POV: Vivian Chen
I'm sitting in the hospital waiting room, watching Leo sleep on Ethan's lap, when Marcus walks in carrying coffee and looking like he hasn't slept in days.
"Your father's out of surgery," he says, handing me a cup. "Doctors say he'll make it. Lucky man."
Lucky. That's one word for it.
My father—the man who helped Linda destroy my life—is alive. While James, who tried to save us at the end, is dead.
The world is so unfair it makes me want to scream.
"You look like hell," Marcus says, sitting beside me.
"Right back at you."
He smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "We need to talk."
Those four words. Nothing good ever follows those four words.
"Marcus, if this is about the company merger—"
"It's not about business." He glances at Ethan, who's pretending not to listen while Leo drools on his expensive shirt. "It's about us. About our engagement."
My stomach drops. "Marcus—"
"You're in love with him." He says it so gently, so kindly, that it hurts worse than if he'd been angry. "It's okay, Vivian. I've known for a while."
"That's not—I don't—" But the protest dies on my lips.
Because he's right.
Somewhere between hating Ethan Sterling and watching him teach Leo to skip stones, between wanting revenge and seeing him take a knife wound to protect our son—
I fell in love with him again.
Or maybe I never stopped.
"Our engagement was always fake," Marcus continues. "A business arrangement. You needed access to Sterling City's elite circles, and I needed cover from my family's expectations."
"But—"
"But nothing." He takes my hand. "Vivian, you gave me something precious. You let me hide behind our fake relationship so I wouldn't have to face the truth about myself. About who I really am."
"Marcus..."
"I'm gay." He says it out loud, in a public waiting room, and I see the relief wash over his face. "I've known since I was sixteen. And I've been hiding it ever since because my family would disown me. My father would cut me off. My mother would—" He stops, swallowing hard. "But watching you fight for Leo, watching you risk everything for the truth—it made me realize I'm tired of living a lie."
Tears blur my vision. "I'm proud of you."
"Don't be. Not yet." He squeezes my hand. "I haven't actually told them. Haven't actually done anything except say the words out loud for the first time."
"Then I'm proud of you for that. For starting."
We sit in silence for a moment. Across the room, Ethan shifts, and Leo mumbles something about dinosaurs in his sleep.
"He's good with Leo," Marcus observes. "Better than I expected."
"He is."
"And you're good together. The three of you. Like a real family."
The word "family" makes my chest tight. "We're not—it's complicated. Six years of hurt doesn't just disappear because Linda's dead."
"Maybe not. But six years of hurt also doesn't mean you can't start over." Marcus stands up. "Which brings me to why I really came here. I'm breaking off our engagement. Publicly. Tonight."
"Tonight? Marcus, you just got out of the hospital yesterday—"
"The Chen Fashion House charity gala is tonight. Everyone who's anyone will be there, including the press." He smiles. "Perfect audience for coming out, don't you think?"
"Are you sure? Your family—"
"My family can accept me or lose me. Their choice." His voice is steady, but I see the fear underneath. "Will you be there? When I do it?"
"Of course." I stand up, hugging him tightly. "Always."
Eight hours later, I'm standing in a ballroom full of people who would sell their souls for a good scandal.
Tonight, they're going to get one.
Leo is safe with Sofia at Ethan's secure apartment. My father is stable in ICU. Claire is in jail awaiting trial. Linda is in the morgue.
Everything should feel resolved. Over. Done.
So why do I feel like I'm standing on the edge of a cliff?
"You okay?" Ethan appears at my elbow, looking impossibly handsome despite the bandage hidden under his suit jacket.
"Fine. Just nervous for Marcus."
"He's braver than I gave him credit for." Ethan's hand brushes mine, sending electricity up my arm. "Coming out to his family in front of three hundred people? That takes guts."
"He learned from the best."
"Who, you?"
"Who, Leo." I smile despite my nerves. "Five-year-olds don't know how to be anyone but themselves. They're honest about everything. Marcus said watching Leo be so completely himself made him want that too."
Ethan's eyes soften. "Our son is pretty amazing."
Our son. The words still feel new. Fragile. Like if I breathe too hard, they'll shatter.
"Ethan, about us—"
"Ladies and gentlemen!" Marcus's voice booms through the speakers. "If I could have your attention, please."
The ballroom goes quiet. Everyone turns to face the stage where Marcus stands, looking terrified and determined at the same time.
"I have an announcement to make," he continues. "Many of you know me as the CEO of Horizon Innovations. Some of you know me as Vivian Chen's fiancé. Tonight, I'm here to tell you the truth about both of those things."
The crowd murmurs. I can see the reporters pulling out their phones, ready to capture every word.
"First—Vivian and I are ending our engagement. It was mutual, amicable, and long overdue. We were never really in love. We were friends helping each other through difficult times."
More murmurs. Confused looks. I see Claire in the crowd, her eyes lighting up with opportunity despite being out on bail.
"Second—" Marcus takes a deep breath. "The reason Vivian and I were never in love is because I'm gay. I've known my whole life, and I've been hiding it because I was afraid. Afraid of losing my family. My career. My place in this world."
Dead silence.
"But I'm done being afraid," Marcus says, his voice growing stronger. "I'm done pretending to be someone I'm not. So yes, I'm gay. And if my family can't accept that, if this city can't accept that, then I don't need any of you."
He looks directly at his parents in the front row. His mother's face is frozen in shock. His father looks like he's about to have a heart attack.
"Mom, Dad—I love you. But I love myself more. And I'm done apologizing for who I am."
Then he walks off the stage.
The ballroom explodes.
People are talking, shouting, some applauding, some booing. Reporters rush toward Marcus, cameras flashing.
I push through the crowd, trying to reach him. "Marcus!"
But someone else gets there first.
Claire.
"Well, well," she says loudly, her voice carrying over the chaos. "That explains so much. Poor Vivian, stuck in a fake engagement while the real love story was happening right under her nose."
She turns to me, her smile poisonous. "Tell me, sis—did you know Marcus was gay when you agreed to marry him? Or did he trick you like you tricked Ethan six years ago?"
"Claire, don't—" Marcus starts, but she cuts him off.
"Oh, I'm not done." Claire's eyes gleam with malice. "Since we're all being honest tonight, let's talk about honesty. Let's talk about how Vivian left town six years ago and came back with a convenient son who just happens to look like Ethan Sterling."
My blood runs cold. "Shut up, Claire."
"Let's talk about how Vivian's been playing the victim, when really she's been playing everyone. Poor Marcus, used for a fake engagement. Poor Ethan, kept from his son for five years." Claire steps closer, her voice dropping to a whisper only I can hear. "And poor, poor Leo—who has no idea his mother is a manipulative liar just like his grandmother Linda."
I slap her.
The sound echoes through the suddenly quiet ballroom.
Claire's head snaps to the side, a red mark already forming on her cheek. When she looks back at me, there's triumph in her eyes.
"There she is," Claire says to the crowd. "The real Vivian Chen. Violent. Unstable. Just like her mother was before she—"
"Before she what?" Ethan's voice cuts through the room like a knife. He's standing beside me now, his presence commanding instant attention. "Before your mother poisoned her? Before Linda systematically destroyed the Chen family from the inside?"
Claire's smile falters. "I don't know what you're—"
"Yes, you do." Ethan pulls out his phone, holding it up so everyone can see. "Because I have medical records. Real ones, not the fake ones Linda showed us. Records that show Elena Chen didn't die of natural causes six years ago. She died of slow poisoning. Arsenic, specifically. Small doses over several months."
The crowd gasps.
My mother. My beautiful, brilliant mother. Poisoned?
"That's a lie!" Claire shrieks. "You can't prove—"
"I can, actually." Ethan swipes through his phone. "Linda kept journals. Very detailed journals. We found them in her apartment after she died. She documented everything—how she seduced Richard Chen, how she got pregnant with you, how she waited for the perfect moment to strike."
He looks at Claire with disgust. "Your mother didn't just want revenge on Elena Chen for some imagined slight. She wanted to be Elena Chen. So she killed her, married her husband, and tried to steal her daughter's life. And you helped her do it."
"No!" Claire backs away. "I didn't know about Mom! I didn't know she—"
"But you knew about the rest," I say, finding my voice. "You knew about the hotel. The drugs. The fake evidence. You helped Linda destroy my life because you wanted everything I had."
"Because you had everything!" Claire screams. "You were loved! You were wanted! You had a mother who cherished you and a father who—" Her voice breaks. "I was nothing. Just the secret. The mistake. The child no one was supposed to know about."
For just a second, I almost feel sorry for her.
Then I remember Leo, tied to a chair, terrified.
"You were a victim of Linda's choices," I say coldly. "But that doesn't excuse yours. You chose to hurt innocent people. You chose to drug me, to set up Ethan, to steal from my mother's company. You chose to kidnap my son."
"Our son," Ethan corrects, his hand finding mine. "And you'll never touch him again."
Police officers appear at the edges of the ballroom. Claire's bail conditions included staying away from me and Ethan. By being here, by threatening me, she's violated them.
"Claire Chen," an officer announces, "you're under arrest for violation of bail conditions and harassment."
As they handcuff her, Claire looks at me one last time.
"This isn't over," she hisses. "You think you've won? You think—"
"I think you're going to jail," I interrupt. "For a very long time. And when you get out, I'll have rebuilt everything you and Linda tried to destroy. Chen Fashion House will be stronger than ever. My family will be whole. And you'll be forgotten."
They drag her away, still screaming threats.
The ballroom is silent.
Then, slowly, someone starts clapping.
Marcus.
Others join in. Within seconds, the entire room is applauding.
But I barely hear it. Because Ethan is pulling me close, his arms wrapping around me like he's afraid I'll disappear.
"It's over," he whispers. "It's really over."
"Is it?" I look up at him. "Claire's gone, Linda's dead, but we still have six years of damage to repair. We still have to figure out how to be parents together. How to—"
He kisses me.
Right there, in front of three hundred people and a dozen cameras.
The kiss is soft and desperate and full of six years of longing.
When we break apart, the crowd is cheering.
"I love you," Ethan says. "I loved you six years ago, I loved you every day you were gone, and I love you now. I don't care how long it takes to fix what we broke. I'll wait forever if I have to."
My phone buzzes before I can respond.
A text from Sofia: "Turn on the news. NOW."
Ethan pulls out his phone, finding a news stream. The headline makes my heart stop:
"BREAKING: Richard Chen Confesses to Wife's Murder from Hospital Bed. Claims Linda Chen Forced Him to Poison Elena Chen Six Years Ago."
The blood drains from my face.
My father. My weak, manipulated father—he knew. He knew Linda was poisoning my mother, and he did nothing.
No. Worse than nothing.
He helped.
"Vivian—" Ethan starts, but I'm already running.
Out of the ballroom. Through the lobby. Into the street.
I run until my lungs burn and my legs give out, collapsing on a bench in a park I don't recognize.
My mother didn't just die. She was murdered.
And my father helped kill her.
My phone rings. Ethan.
"Leave me alone," I answer.
"Not happening. Where are you?"
"I don't know. Some park. I just—I need to be alone right now."
"Vivian, you don't have to be alone. Not anymore. Let me come get you. Let me—"
"My father killed my mother!" The words rip out of me. "He knew Linda was poisoning her, and he let it happen! He chose Linda over Mom! Over me! How am I supposed to—"
A hand covers my mouth from behind.
I try to scream, but something sharp presses against my neck.
"Hang up," a voice whispers. "Or I slit your throat right here."
The voice is familiar. Male. Dangerous.
I freeze.
"Vivian?" Ethan's voice comes through the phone. "Vivian, what's wrong? Say something!"
"Hang up," the voice repeats. "Now."
My finger trembles as I end the call.
The hand releases my mouth, but the knife stays pressed to my throat.
"Good girl," the voice says.
I turn slowly.
The man holding the knife is someone I've seen before. At the warehouse. One of Linda's hired thugs.
"You cost my boss everything," he says. "Her life, her money, her plans. Now you're going to pay."
"Linda's dead," I manage. "Whatever she paid you—"
"She paid me half up front. The other half was supposed to come when you and Sterling were dead." His grip tightens on the knife. "Since she can't pay me, I'll take payment another way."
He smiles, and it's the cruelest thing I've ever seen.
"Your son is at Sterling's apartment, right? Forty-second floor, north tower? Cute kid. Be a shame if something happened to him."
My entire body goes cold. "Don't you dare—"
"Then you're coming with me. Quietly. Or I make a phone call, and Leo has a very bad night."
He has Leo's location. He has people watching my son.
I have no choice.
"Okay," I whisper. "I'll come."
He pulls me to my feet, the knife hidden against my side as he walks me toward a black van parked at the curb.
My phone buzzes in my pocket. Ethan, calling back.
I can't answer.
Can't risk this man hurting Leo.
The van door opens. Inside, two more men wait.
This is it. This is how I die.
I think of Leo, sleeping safely in Sofia's care, not knowing his mother is about to disappear forever.
I think of Ethan, probably racing through the city right now, trying to find me.
I think of my mother, poisoned slowly by the woman she trusted.
And I think: Not like this. I won't die like this.
As the man pushes me toward the van, I make my move.
I drop my weight, twisting hard to the side. The knife slices my arm, but I'm free.
I run.
Behind me, footsteps pound. Shouts. The van's engine roars to life.
I sprint toward the street, toward people, toward safety—
A hand grabs my hair, yanking me backward.
I fall hard, the concrete scraping my palms.
The man looms over me, knife raised.
"Should've gotten in the van," he says.
The knife plunges down—
A gunshot rings out.
The man drops, blood spreading across his chest.
Behind him, a figure emerges from the shadows.
Not Ethan.
Not Sofia.
My father, still in his hospital gown, holding a gun with shaking hands.
"Dad?"
Richard Chen drops the gun, collapsing beside me.
"I'm sorry," he gasps, blood seeping through his bandages. "I'm so sorry, Vivian. For everything. For your mother. For Linda. For—"
Sirens wail in the distance.
My father's eyes close.
And I'm left holding him in the dark, surrounded by bodies, wondering how many more people have to die before this nightmare finally ends.