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[Wait, the police report says both women were poisoned, but only one got the antidote and the other was sent to the hospital? And the kidnappers never asked for a ransom? What kind of soap opera is this?]
[I remember this! The wife’s name is Ava Hayes. The husband, Carter Prescott, didn’t give her the antidote. He gave it to Claire Hayes, who it turns out wasn’t even poisoned. Ava survived but was in a coma. I think she just woke up this year.]
[Okay, we need an expert here. Who was behind this? Did Ava stage it herself? Did Claire set it up to get rid of her rival? Or did Carter plan it to finally be with his one true love?]
The story exploded online.
When Maya saw it, she went ballistic. She couldn’t believe Claire had the audacity to play the victim after everything she’d done. So Maya activated her network. She got people with real influence, using their real names, to go online and systematically debunk Claire’s story, exposing her lies one by one.
Overnight, Claire became the poster child for entitled, manipulative homewreckers.
The next day, my phone blew up with calls from my parents. I didn’t answer. I blocked their numbers.
Then, Leo showed up at my door. He looked furious, but the moment he saw me, his anger seemed to defla- te. “Do you have to make everything so ugly for everyone?” he asked, his voice weary. “Claire has been crying at home for a day and a night. She’s pregnant. She can’t take this kind of stress.”
I just looked at him. “Was I the one who started spreading lies online?”
He froze. In his mind, no matter what happened, I was always the one to blame first. But what right did he
have to condemn me?
“The villa you’re living in,” I said quietly, “was a gift from the Prescotts, because of me. You’re living a life funded by my suffering, and you still have the nerve to slander me. You’re pathetic.”
Leo frowned. “That villa… Claire told me she asked Carter to give it to me. That’s not true?”
I had no idea what lies Claire had spun for him. By the time he got that villa, she and Carter were already secretly seeing each other again. They had probably all met up many times without my knowledge.
“If that’s what you want to believe, fine. I’ll just ask Carter’s parents to take it back. Luckily for me, they were
smart about it. The deed doesn’t transfer to your name until I produce a Prescott heir.”
The villa was in Leo’s possession, but it was still legally owned by the Prescott Corporation.
As if on cue, my phone rang. It was Eleanor Prescott, Carter’s mother.
The moment I answered, her anxious voice filled the room. “Ava, honey, don’t you listen to any of that nons- ense online. If Carter seriously tries to be with that Claire girl, I will throw him out of this family myself. And I have to tell you… I’m pregnant. Twins. Both boys. I’ve been out of the country to focus on the pregnancy, but your father-in-law has already flown back to deal with Carter. If that boy won’t listen to reason, he can get
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out, and take that girl with him!”
I deliberately put the call on speaker. Leo heard every word. The color drained from his face.
“Mom…” I said, my voice catching, and I started to cry for real.
“There, there, darling, don’t cry,” she soothed. “I’ll be back to see you tomorrow. And if you want to divorce him, you go right ahead. I’ll adopt you as my own daughter. We’ll find you a wonderful new man, and wher you get married again, I’ll give you the grandest dowry you’ve ever seen.”
Leo looked like he’d seen a ghost. He never could have imagined that Carter’s parents genuinely loved me
like their own daughter.
Back when Carter was chasing after Claire, when the family was on the brink of collapse, he’d abandoned his parents and his dying grandmother. The Prescotts had wept over having such a son. My arrival had brough warmth back into their shattered lives.
“Thank you, Mom,” I managed through tears. “But you’re pregnant, please don’t travel. Stay safe. Once I’ve handled everything here, I’ll come and see you.”
Eleanor was forty-six. A high-risk pregnancy. The last thing she needed was a long flight. I suspected she’c only decided to have more children when she realized she could no longer rely on her firstborn.
“When his grandmother made you two get married, I was against it,” she confessed. “I thought you were wal king into a pit of fire. But you loved him so much… I hoped marriage would change him. Then the kidnapping happened. After you were hospitalized, Carter did a full investigation. He found proof, Ava. It was Claire who orchestrated the whole thing.”
My heart stopped. The world went cold.
Leo’s face turned ashen.
“That’s why I left the country,” she continued softly. “To get healthy. To have these babies.”
The tears froze on my cheeks.
After a few more minutes, I hung up.
“I’m sorry, Ava.”
Leo’s voice was a choked whisper.
