The Heiress He Underestimated novel Chapter 139

Chapter 139 Betrayal From The Inside

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By noon, the tide was turning. Several outlets had retracted or modified their original stories. The forensic analysis was showing clear signs of forgery. But the damage was done. People were talking, speculating, questioning.

“It’s a classic disinformation campaign,” Frost said at their afternoon war council. “Flood the zone with believable lies, make people doubt what’s real. By the time the truth comes out, the lie has already spread.

“So how do we fight it?” Elera asked.

“We don’t chase every lie. We focus on the provable truth. Your real records, your real accomplishments, your real work. Let the facts speak for themselves.”

“And we find out who leaked the fakes,” Drakonius added. “Because someone had to have inside access to create convincing forgeries. Someone in your company is working against you.”

That was a chilling thought. Elera had been so focused on external threats that she hadn’t considered someone might betray her from the inside.

“I’ll start a quiet investigation,” Frost said. “Check everyone who had access to the financial systems in the past month. But it’ll take time.”

“We don’t have time. The vote is in three days.”

“Then we work fast.”

That night, Elera was exhausted but too wired to sleep. She found herself in the library, staring at nothing, trying to process everything that had happened in the past twenty–four hours.

She’d revealed herself to the world. Been followed by mysterious cars. Discovered her husband’s sister was funding the attack against her. And now someone in her own company had betrayed her.

“Rough day?” a voice asked from the doorway.

She looked up to see Frost standing there, looking slightly uncomfortable. Behind him was Clara, carrying a bottle of wine and three glasses.

“We figured you could use some company,” Clara said. “And alcohol.”

“I’m technically on duty,” Frost said. “But Clara insisted.”

“I told him one glass wouldn’t kill his vigilance. Besides, we’re all in this together now. Might as well bond over our mutual stress.”

Despite everything, Elera smiled. “You two are adorable. How’s the whole ‘figuring out what you are‘ thing going?”

Clara and Frost exchanged glances. “We’re having dinner tomorrow night,” Clara said. “Assuming the world

doesn’t end before then.”

“It’s a date,” Frost clarified. “I asked her on a real date. With those words. It was very awkward.”

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Chapter 139 Betrayal From The Inside

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“It was very sweet,” Clara corrected. “He planned out the entire evening, including backup plans for various security scenarios.”

“That’s very Frost,” Elera said.

“I like to be prepared.”

They spent the next hour drinking wine and talking about nothing important. Clara told embarrassing stories from her early days as an editor. Frost shared tales from his military days that were heavily redacted but still entertaining. Elera talked about her first failed experiments in the lab, when she’d been twenty–one and absolutely certain she knew everything.

It was normal. Blessedly, wonderfully normal. Just three people who’d been thrown together by chaos, finding comfort in each other’s company.

Around eleven, Drakonius appeared. “There you all are. I thought everyone had disappeared.”

“Wine therapy session,” Clara explained. “Want to join?”

“I would, but I have news. From my private investigator.”

The mood in the room shifted immediately. Everyone sat up straighter, wine glasses forgotten.

“What kind of news?” Elera asked.

“About that night. Five years ago. The accident that killed Sarah’s parents.” Drakonius pulled up a file on his phone. “My investigator found something interesting. There were three witnesses who originally gave statements saying Sarah wasn’t drunk that night. All three later recanted or disappeared. But one of them, a woman named Jennifer Martinez, just resurfaced. She’s willing to talk.”

“Talk about what?”

“About what really happened that night. About who was really in the car. About why she was paid to disappear.” Drakonius looked at Elera. “She says she has proof that the official story is a lie. That Sarah didn’t kill her parents. Someone else did.”

The room went deadly quiet.

“Who?” Elera whispered.

“She won’t say over the phone. She wants to meet in person. Tomorrow, in a normal location, public place, with protection.”

“It could be a trap,” Frost said immediately. “Xan and Sarah could have sent her to lure you out.”

“Or she could have real information that changes everything,” Drakonius countered. “Information that could end this war before it destroys both of us.”

Elera looked around the room. Clara was nervous but curious. Frost was calculating risks. Drakonius was hopeful but guarded.

“We will meet her,” Elera decided. “But we do it smart. Frost chooses the location. Full security. We bring

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Chapter 139 Betrayal From The Inside

lawyers. And we record everything.”

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“I’ll set it up,” Frost said. “But Elera, if this goes wrong, if it’s a trap, we need to be ready for anything.”

“I’m always ready for anything at this point. It’s my default state.”

After Frost and Clara left to start making arrangements, Elera and Drakonius stayed in the library. The bottle of wine sat between them, mostly empty.

“This could be it,” Drakonius said. “The thing that unravels all of Sarah’s lies. If this woman can prove the accident wasn’t Sarah’s fault, if she can prove someone else was responsible…”

“Then Xan loses his reason to hate me. Sarah loses her victim storytelling. And maybe, just maybe, we get some peace.”

“Or it blows up in our faces and makes everything worse.”

“Always a possibility. But we won’t know unless we try.”

Drakonius reached across and took her hand. “Whatever happens tomorrow, whatever this woman tells us, we face it together. Agreed?”

“Agreed.”

They sat in comfortable silence, hands linked, both of them processing the insanity of the past few days.

“You know,” Elera said eventually. “When you proposed this marriage, I thought it would be simple. You get treatment, I get protection, we go our separate ways after you’re cured.”

“Nothing about us has been simple.”

“No. But it’s been real. Complicated and messy and sometimes infuriating, but real.”

“I wouldn’t change it,” Drakonius said quietly. “Any of it. Even the parts that are terrifying.”

“Me neither.”