Married to the Billionaire Who Betrayed Me novel Chapter 80

Chapter 80 The Public Backs The CEO

I watched the Aegis sales dashboard on my second monitor. The numbers climbed at an aggressive, unrelenting pace. Women

purchased the matte black products as a symbol of defiance. They bought the armor.

My phone rang again. Eduardo Valdez.

“The Whitmore family stock dropped two percent at the opening bell. The market hates a volatile executive. Eduardo stated. His

gravel voice carried a mix of deep respect and serious caution.

“I defended myself against a volatile hostess,” I replied.

“The public sides with you,” Eduardo acknowledged. “But public opinion does not stop expensive lawyers. The Whitmore patriarch will demand retribution. He will pressure the district attorney to file assault charges. He will pressure Tristan Johnston to release

statement condemning your actions.”

“Let them file charges, I countered. “Penelope Ashcroft provided two witnesses who will testify that Celeste locked me in a room and initiated the hostility. It is a textbook case of self-defense.”

“And Tristan?” Eduardo pressed. ‘He controls the largest media channels. If he throws the weight of the Johnston Group behind his fiancé, he can suppress the Ashcroft story and turn the tide against you.”

I looked toward the hallway leading to the nursery.

Tristan possessed the power to crush the narrative. He could release a fabricated security tape. He could deploy a dozen PR firms to bury my reputation. He did it a year ago. He proved his loyalty to the merger.

“We wait,” I said. ‘Prepare the legal team for a subpoena, but we do not issue a public statement. Let Celeste drown in her own

history.”

The morning stretched into the afternoon.

I managed the Aegis expansion from my kitchen island. I approved new manufacturing runs with Leonardo Alvarez. I finalized the retail layout for Javier Mendoza’s boutiques. I operated with cold efficiency, but my nerves felt like frayed wires.

I waited for the Johnston Group to strike. I waited for the massive conglomerate to drop the hammer and defend the Whitmore

alliance.

At three o’clock, a breaking news alert flashed across my laptop screen,

Official Statement from the Johnston Group Communications Office.

I stopped typing. I opened the alert. My chest tightened. This was the moment. This was the execution.

I read the brief, sterile text.

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Chapter 80 The Public Backs The CEO

The Johnston Group declines to comment on personal matters occurring outside of our corporate operations. Our focus remains entirely on our upcoming quarterly earnings and the continued stability of our global logistics network. We respect the privacy of all private citizens

involved in the recent media reports.

I stared at the words.

I read them a second time. I read them a third time.

The statement offered zero support for Celeste Whitmore.

My secure phone vibrated on the granite counter.

I picked it up. A new message sat in my encrypted inbox. It lacked a sender name. It contained a single line of text.

The surrounding is clear. Open the door.

A sharp, familiar chime echoed through the quiet house.

It was not my cell phone. It was the security system interface mounted near the entryway. The perimeter alarm detected a presence at the front gate of my Port Sterling property.

I walked out of the kitchen. I moved down the hallway, my bare feet silent against the hardwood floor. I reached the security panel. I tapped the screen to activate the exterior camera feed.

The high-definition monitor flickered to life.

Tristan Johnston stood outside my heavy iron gate.

He wore a dark overcoat against the autumn chill. He did not bring his security detail. Mateo Castillo was nowhere in sight. The fleet of black SUVS did not line my street. He arrived alone.

He looked up. He stared directly into the lens of the security camera.

He knew I was watching. He knew the camera caught every detail of his exhausted face. He stood on my territory. He surrendered his corporate advantages. He left his legacy in the capital to stand on a cracked concrete sidewalk in the industrial district.

1 pressed the intercom button on the panel.

‘You are trespassing,” I stated. My voice filtered through the exterior speaker, sharp and metallic.

“I am standing on a public sidewalk, Tristan replied. His deep voice resonated through the audio feed. ‘I am not leaving, Minerva.”

“I have nothing to say to you.”

‘I do not need you to speak,” Tristan said. He gripped the iron bars of the gate. His knuckles turned white against the dark metal. `I need you to listen. I buried the Whitmore PR counter-attack. I locked their media representatives out of our networks. She cannot

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Chapter 80 The Public Backs The CEO

touch you.”

I do not require your assistance to handle Celeste.”

‘I know,” he agreed. The admission carried a heavy weight. “You proved you can dismantle her empire without me. But I am not here

to discuss Celeste,

He leaned closer to the iron bars. The camera captured the intense, desperate hunger in his eyes.

“I checked the public records, Tristan said. His voice dropped to a low, raw register. “I pulled the property deeds for this sector.

found the shell corporation Eduardo Valdez used to lease this house. I know you are inside.”

I kept my finger pressed against the intercom button. I did not respond.

“You told me the truth in the elevator, Tristan continued. “You told me you vanished because I failed to protect you. Because !

chose the merger over my wife.

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