His Bride, Her Revenge-Chapter 73: In the Eyes of the Enemy

The photographs slipped from Cambria’s fingers like shards of betrayal, scattering across the polished marble floor of the penthouse in a damning mosaic. Her pulse thundered in her ears, drowning out the distant city sounds as she stared down at the images, each one a carefully curated blade, designed to cut deep. Evelyn Stone and Maddox are locked in apparent intimacy. Dates and timestamps circled in blood-red ink as if mocking her hope. Smiles, touches, a kiss frozen mid-air, too deliberate, too perfect to be innocent.

Maddox stepped forward, reaching for her with eyes full of desperation. "Cambria, this isn’t what it looks like "

She recoiled sharply, the cold edge of her voice slicing the tension. "Don’t."

Her words were ice over fire burning deep beneath the surface, but frozen solid on the outside. Knox crouched to pick up one of the photos, his brow furrowed in disbelief. "These are manipulated. They have to be."

Cambria’s heart waged a war against her reason. She wanted to believe him, to shred the evidence and scream it was all a lie. But after everything they’d been through, she couldn’t let herself fall for another deception. "I don’t know what’s real anymore," she whispered, voice fragile yet resolute.

Maddox closed the distance, his voice dropping low and pleading. "They’re staged. Evelyn’s playing a long game. You know that. She’s trying to fracture us to break our trust before we can bring everything down."

"Then why is she always two steps ahead?" Cambria shot back, eyes blazing with frustration. "Why does she always have the upper hand, no matter what we do?"

Knox ran a hand through his hair, cursing quietly. "Because she’s not working alone. There are allies we haven’t exposed yet."

The room fell into a thick silence, heavy with unspoken fears.

"What do you mean?" Cambria demanded, her gaze sharp as daggers.

Knox looked between them, grim. "Blackwood’s influence runs deeper than we imagined. Evelyn’s distractions are cover for the real strike, something far worse than forged photos."

Cambria’s gaze dropped to the envelope again. On the back, a second note lay in Evelyn’s unmistakably elegant script:

Look closer. Trust is your greatest weakness.

That night, the war room, once a pristine boardroom atop Maddox’s skyscraper, buzzed with tense urgency. Files littered the table, digital projections flickered, and the low hum of betrayal filled the air.

"Pull up the metadata," Cambria ordered, her voice steady despite the turmoil inside. Elara Vale’s nimble fingers danced over the keyboard.

"Two photos show inconsistencies," Elara said, eyes narrowed in concentration. "The shadows don’t match, and this timestamp is from the day Maddox and I were flying back from D.C."

Maddox let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. "Then she’s fabricating the narrative."

Cambria met his eyes, searching for answers in the man she wanted to trust. "But why now? Why leak this when she would have destroyed us weeks ago?"

"Because the board votes tomorrow," Maddox said grimly. "They decide who controls the company, me or the Blackwood-backed faction."

Elara’s eyes flashed. "If they believe you’re compromised, you lose everything."

Cambria stared hard at the photo, then flipped it face down.

"Then we expose the truth before Evelyn seals her victory."

Meanwhile, across the city in a gleaming tower, Evelyn Stone surveyed the skyline with a predatory smile. Beside her stood Julian Mercer, Blackwood’s most trusted ally.

"She’s smarter than I gave her credit for," Evelyn admitted, swirling the wine in her glass. "But smart doesn’t win wars. Power does."

Julian grinned, eyes dark. "You’re underestimating her again. Cambria isn’t the same girl we once broke."

Evelyn’s gaze sharpened. "You still love her."

Julian’s silence was the only answer she needed.

She stepped closer, voice cold as ice. "Then let’s hope she never forces you to choose. Because if she does, we both know who dies first."

The next day dawned cold and silent, snowflakes drifting over Manhattan like ash from a dying fire. Cambria entered the boardroom, every inch the warrior clad in a midnight-blue power suit, her hair pinned back, her gaze steel.

Maddox followed, dressed in black the color of mourning, of war.

The board gathered, suspicion thick in the air. Evelyn sat far away, radiant in red.

"Mr. Raye," a board member began, "Before the vote, we must address a matter of personal indiscretion."

Evelyn smiled, the picture of innocent transparency. "After all, transparency is key."

Cambria stood tall.

"Before you hear accusations, hear the truth."

She flicked the projector on, Elara’s decrypted analysis painting the wall with undeniable facts.

"These images were submitted anonymously," Cambria said. "They claim to show Mr. Raye in compromising positions. But if you look closely "

She pointed to the forensic breakdown. "They are forged. Manipulated with altered timestamps, mismatched shadows, and AI construction."

Gasps rippled. Evelyn’s smile faltered.

"And the source?" Cambria continued, voice cutting sharp. "A private server registered to E. Stone."

Maddox stepped forward. "I’ve made mistakes, but deceit isn’t one of them. I ask for your trust not for me, but for the survival of this company."

Silence fell. The chairman cleared his throat. "We will reconvene in thirty minutes."

Outside, Cambria exhaled.

"You were brilliant," Maddox whispered.

"Don’t," she warned, eyes never leaving the door. "This isn’t over."

Across the street, Evelyn sat in a black car, phone in hand.

"She exposed the photos," her contact reported.

Evelyn’s eyes narrowed. "Then it’s time. Release Phase Two. Burn everything."

Thirty minutes later, the board reconvened only to be interrupted by a deafening explosion.

The building shook. Lights flickered. Screams erupted.

Cambria was the first to react. "Elara, check the servers!"

"They’re being wiped! All data are gone!" Elara cried.

Cambria’s phone buzzed with a single message: a live feed of Knox bound, beaten, bloodied. Behind him, Blackwood’s cold smile. freewēbnoveℓ.com

"You should have walked away, Cambria," Blackwood said through the screen. "But now, you’ll crawl."

Cambria dropped the phone, trembling. For the first time in years, she felt fear not for herself, but for the brother she never got to save. The enemy was no longer lurking in the shadows. He was winning.