Rebecca_Becky2

"When love turns to poison, only rebirth can bring salvation."
Anita George, a formidable CEO, is brought to her knees by betrayal from the man she trusted most. As the empire she built teeters on collapse, she is forced to confront the ambition that drove her—and the wounds she refused to feel. But in the ashes of deception, a new fire ignites.
This is not just a story of survival—it's a reckoning. A transformation. A rebirth.
Can Anita rise from ruin, stronger and wiser—or will the past drag her down for good?

lies and loyalty

The storm broke just after midnight.

Not a storm of thunder or rain—but of whispers. Silent emails between board members. An encrypted dossier dropped into the inbox of an investigative journalist. Anonymous. Verified. Lethal.

And Marcus felt it in the shift of every silence around him.

Anita met Julian in a quiet wine bar tucked into an unlisted corner of the city. No paparazzi. No board spies. Just warm lighting and a string quartet playing something soft and old.

She didn't smile when she saw him—but her eyes softened.

"You look like hell," she said, sliding into the booth.

"You're the one who sent me into it," he replied, smirking.

They sipped their wine in companionable silence for a moment. Then Julian leaned in slightly. "That leak this morning. Was that you?"

"I don't leak," Anita replied. "I redirect."

He laughed. God, he had missed this—her precision, her calm in the middle of chaos. And now, beneath it all, something gentler had begun to surface.

"Thank you," she said finally. "For backing me. Even when you didn't understand why."

Julian looked at her for a long moment. "I've always trusted you, Anita. Even when I didn't agree with you."

She looked down at her glass, the weight of his words landing somewhere deep and quiet inside her.

She hadn't come here for feelings. She had come to calibrate, to check his resolve.

But his presence steadied her in a way she hadn't expected. Or welcomed.

Across the city, Marcus stared at the headline bleeding across the news ticker:

"New Documents Expose Shell Companies and Board Manipulations at GNV."

But the truth in them was fresh. And burning.

He turned to Cameron. "How the hell did she find this?"

Marcus slammed his fist into the desk. "We're bleeding. She's not playing defense anymore."

Back at the wine bar, Anita stood to leave.

Julian rose with her, brushing his fingertips gently against her arm—just briefly.

"You sure you're okay?" he asked softly.

But something lingered in her chest as she walked away—an echo of warmth, of something unfinished.

CHAPTER 23:Heat Beneath The Surface