For five years, they told me my cousin Juliette was in Asia, atoning for a data breach that almost destroyed our family's tech company. I played my part as Elaine Stewart, the perfect philanthropic daughter, engaged to my father's brilliant successor, Cole. My life was a carefully managed performance to uphold our family's public image.
That lie shattered on the night of our biggest product launch. I saw them on the private airfield next to the event hall. My fiancé, Cole, and my cousin Juliette. And between them, holding both their hands, was a little girl.
My world stopped. The girl was Kiarra, the four-year-old "niece" Cole had told me about. His daughter.
I soon discovered my entire life was a PR stunt, a shield for their secret family and a much darker corporate crime. My own father had framed Juliette for a data breach he orchestrated, and she was blackmailing him. My mother was in on it, funding their lavish life to ensure their silence.
Then I found the video call recording. My cousin and my fiancé, laughing at me.
"My sweet, naive charity case of a cousin," Juliette's voice dripped with mockery. "She's so easy to fool."
They thought I was a pawn, good for photo ops and nothing more. A cold fury burned through the shock, melting away the girl I used to be.
The company's annual shareholders' meeting was in two weeks, live-streamed to the entire world. They were expecting a celebratory corporate video.
But this year, I would replace it. I would replace it with irrefutable proof of the affair, the secret family, and the blackmail.
They were about to find out how wrong they were.
Chapter 1
For five years, they told me my cousin Juliette was in Asia.
They said she was on a high-stakes, isolated assignment for Stewart Dynamics, our family's tech company.
This was her penance.
A punishment for a massive data breach that almost destroyed everything my father, Gabriel Stewart, had built.
So for five years, I played my part.
I was Elaine Stewart, the philanthropic daughter, the gentle one.
I was the perfect fiancée to Cole Koch, the company's brilliant COO and my father's chosen successor.
My life was a carefully managed performance, all designed to uphold the family's rebuilt public image.
I smiled at galas, funded charities, and stood by Cole's side, a symbol of stability and future prosperity.
I believed the lie. I lived the lie.
The lie shattered on a Tuesday night.
It was the launch of our new flagship product, the "Nexus," and the air in the grand ballroom crackled with victory.
My father was on stage, his voice booming with pride. My mother, Jessica, sat beside me, her hand patting mine, a picture of maternal pride. Cole squeezed my other hand, his thumb stroking my skin in a way that used to make my heart race.
Tonight, it just felt cold.
A strange anxiety had been clawing at me all evening. A feeling that something was deeply wrong.
I saw Juliette.
Not on a video call from a sterile office in Singapore, but right here, in San Francisco.
She was standing on the tarmac of the private airfield adjacent to the event hall, bathed in the harsh glow of floodlights.
She wasn't alone.
Cole was with her.
And between them, holding both their hands, was a little girl with dark, curly hair.
My world stopped.
The noise of the party faded into a dull roar. The champagne in my glass trembled.
It was them.
Juliette, looking radiant and happy, not atoning for anything. Cole, my Cole, looking at her with a tenderness I had mistaken for my own. And the child.
My mind raced, trying to make sense of the impossible.
That little girl… she looked about four years old. Kiarra. Cole' s "niece." The one he showed me pictures of, the daughter of a friend who had passed away.
He had lied.
Everything was a lie.
My life wasn't real. It was a stage. A PR stunt. A shield for their secret family and a much darker corporate crime.
I stumbled back from the window, my body shaking.
My own father, who always preached about Juliette's need for "focus" and "atonement," was in on it. He had to be. He was secretly funding her lavish life to ensure her silence.
Juliette wasn't just having an affair. She had to be blackmailing him.
Blackmailing him over the real cause of the data breach. An act of corporate espionage he orchestrated. He had framed his own niece, the brilliant, favored child, and she had turned the tables on him.
And I was the pawn. The good, naive daughter whose clean reputation and perfect engagement were the glue holding the fragile empire together.
My phone buzzed. It was a saved video file, sent from an unknown number an hour ago, buried under a flood of congratulatory messages. My fingers trembled as I opened it.
It was a recording of a video call. Juliette's face filled the screen, a smirk playing on her lips. She was talking to Cole.
"She actually believes I'm suffering in some sweatshop in Asia," Juliette's voice dripped with mockery. "God, she' s so easy to fool. My sweet, naive charity case of a cousin."
The words hit me harder than a physical blow.
Charity case.
That' s what they thought of me. The gentle, less-ambitious daughter. The one who was good for photo ops and nothing more.
A cold fury began to burn through the shock, melting away the girl I used to be.
The company's annual shareholders' meeting was in two weeks. It was always live-streamed to the entire world.
A celebratory corporate video was always the centerpiece of the event.
But not this year.