PART 2 — THE SECRET BEHIND THE EMPIRE
The room stayed silent after my words.
Then Andrew laughed.
A loud, confident laugh.
The kind of laugh people make when they think they are untouchable.
“Ownership?”
He looked at his mother.
Then at Victoria.
“Did you hear that?”
Victoria smiled.
“She’s desperate.”
Andrew stepped closer.
“Mariana, do you really think anyone believes you?”
I looked at him.
“I don’t need them to.”
That bothered him.
I could see it.
Because for four years, Andrew’s greatest weapon was making me doubt myself.
But tonight, I wasn’t doubting anything.
I knew exactly who I was.
He pointed toward the documents on the table.
“The evidence is clear.”
I looked down.
Fake financial records.
Fake transfers.
A carefully prepared story.
They had spent months building a lie.
But they forgot something.
I was the person who built the company.
I knew every number.
Every contract.
Every signature.
Every hidden account.
“You should have checked the documents better,” I said.
Andrew frowned.
“What?”
I picked up the papers.
“This signature.”
I tapped the bottom.
“Not mine.”
His face changed slightly.
Only slightly.
But I noticed.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
I smiled.
“You used my old signature.”
Silence.
“You forgot I changed it three years ago.”
Victoria’s expression hardened.
Andrew looked at her.
And for the first time, they both looked worried.
I continued.
“You created a fraud case against me.”
I placed the documents down.
“But you accidentally created evidence against yourselves.”
His mother stood.
“You’re lying.”
I looked at her.
“No.”
My voice was calm.
“You just never bothered to know me.”
That sentence hurt them more than anger would have.
Because it was true.
They never knew me.
They only knew what they wanted me to be.
The quiet wife.
The woman behind the man.
The person who existed to support Andrew.
They never imagined I was the person who made him successful.
Andrew shook his head.
“You’re bluffing.”
I reached for my phone.
Again.
This time, I pressed another button.
The large screen on the dining wall turned on.
Everyone turned.
A video appeared.
Andrew freezing.
Victoria stepping closer.
His mother staring.
Because the footage showed everything.
Every meeting.
Every conversation.
Every plan.
Their plan to remove me.
Their plan to take control.
Their plan to transfer company ownership.
Victoria whispered:
“No…”
Andrew looked at me.
“How?”
I answered simply.
“Because I knew.”
The room became colder.
“You installed cameras?” Andrew asked.
“No.”
I looked at him.
“You did.”
His face went pale.
He understood.
The security system.
The mansion.
The company network.
Everything he thought belonged to him…
Was still connected to me.
I watched as the confidence disappeared from his face.
For the first time in years…
May you like
Andrew looked afraid.
And I wasn’t finished.
