Cross counterattacked.
Not with lawyers.
With hackers.
He leaked Damien's financial records to the press.
And the world turned against them.
---
The attack came at midnight.
Christabel was in the nursery. Lena was finally asleep. The penthouse was quiet.
Her phone buzzed.
Then Damien's.
Then the house phone.
Then every phone in the building.
"What's happening?" Christabel asked.
Damien was staring at his screen.
His face was pale.
"Cross leaked our financial records."
"All of them?"
"Enough."
---
The headlines were brutal.
"Moreau's Hidden Fortune Exposed."
· "Offshore Accounts. Secret Transfers. The Truth About the Empire."*
"How the Rich Steal from the Poor."
Christabel read the articles.
Her hands were shaking.
"This is going to ruin us."
"No." Damien's voice was hard. "This is going to make us fight."
---
Sterling arrived at the penthouse within the hour.
Eli was behind him, carrying a stack of files.
"This is bad," Sterling said.
"How bad?"
"Bad enough. The press is having a field day. The public is turning against you. Investors are pulling out."
"Can we stop it?"
"We can try."
---
Eli opened his laptop.
"The leaks are real. The accounts are real. The transfers are real."
"But they're not illegal."
"They're not illegal. But they look illegal. And perception is reality."
Damien's jaw tightened.
"Cross is trying to destroy our reputation."
"He's trying to destroy your ability to fight."
"Same thing."
"Different intention."
---
Jax walked into the room.
"So, boss, we've got a situation."
"We've got multiple situations."
"The press is outside. Like, a lot of them. Like, a scary amount."
"Don't let them in."
"I wasn't planning on it. But they're not going away."
---
Zoe appeared in the doorway.
"The phones are ringing off the hook. Journalists. Investors. Random people who want to tell you you're going to hell."
"Same as last time."
"Worse than last time. Last time they just thought you were a monster. Now they think you're a thief."
Damien's face didn't change.
But his hands clenched.
---
Tara walked in with a tray of coffee.
"I don't know much about financial leaks or PR crises," she said. "But I do know that caffeine helps. Drink."
She handed a cup to Damien.
He took it.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. Also, Maya fell down the stairs again."
"Is she okay?"
"She's fine. She tripped over a plant. She's currently arguing with the same plant."
Christabel laughed.
Despite everything, she laughed.
---
Maya stumbled into the room.
"The plant started it."
"The plant didn't start anything."
"The plant looked at me wrong."
"Plants don't have eyes."
"This one does. I swear."
Jax shook his head.
"This is my life now. Protecting a couple from villains and a woman from a plant."
"You love it," Zoe said.
"I tolerate it."
"Same thing."
"Different intention."
---
Sterling called the room to order.
"We need a strategy. Two fronts. Legal and public."
"Legal first," Damien said.
"The financial records are not illegal. But they're damaging. We need to control the narrative."
"How?"
"We go public. We release our own records. Show that everything was above board. Show that Cross is the one who stole."
"He'll deny it."
"Let him. We have proof."
---
Eli nodded.
"The offshore accounts were disclosed. Taxes were paid. Everything was legal. The problem is perception."
"Then we change the perception."
"How?"
Christabel spoke.
"We tell the truth. Not through the press. Through me."
Everyone looked at her.
"I wrote a book about my pain. About my struggles. About my healing. People trusted me. They believed me. I can do the same with this."
---
Damien took her hand.
"Are you sure?"
"I've never been more sure about anything."
"This is different from the book. This is public. This is messy."
"I know."
"People will attack you."
"Let them."
"They'll call you a liar."
"I've been called worse."
---
Sterling nodded.
"It could work. A personal statement. From you. Not from Damien. From the woman people already trust."
"When?"
"Tomorrow. Before the press conference."
"What press conference?"
Sterling smiled.
"The one we're going to call."
---
That night, Christabel wrote.
Not in her notebook. On her laptop.
A statement. Personal. Raw. Honest.
She wrote about the merger. About the acquisition. About Victor Cross.
She wrote about the lies he was spreading. About the truth he was hiding.
She wrote about Damien. About the man she knew. About the man who had never stolen a thing in his life.
She wrote about Lena. About the future. About the kind of world she wanted her daughter to grow up in.
When she was done, she read it to Damien.
He was silent for a long time.
"This is going to make him furious."
"Good."
"He's going to attack you."
"Let him."
"He's going to try to destroy you."
She looked at him.
"Let him try."
---
The next morning, Christabel released her statement.
Not through a journalist. Through her own social media. Through the platform she had built with her book.
Dear friends,
You've been reading my words for months. You've trusted me with your pain. Your struggles. Your hope.
Now I'm asking you to trust me again.
Victor Cross is lying. The leaks are real, but the story is false. The money in those accounts was earned legally. Taxes were paid. Disclosures were made.
Victor Cross is the one who stole. From his own company. From his own employees. From his own shareholders.
He's trying to destroy my family. He's trying to take what doesn't belong to him.
I won't let him.
Neither should you.
With hope,
Christabel
---
The response was immediate.
Thousands of comments. Shares. Likes.
People believed her.
Not because they had proof. Because they trusted her.
The book had done that. The letters had done that. The years of honesty had done that.
Cross's narrative began to crack.
---
Sterling called.
"It's working."
"For now."
"Cross is going to respond."
"Let him."
"He's going to attack you personally."
"Let him."
"Are you ready?"
Christabel looked at Damien.
"We're ready."