Chapter 11
Victoria’s gaze locked with Selena’s, unyielding and calm, but her heart pounded furiously beneath her poised exterior.
Selena stood by the window, her reflection shimmering in the glass like a mirage. Her lips curved into a venomous smile as she turned, her heels clicking ominously against the polished floor.
“You think we wouldn’t find out?” Selena sneered, her voice a sharp blade slicing through the air. “You think you can waltz in here, play dress-up, and get away with it?”
Damian, standing near the edge of the room, looked frozen. His face had gone pale, his normally confident demeanor crumbling under the weight of Selena’s words. He looked from Selena to Victoria, his steel-gray eyes searching hers for answers he didn’t want to find.
“Selena,” Damian finally managed, his voice hoarse, “what are you talking about?”
Selena laughed, the sound hollow and cruel. “Oh, Damian. Always the oblivious one, aren’t you? The great Damian Blackwood, master manipulator, completely blind to what’s been happening right under his nose.”
Victoria kept her composure, tilting her head slightly as if bored. “You seem desperate, Selena. Did something happen to shake that fragile little kingdom you’ve built?”
Selena’s eyes narrowed into slits, and her nostrils flared. “Don’t play coy with me, Tori.”
Damian visibly flinched at the name, his sharp intake of breath betraying his shock.
“Selena,” Damian said slowly, his voice trembling now. “This isn’t possible. Tori is—”
“Dead?” Selena finished with mock sweetness, her gaze never leaving Victoria. “That’s what we thought too. But look at her, Damian. Look at the way she moves, the way she talks. Smell that perfume, the one you said you could never forget.”
Victoria smirked, stepping forward and deliberately placing herself between Damian and Selena. “You’ve always been good at connecting dots, Selena. But your picture is still incomplete.”
“Don’t lie to me!” Selena snapped, her voice rising as she pointed an accusatory finger at Victoria. “You couldn’t stay gone, could you? You couldn’t let us win! You had to crawl out of your grave like some vengeful ghost.”
Damian staggered backward as if struck, his pale face now a mask of disbelief. “Tori… Is it true? Is it you?”
Victoria turned to him, her emerald eyes softening for a fraction of a second. “Would it matter if it were?” she asked, her voice calm but loaded with meaning.
“Of course it would!” he yelled, his voice cracking. “You were dead. I—Selena told me—” He broke off, clutching the back of a chair as if to steady himself.
“Don’t listen to her!” Selena interjected, her tone frantic now. “She’s manipulating you, Damian, like she always did. Don’t you remember how she played you before?”
“Played him?” Victoria shot back, her voice sharp as steel. “You mean the way you’ve been playing him this entire time, Selena? Whispering in his ear, turning him into your little puppet?”
Selena’s face twisted in rage. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, but I do,” Victoria said, taking another deliberate step forward. “I know all about the offshore accounts, the shell companies, the forged signatures. And I know how you planned to dismantle Kane Industries piece by piece while pretending to grieve me.”
Damian’s head whipped toward Selena, his voice low and dangerous. “Is that true, Selena?”
Selena’s composure cracked, her mask of control slipping as her voice rose. “Everything I did was for us, Damian. For you. To protect what we’ve built together!”
“Protect?” Victoria laughed coldly. “You mean destroy. And you’ve done a fantastic job of it, Selena. But you underestimated one thing.”
“And what’s that?” Selena hissed.
Victoria placed her hand protectively over her stomach, her gaze unwavering. “You didn’t kill me. And you didn’t kill the Kane legacy.”
For a moment, there was silence. Then Selena’s eyes darted to Victoria’s stomach, her expression morph into one of horrified realization. Her lips curled back into a feral snarl. “The baby,” she spat, her voice trembling with rage. “It’s his, isn’t it? Damian’s.”
Damian’s eyes widened, his gaze snapping to Victoria’s hand protectively resting on her stomach. “What…?” he whispered, his voice barely audible. “Victoria… are you…?”
Victoria met his gaze but didn’t answer, her silence deliberate. Instead, she turned back to Selena, her expression defiant. “What does it matter to you, Selena? You’ve already lost. Kane Industries will rise again, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.”
Selena laughed, a hollow, bitter sound that echoed in the room. “Oh, you think this changes anything? You think you can come back from the dead, wave your miracle child around, and erase everything I’ve built? You’re delusional!”
“You mean everything you’ve stolen,” Victoria corrected sharply. “Your lies, your manipulations—they’re all coming to light, Selena. And when they do, you’ll have nothing.”
“Damian,” Selena turned to him, her voice a mix of desperation and fury. “Don’t listen to her. She’s using the baby to turn you against me! She’s a liar, a manipulator, just like she always was.”
Damian didn’t respond. His eyes were fixed on Victoria, a storm of emotions brewing in his expression—confusion, anger, guilt, and something else. Something softer.
Victoria took a step closer to Selena, her voice calm but icy. “You’re terrified, aren’t you, Selena? Terrified that the little empire you’ve built on lies is about to crumble.”
Selena’s eyes flashed, and she stepped forward until they were mere inches apart. “You’re the one who should be terrified, Tori,” she hissed. “Because you’ve underestimated me.”
Before Victoria could respond, Selena whirled toward Damian, her voice a venomous snarl. “And you! You’re pathetic, Damian. Look at you, standing there like some lovesick fool. Do you really think she came back for you? She came back to destroy you!”
Damian flinched but didn’t look away from Victoria. “Is it true?” he asked quietly, his voice strained. “Did you come back for revenge?”
Victoria held his gaze, her jaw tightening. “I came back for the truth. For justice. For what’s mine.”
Selena laughed again, louder this time, and the sound was laced with madness. “Justice? Oh, darling, there’s no justice for people like us. There’s only survival. And if you think I’m going to let you or that child take everything I’ve worked for—”
She stopped mid-sentence, her face twisting into a mask of pure hatred. “I’ll kill it,” she said coldly, her voice dropping to a venomous whisper. “I’ll kill that baby before it ever sees the light of day.”
The room fell deathly silent. Victoria’s hand tightened on her stomach, and her breath caught. Damian’s expression shifted, horror and rage darkening his features.
“Selena!” Damian barked, his voice sharp and commanding. “What the hell are you saying?”
Selena turned to him, her eyes blazing. “You don’t get it, do you? That baby is the end of us. It’s the end of everything we’ve built. Don’t you see? She’s using it to destroy you, Damian. To destroy us.”
“Touch my child,” Victoria said, her voice steady but filled with quiet fury, “and I swear, Selena, you’ll regret it for the rest of your very short life.”
Selena’s lips curled into a wicked grin. “We’ll see about that,” she said, her voice dripping with malice.
