Chapter 4 - The Public Smear Campaign
Before we could even leave the penthouse, my phone exploded with thousands of notifications.
Julian’s public relations team had officially leaked the story to the tabloid press.
My face was plastered across the front page of every major gossip website in the country.
The headlines were vicious, labeling me a gold-digging fraud who tried to trap a billionaire with another man's baby.
They claimed I was caught having an affair with a pool boy, a complete fabrication designed to humiliate me.
Julian had painted himself as the heartbroken, betrayed husband suffering in dignified silence.
"Do not look at the comments, Evelyn," Harrison warned, snatching the phone from my trembling hands.
"This is exactly what he wants; he wants you panicked, emotional, and making reckless mistakes."
I took a deep, shaky breath, fighting the tears of frustration that threatened to spill over.
My reputation was being systematically dismantled in front of the entire world.
My friends were already blocking my number, choosing to side with the billionaire who funded their lavish lifestyles.
"I have nothing left to lose," I said, my voice hardening into steel.
"He took my home, my money, and my good name in less than twenty-four hours."
"Which makes you the most dangerous person on the board right now," Harrison smirked.
We dressed in casual clothes, wearing sunglasses and hats to avoid the paparazzi swarming the lobby.
We slipped out through the underground parking garage in Harrison’s secondary, unmarked vehicle.
Our destination was Dr. Sterling’s private residence in the Hollywood Hills.
Julian had fired the first shot in the court of public opinion, believing it would break my spirit.
Instead, it only forged my resolve into something entirely unbreakable.
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I was not going to hide and cry while he destroyed my daughter's future.
I was going to rip his carefully constructed empire down to its very foundations.
