Betrayed By Love, Rebuilt By Fate

of my house. I couldn't let Chloe's narrative be the only one out there.

shaking slightly. "I did not ignore any war

analysis from three months ago, identifying the exact point of failure. And this,

at doesn't prove you di

didn't you go publi

growing stronger. "She is a manipulator who saw an opportunity

ar. "Shame on you!" a woman in the front screamed, her face contorted with grief. She wa

perate. The headlines the next day were brutal: "Killer Architect Tries to Smea

m a neighbor. "Ava, you need to

led by the same grieving mother from the press conference, was there. They weren't just spray-painting this time. They had shovels

athered around

, screaming. "Sto

undiluted rage. "This is for you, you monster. You don't d

ed with the granite cornerstone. A large

on anymore. I just cared about that stone. I pushed through the crowd,

heir faces were still full of hate. I knew the

, painstakingly, dug up the cornerstone myself. It was heavy, but I managed to get

ic announcement. This time, it wa

ement to a single journalist I trusted not to twist my words. "The city has made its judgment of my character cle

portantly, it was a signal. I was taking myself off the board. The buildings, the projects... they would have to go on without me.

she got sick. And my father, before he met Chloe's mother. I remembered the day he told me he was remarrying, so soon after my mother's death. I remembered how he slowly pushed me away, prioritizing

d in blankets in my trunk.

yscrapers were replaced by rolling hills and old farmhouses. I drove to the small tow

ther, a woman with a spine of steel and

, as if she'd been waiting. She looked older, frailer than I

ime in days, I let myself cry. I collapse

d, stroking my hair. "I know.

ything. The lies, the betrayal, Liam, my fathe

mile." She sighed. "I'll admit, for a moment, when I saw her on the TV... she was convincing. A lot of people here bel

why I came here. I didn

't over, Ava. Your mother didn't raise a quitter. And I didn't raise one either. That girl, Chloe, she built

ther room. "Yes, it's my granddaughter... No, the one you read about in the pa

igator, an old friend of my grand

Into Chloe Vance. Into her whole life. We're going to find the crack in h

in my bed, a genuine spark of hope ign