Ties That Choke

Part 47 –

The sharpest betrayals

Aren't from enemies

They are the ones who once

Promised to protect your dreams.

A Leaking Ship

The media frenzy spiraled within hours.

News anchors ran dramatic headlines "Green Greed: Wolfe's Global Lobbying Scandal" and social media exploded with commentary from environmental watchdogs, business analysts, and conspiracy theorists alike. Despite there being no criminal implications, the optics were devastating.

Lila sat silently in her office as PR teams scrambled to spin the story. Her phone buzzed non-stop. Shareholders panicked. Internal teams demanded answers.

But beneath her still exterior, her mind was working like a machine.

Because the leak wasn't just a strategic strike.

It was personal.

And it bore the signature of someone with intimate access not just to Eden's data, but to Lila's inner circle.

The Hidden Partner

Later that day, Marion stormed into her office, her normally calm demeanor cracked.

"I found it," she said breathlessly. "The metadata on the leaked emails... it passed through a single IP route encrypted but masked through a server in Cyprus. I dug deeper."

She handed Lila a file.

Inside: proof that Charles Rendon, a senior advisor to the Eden project board, had shared private documents with an external legal consultancy one tied to Caleb Brandt's firm.

"But it gets worse," Marion said, her voice tightening. "Charles… he was appointed to the Eden board by your father's will."

Lila's hands trembled slightly.

So many ghosts. So many pieces her father had left behind, scattered and unvetted. She had inherited a legacy and with it, old debts and dangerous alliances.

A Dangerous Conversation

Ethan confronted Caleb that night at a private gala.

Lila watched from a distance, standing just behind a curtain of ivy, heart pounding in her ears.

"I trusted you," Ethan said, voice low but sharp. "I would have given you everything."

"And yet you gave it to her," Caleb said coolly. "The golden girl. The heiress with the crown. You forgot who built your first empire, Ethan. Who stood by you when your world fell apart."

"You chose Lucien."

"I chose power. Something you used to understand."

Ethan took a breath. "What's his endgame?"

Caleb's smile turned bitter. "He doesn't want Wolfe. He wants her. Destroyed, discredited. He wants her to look in the mirror and question if she was ever worthy of the empire she inherited."

"And you're okay being his weapon?"

"I'm not his weapon," Caleb murmured. "I'm his mirror. The one that shows people who they really are."

The Breaking Point

Back at Wolfe Tower, Lila sat in her private quarters with Ethan. He was silent, his hands tight on his knees.

"Do you think he's right?" she asked softly. "That I wasn't meant to lead this?"

Ethan turned to her slowly, eyes fierce.

"You're not leading because of your name. You're leading because you were the only one brave enough to stop repeating the past. That terrifies men like Lucien. That's why they want to break you."

Lila's throat tightened.

She reached for his hand.

"What if I don't want to keep fighting alone?"

Ethan's voice dropped. "Then don't."

A New Kind of Strategy

The next morning, Lila called a closed session with the Eden board.

She calmly laid out the evidence against Charles Rendon. The board was stunned he had been trusted, a fixture since Richard Wolfe's era.

But Lila didn't stop there.

"We're not just removing a corrupted advisor," she said. "We're restructuring Eden from the ground up transparently. We'll make every decision, every strategy, public-facing. We'll stop being afraid of shadows."

The board approved the motion unanimously.

And just like that, Lila turned the attack into a launchpad.

The headlines shifted within 48 hours: "Wolfe Turns Scandal Into Reform," "New CEO Ushers in Era of Transparency."

Lucien had tried to bleed her in the dark.

She answered with fire in the daylight.

Love in the Midst of War

That night, Ethan found her in the garden again wind tousling her hair, city lights shimmering below.

He stepped behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"I don't know how this ends," she whispered.

He kissed her temple. "It ends with you. Standing. Surviving. Loving."

She turned in his arms.

"Then don't let go," she said.

"I won't," he promised. "Not even if the world burns."

And for the first time in weeks, she smiled genuinely, softly.

Because now, she wasn't just fighting for a company.

She was fighting with someone.

And she had no intention of losing.