Chapter 52

Beatrice was fuming after hearing Stella accuse Haley. She was certain her daughter hadn't said anything of the sort.

She stepped forward protectively, positioning herself in front of Haley. "Ms. Russell, y/ou might be bold, but that doesn't give you the right to spout lies. That accusation is completely out of line."

Not giving Stella a chance to reply, Beatrice turned to Marc with her chin held high. "Mr.Walsh, I only agreed to work with you because of Haley's feelings for you. But after this baseless slander against my daughter, I see no reason to continue our partnership."

And with that, she made a show of turning to leave,signaling for Haley to follow.

Haley, of course, didn't want to go. But she was

scared Stella might actually expose something real. So, even though she hesitated, she followed her mother.

Still, she dragged her feet slightly, watching Marc out of the corner of her eye, hoping he'd stop her.

Marc, however, found himself stuck between two paths.

At first, teaming up with the Smith family had seemed like the smart move-he figured their power and connections could help pull his company through the storm.

To make it work, he didn't mind entertaining Haley's obvious interest in him. She was eager and persistent, and at the time, he hadn't seen any harm in playing along.

But now, if what Stella said was true, then there was no longer any need to keep up the act. He couldn't keep pretending for the sake of business, not when it meant letting someone

like Haley get close enough to hurt Stella.

That thought hit him hard, and his expression darkened. He turned to Haley, eyes sharp and cold, a storm brewing behind them. "Hold on-what exactly did you do to Stella?"

Haley's heart pounded. Trying to keep her voice calm, she said, "Marc, I haven't done anything!Don't you believe me? Hasn't Stella been ignoring you lately and staying away from home?"

She wasn't wrong. Marc had complained about Stella avoiding him, often saying she'd been staying at her work dorm.

Haley had stored that information in her back pocket, and now, she brought it out like a trump card.

"If she's innocent, then why hasn't she come back home?" she added slyly.

Her words hit their mark. Marc's mind spun.

Stella had been distant lately-was there something going on between her and William?

William had connections. Could it be that Stella was leaning on him... maybe even getting close to someone else through him?

He glanced over at Stella, suspicion clouding his gaze.He looked torn, as if caught between love and betrayal.

He still loved her deeply. But if she had cheated on him... he wasn't sure how he'd even begin to deal with it.

The moment Stella met his eyes, she understood-Haley had gotten to him. Again.

Before Marc could utter a word, Stella gave him a frosty smile, pulled a recorder from her bag,and pressed play.

The speaker's voice rang out clearly: "Do whatever you want. If anything goes wrong, I'll handle it."

Then came another voice-sharp and mocking."Stella, Marc told me to handle this. You refused to sign the contract nicely, so this is your punishment. Let's see how proud you act next time!"

Before meeting Jazlyn and Haley, Stella had had a gut feeling something wasn't right. Trusting her instincts, she had tucked a recording device into her bag-just in case.

She never took it out, and when she left later,she didn't get the chance to turn it off before those men grabbed her.

That was why the recorder stayed hidden in her bag,quietly recording everything that happened in the hotel room.

Later, during the struggle, Stella had hit the mnen with her bag, which damaged the recorder.

Yesterday, she gave it to Lainey to see if it could be fixed.

And luckily, after some repairs, the recording

cIem

turned out to be fully intact.

Once the recording finished playing, Stella walked up to Haley with a cold look in her eyes.

Haley stood frozen in disbelief, completely blindsided by the fact that Stella had recorded everything. Just moments ago, she had been so sure of her win-so confident that she'd come out on top. But now, all of that had crumbled.

Stella didn't let up. With calm intensity, she stepped forward until Haley was backed up against the wall. "What now, Haley? Got anything to say? Or are you going to tell everyone that the recording is fake? That I made it all up?"

Her words hit hard, leaving Haley stiff and speechless, unable to respond or even lift her head.

At the same time, Jazlyn-who had been standing beside Marc-suddenly lost her composure.

She spun on Haley and shouted, "What? You actually sent people to rape Stella? Haley, our plan was just to take some fake photos. That was it!"

Jazlyn's face twisted with horror. As much as she hated Stella, she'd never planned to cross the line into something truly criminal.

She just wanted to humiliate her with some staged shots-enough to scare her, nothing more.

After all, they were both women. And Jazlyn wasn't the kind of person to take things that far.

She had assumed Haley shared her limits, but clearly, Haley was far more ruthless than she had ever imagined.

That realization made Jazlyn's skin crawl. lf someone like Haley became Marc's wife, who knew what twisted things she might do if she ever felt threatened or cornered?

Taking a quick step back, Jazlyn put space

between herself and Haley. She wanted no part of her anymore.

But in trying to protect herself, Jazlyn didn't realize her outburst had just confirmed her own role in the setup against Stella.

And in ttheverynextmoment,the /room exploded with shocked whispers and raised voices.