silence. Not the comfortable one. The kind where too much had happened and no one knew what to say first.
"He confessed," I finally said.
"He did."
"In front of everyone."
"He did."
"That's... not what I expected."
Adrian looked at me. His eyes were tired. Red-rimmed. "Me neither."
"What happens now?"
"Now, he goes to prison. Or he doesn't. Either way, it's out of my hands."
"Are you okay?"
He was quiet for a long time. The city slid past the windows. Somewhere, a siren wailed and faded.
"No," he said finally. "But I will be."
I reached over. Took his hand.
"Together," I said.
He squeezed my fingers.
"Together."
- Writer
