THE MESSAGE
1569 Words
CHAPTER FOUR:THE MESSAGE
Yullin pov
Yullin scrolled through the live-stream comments, her heart tightening as she read each one. To her satisfaction, the world was watching exactly as she wanted. Yet deep inside, she never truly wanted any of this. What she wanted was peace… a home. Something she’d never had growing up.
She only wanted a home. Growing up without good parenting had left her yearning for warmth, but here it was the world turning its back on her wishes again.
She sighed bitterly. “Home?” she muttered under her breath. “Something I was never given.”
Her reflection on the phone screen looked hollow beautiful, yet distant. It almost hurt to see her pretending.
Love? She scoffed softly. Love is nothing but a faded dream. She blinked back tears that threatened to fall, her throat tightening as she stared at a callous comment.
“Guess she finally found her price tag.”
Yullin’s fingers trembled slightly. “He wanted this,” she whispered, a bitter smile forming on her lips. “Then we should give them a show. Let’s expose ourselves, shall we?”
Across the table, Chante, her loyal assistant, hesitated to interrupt her boss’s storm of emotions. The tension in the air was sharp enough to slice through silence.
Yullin’s eyes lifted sharply. “Upload the marriage photo.”
“Yes, boss.”
Chante quickly scrolled through Yullin’s gallery, searching for the most flattering picture, the one where Yullin’s hand rested elegantly in Kris’s, her soft smile hiding every scar of her past.
“This one?”
“Perfect,” Yullin said, her voice steady, eyes glinting with challenge.
The post went up seconds later:
> City Princess Marries the Wealthiest Man!
Then, with her fake account, Chante commented right beneath it:
> Hullin Jane: “Aww, our city princess let go of the scumbag! ”
Within minutes, the comment section exploded.
> Jullim Jane: “This is a power move! ”
Nelly Western: “I love her! She doesn’t settle for less!”
Derek Luke: “Wait… isn’t Kris gay?”
Chante looked up from her tablet. “It’s done, ma’am. The post is everywhere.”
Yullin tilted her head slightly. “And the comments?”
“ In our favor,” Chante said.
“Good.” Yullin’s lips curled into a calm, dangerous smile. “Now… get me the list of the remaining shareholders in Bryant’s company.”
Chante froze. “Pardon?”
“You heard me.”
The assistant’s eyes widened. “Boss, what are you planning to do?”
Yullin’s tone dropped into something colder, unfamiliar even to herself. “He humiliated me publicly, Let’s see how it feels to watch everything crumble in front of him.”
Chante swallowed hard. The woman she once knew, the soft, tender Yullin who cried over heartbreak was gone. What sat before her now was someone different. Ruthless. Calculated. A queen born out of betrayal.
---
Bryant’s POV
Bryant slammed the phone onto his desk so hard the glass beneath rattled. His blood boiled as he stared at the headline flashing across every news outlet.
> “Yullin Ties the Knot with Billionaire Kris Delan.”
“Damn it!” He shoved all the papers off his desk in one furious motion.
His chest heaved. “She actually… married him.”
Of all people Kris.
His company was already hanging by a thread. Investors were pulling out. The woman he once loved, Mitchelle, had turned her back on him. And now, the woman who once stood by him was wearing the ring of his greatest rival.
A bitter laugh escaped him. “Is this what I get after everything?”
He slumped back in his chair, his eyes glazed with regret. Was it even worth it? All his sacrifices, his sleepless nights, his pride had they all been for nothing?
Kris wasn’t just another businessman. He was the rival, the one who beat him to contracts, outsmarted him in deals, and humiliated him in public more times than he could count.
And now, Kris had taken his wife too.
“Sir?” his assistant’s voice trembled from the doorway.
Bryant’s head snapped up, his eyes bloodshot. “Get out!”
His assistant froze.
“I said GET OUT!” Bryant roared, shoving a file across the desk. It slammed against the floor.
But the rage burned deeper. “Wait, come back!”
The assistant blinked, confused.
Bryant raked a hand through his hair, his breath ragged. “Tell me,” he muttered to himself, “is it over for me? Is this really it?”
He clenched his fists, the veins in his neck bulging. “Yullin… you’ve gone too far,” he hissed. “You want to play dirty? Fine. I’ll drag you down with me.”
His assistant shifted uneasily.
Then ping.
A new message flashed on Bryant’s screen.
> Anonymous: “We have a common enemy. Let’s meet.”
He frowned, suspicion flashing in his eyes. “Another of Yullin’s tricks?”
He tossed the phone to his assistant. “Track that number.”
The man nodded quickly, his fingers flying over the keyboard. Within minutes, he looked up. “Done.”
“Who is it?” Bryant demanded.
The assistant hesitated. “Kayden… Kris’s older brother.”
Bryant froze then slowly smirked.
“Well, well,” he said, a dangerous spark in his eyes. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend “.
He stood up, brushing blood from his knuckles with a napkin, his reflection in the window dark and determined. “All hope isn’t lost after all.”
The assistant handed him the details quietly. But something in his eyes flickered with hesitation, guilt. He lingered for a second too long, glancing toward Bryant as if weighing a dangerous secret.
Bryant didn’t notice. He was already lost in thought, plotting his next move.
“Kayden Curls,” he murmured, his lips twisting into a cold smile. “If you’re as ambitious as your brother, then maybe… we can destroy him together.”
---
Kris’s POV
Kris leaned back in his chair, scrolling through the endless stream of online reactions. The engagement was insane, millions of likes, thousands of comments, and news outlets buzzing like flies.
He smirked. “This is just the beginning.”
For once, he felt a flicker of satisfaction. Every post, every trending tag all of it painted him as the powerful, untouchable man everyone once doubted.
Then his eyes landed on one particular comment.
> Derek Luke: “Wait, I thought Kris was gay?”
His jaw tightened.
“I’m not gay,” he muttered irritably under his breath. “I just stopped believing in women.”
He closed his eyes for a second, remembering the betrayal that had shaped him. The woman who played with his heart for power, the humiliation he endured in front of everyone, still haunted him.
“Guess this marriage announcement clears the rumor,” he murmured bitterly, tossing his phone aside.
Just then, the screen lit up again. Incoming call: Mom.
Kris groaned. “Oh, here we go…”
He picked up. “Mom.”
Her voice came through sharp and loud. “You made such a big decision as marriage! And you didn’t even tell me?”
He sighed. “Mom, please”.
“ Kris what do you take me for?”. she asked
angrily
“At least now you can see I’m not gay,” Kris said dryly, rubbing his temple.
“Kristen!” she snapped, using his full name.
He chuckled softly. “Ohh, not again.”
“I raised you better than this”
“Mom, I’m busy,” he interrupted, and before she could continue, he ended the call.
He leaned back, running a hand through his hair. “Well, at least now the entire city agrees I’m not gay,” he muttered. “That’s progress.”
He picked up his phone again, ready to check for new notifications, when a message appeared from an unknown number.
> Anonymous: “Your older brother is meeting up with B.”
Kris froze for a second. Then a smirk tugged at his lips.
“Oh… so he took the bait.”
He chuckled, eyes dark with mischief. “If he sent this, that means he’s agreed to be on my side.”
He stood up, the city lights glowing against the glass wall of his penthouse. “Can’t wait to see Bryant’s face when he finds out there’s a rat in his house.”
But then his expression hardened, a shadow crossing his face.
Kayden.
His older brother. His rival. The man who had spent years trying to destroy him, who had turned his family into competition.
“Kayden meeting up with my enemy,” Kris said quietly to himself, shaking his head. “What’s he really planning this time?”
He poured himself a glass of whiskey, watching the amber liquid swirl like firelight.
“There’s nothing that man hasn’t done to see me fall,” he muttered. “But even if he teams up with the devil himself, he
still won’t win.”
He took a slow sip, a cold smile curving his lips. “Because I’ve already lit the match.”
And somewhere, across the city, the storm Yullin started was about to consume them all.
---
- Writer
