The Heiress He Underestimated novel Chapter 33

The Heiress He Underestimated

Chapter 33 No Longer His Daughter (2)

There was a photo of her walking away, her black gown a stark slash through the glittering crowd, her head held high. She looked like a queen in retreat, not a runaway. The caption was less kind.

Another alert.

“KIERAN NETHYS TO MAKE STATEMENT AT 10 AM”

She looked at the time. 9:45 AM.

Her hands were shaking again. She found the remote for the television mounted on the wall and turned it on, flipping to a 24–hour news channel.

And there was her father.

He stood at a podium outside their family home, looking like he had aged twenty years overnight. His face was pale, his eyes bloodshot, but his jaw was set in a hard line of fury. Reporters shouted questions, a wall of noise.

Kieran Nethys raised a hand for silence. The camera zoomed in on his face, on the sheer, sputtering rage he could barely contain.

“I am here today,” he began, his voice trembling with emotion, “to address the appalling and selfish actions of my daughter, Elyrian.”

Elera sat on the edge of the bed, her tea forgotten, her stomach a hard knot.

“Last night, in a display of breathtaking ingratitude and childishness, she chose to humiliate not only a good man, Zephyros Valdris, but also her own family, in front of the entire world.” He paused, milking the moment, playing the heartbroken patriarch. “Her actions have jeopardized the livelihoods of hundreds of employees, destroyed a historic business alliance, and brought untold shame upon our name.”

He leaned into the microphone, his eyes blazing with a performative grief that curdled into something uglier. “I have tried to raise a daughter of grace and duty. It is clear I have failed. Her behavior is so far beyond the pale, so destructive, that I can no longer in good conscience consider her a part of this family.”

The shaking in her hands stopped. It was replaced by a cold, still certainty.

She picked up her now–charged phone. She scrolled past the dozens of messages from Xan–vile, threatening, desperate. She found her father’s number. She didn’t hesitate. She pressed the call.

It rang once, twice. He would be in his car, she thought, feeling pleased with his performance.

He answered, his voice a low, venomous hiss. “You. You dare call me? You little fool. Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

‘Good morning, Daddy,” she said, her voice calm, clear, and utterly unlike the daughter he knew. “I saw your press conference. Very dramatic.”

Where are you?” he snarled, ignoring her tone. “You get back here right now. You will get on your knees and beg Xan for forgiveness. You will undo this!”