“Stop lying!” Isabella snapped. “You know that’s not true!”
Vanessa crossed her arms.
“Then explain why no one believes you.”
The silence that followed felt like a verdict.
Adrian looked at Isabella one last time—empty, detached.
“Kneel,” he said.
Her world shattered.
“What…?”
“Kneel and beg. Maybe I’ll let you keep one.”
Her heart broke into pieces.
And still…
She dropped to her knees.
“I’m begging you… please… they’re your children… don’t take them from me…”
Adrian didn’t respond. He simply gestured.
And within moments… everything ended.
That night, five small lives disappeared into the darkness of the river.
And with them… the woman Isabella had been died too.
Three years later…
The sky was clear.
A gentle breeze moved through a luxury hotel in Los Angeles, where the city’s elite had gathered for a major corporate launch.
“Thank you all for coming,” the host announced. “Tonight, you’ll meet the woman behind this empire.”
The lights dimmed.
Whispers spread.
Then—
She appeared.
Steady steps.
Sharp, controlled presence.
Dressed in black, elegant… yet carrying something colder than grief.
Isabella Torres.
But not the same woman.
Now she was known as Victoria Hale.