Chapter 3

Julian Thorne arranged to meet me at an unassuming coffee shop.

He was leaner than in his photos, his features sharp, his eyes behind his glasses like scalpels.

A sugar-free Americano sat untouched before him, his entire demeanor radiating an unapproachable bitterness.

"Ms. Reed, are you looking for me to overturn a verdict?" He cut straight to the chase, no pleasantries.

I shook my head, taking a sip of my lemon water.

"No, overturning it is too slow. I'm here to propose a partnership. Together, we'll start a new company."

Julian’s eyebrow twitched; he clearly hadn't expected that.

"A new company?"

"Yes," I leaned forward, meeting his gaze directly. "A firm specializing in crisis PR and legal warfare. I handle media strategy, you handle legal support. Our first client will be myself. Our first job will be to bury Blake Sterling and Chloe Hayes, along with all the capital investors behind them."

My knuckles tapped lightly on the table, a subconscious habit when I was thinking.

*Tap, tap, tap…* Steady and unhurried.

Julian watched me, his gaze analytical, assessing.

"Ms. Reed, what makes you think you can win? You're disgraced, you have nothing. Blake Sterling, on the other hand, has the entire Sterling family behind him, plus all the capital giants who profited from this hostile takeover."

"Because I understand the rules of the game better than they do." I smiled, though no warmth reached my eyes. "They thought by ruining my reputation, I'd lose. On the contrary, when someone's been dragged through the mud and has nothing left to lose, that's when they become truly terrifying."

"Mr. Thorne, you were kicked out of Revelation Legal and blacklisted from the industry because of your professional integrity. Are you willing to accept that?"

I looked into his eyes, asking each word deliberately.

His hand, under the table, subtly clenched.

I knew I’d hit a nerve.

"Blake Sterling’s hostile takeover of Reed Media, using illegal means, isn't without legal loopholes. It's just that neither of us had the evidence at the time." I upped the ante. "But public opinion can be the knife that cuts through that veil. If we can channel public outrage and force regulatory bodies to intervene, you'll have a chance to reclaim everything that's yours in court."

Julian was silent for a long time, so long that his coffee grew cold.

Finally, he looked up, his eyes no longer skeptical but alight with a certain kind of fire.

"I need to see your plan."

"The plan has already begun."

I pushed my phone across the table to him.

On the screen was a post I'd made with one of my anonymous burner accounts on a popular women's forum overseas.

The title: *I Was Jointly Betrayed by My Husband and Best Friend, Went from Billionaire Heiress to Being Kicked Out. What Should I Do?*

In the post, I didn't name names. I used a fictional identity to tearfully recount the story of a "vilified victim."

The protagonist was portrayed as kind, naive, giving her all for love, only to be betrayed by those she trusted most, her family's fortune stolen, and then smeared as "crazy."

I cleverly wove in every single thing Blake and Chloe had done to me, subtly disguised in this fictional narrative.

But I made sure to mention nothing of commercial competition, only emotional betrayal.

Because I knew the public's interest in complex business disputes paled in comparison to their hunger for moral judgment of "cheaters and home-wreckers."

This post, in just a few hours, was translated into multiple languages and spread virally across major social platforms.

Sympathy, outrage, condemnation…

Countless comments poured in, netizens globally demanding justice for this fictional "me."

"This is the first step," I said to Julian, retrieving my phone. "Before the official war begins, I need to seize the moral high ground and firmly label myself as the 'victim.'"

"I want the whole world to believe that a pitiful woman is suffering a grave injustice. Once that emotional foundation is laid, when I finally drop Blake Sterling and Chloe Hayes' names, the explosion of public opinion will be truly devastating."

Julian looked at me, his expression transformed.

If before it was scrutiny, now it was shock, even a hint of awe.

He probably hadn't imagined a woman, after such a colossal blow, could remain so calm, rational, and even possess a nearly cruel precision in orchestrating her revenge.

"I'm in," he finally said, his voice hoarse but resolute. "What do you need me to do?"

"It's simple," I pushed a pre-prepared list across to him. "Help me uncover three things."

"First, an irrefutable chain of evidence proving Chloe Hayes stole my plan, including the earliest time she accessed it and email records of her leaking it to Blake Sterling."

"Second, all financial records of Blake Sterling misusing company funds to buy her homes, cars, and luxury items during their affair."

"Third, and most crucially, the names of all the capital groups involved in that hostile takeover, besides the Sterling family. I want a complete list of every single one of them."

I paused, adding a final sentence.

"I want Blake Sterling to know who he truly offended for the sake of one woman."