Thaddeus sighed heavily. "Yeah, you'd think people would have a shred of basic decency. But the Sinclair family is completely devoid of it."

Orion stared down at Matthew. "If you want revenge, I have a task for you."

"What is it?"

Matthew shot to his feet immediately, his eyes locked on his older brother. "If I have to just sit here doing nothing, I'm going to lose my mind."

Orion spoke with calculated precision. "You've been shadowing Thad and learning the ropes for a while now. I want you to take point on dismantling the Sinclair Group. Force them into total bankruptcy."

Thaddeus looked at the younger Everhart. "Honestly, the Sinclair family was already circling the drain. But I want you to accelerate their collapse."

"But is that it? Are we really not going to hold Amelia publicly accountable for poisoning Mom?"

Orion's gaze hardened. "Of course we are. But right now, Mom's treatment plan is still up in the air. If we drop the bomb that her best friend tried to murder her, I'm worried the shock will destroy her will to fight. We wait. We will tell her when the time is right."

Matthew nodded firmly. "Understood. I'll follow your lead, Orion."

Orion clapped a heavy hand on Matthew's shoulder. "Just make sure you don't slip up and reveal anything in front of Mom."

"I know."

Matthew's mood was somber. It was only after surviving these recent catastrophes that he truly understood the crushing weight of responsibility his older brother carried alone every single day.

Back at the university, Lemira parked her car, her heart still heavy with thoughts of Amanda's deteriorating condition.

Amanda had been plotted against so viciously by the people she trusted most.

As Lemira walked into her lecture hall, she couldn't shake the feeling that everyone was staring at her. The whispers and strange looks were impossible to ignore.

She took a seat next to Janice and whispered, "What exactly is going on?"

"You need to see this. Sophia Sinclair has completely lost her mind. She's live on the internet claiming she checked into a hotel with Orion Everhart, and she's branding you as the home-wrecker."

Hearing that, Lemira calmly pulled out her phone and clicked on the trending notification.

Sophia was currently hosting a

scandalous sales stream. In

between hawking products, she

enthusiastically dished about he supposed late-night hotel

rendezvous with Orion, even flashing

paparazzi-style photos of him

entering the lobby as 'proof.'

The scandalous narrative had instantly set the internet ablaze, drawing tens of thousands of viewers to her stream.

But the sheer absurdity of it all was that Sophia would drop a sensational gossip bomb, and then seamlessly transition into yelling, "Click the link in my bio!"

Watching the screen, Lemira felt a surreal sense of amusement. So Sophia had finally realized the value of a solid career hustle?

Janice leaned in close. "I highly doubt Orion went to that hotel to sleep with her. That woman is a pathological liar. She's just making it all up."

"It's not a lie. He really did go to that hotel to find her."

Seeing the shock register on Janice's face, Lemira quickly clarified, "I went with him. We were there for an entirely different reason."

She couldn't exactly broadcast the truth about the Aconite-X poisoning just yet.

Janice exhaled a massive sigh of

relief. "Lknew it! There had to be a logical explanation. But Sophia is so repulsive for twisting it like that is there any way to shut her up

Lemira watched Sophia waving some cheap, unbranded skincare product at the camera, counting down a flash sale. She let out a tired sigh.

"Of course there is. I'm going to have my lawyer send her a cease and desist."

After class, Lemira dialed Sebastian Bennett. "Are you free? I need you to draft and send a legal notice for me."

"Isn't this the kind of mess your man should be cleaning up? Is Orion's entire legal team on paid vacation, or do they just enjoy making you handle the dirty work?"

Sebastian never missed an opportunity to throw shade at Orion.

Lemira was completely used to it by now. "He's currently dealing with a severe crisis regarding his mother. I can handle a minor annoyance like this myself."

As Lemira walked out of the

academic building, she spotted Susanna Sinclair standing near the entrance. Susanna looked

significantly more subdued thol ne

usual, completely stripped other standard designer labels. .net

Seeing her, Lemira frowned, instantly sensing a headache coming on. She spoke into her phone. "Something just came up. I have to go."

The very next second, Susanna marched straight toward her.