[CONTENT TEMPLATE HERE]
Chapter 848:
The electronic lock on her front door beeped.
Vera burst in like a hurricane, not bothering to remove her heavy wool coat. She practically sprinted across the hardwood floor, heels clicking frantically, clutching her iPad with both hands.
“June!” Vera’s voice trembled with shock and barely contained excitement.
She slammed the iPad flat on top of the term sheets.
June flinched — her nervous system interpreting the sudden noise as a threat, her heart rate spiking before she registered what she was looking at. The Twitter application was open. The number one trending hashtag worldwide, sitting at over two million posts, read in bold: AlyciaBeasleyExposed.
𝖯𝖣𝖥𝗌 𝗈𝗇
Before June could speak, Vera hit play.
The video was heavily pixelated over the attackers, but the audio was crystal clear. Alycia’s screams filled the bright kitchen. Then the overlaid audio track began — her distorted, arrogant voice ordering the hitman to disfigure and assault June before staging an overdose.
June’s pupils contracted. Her stomach lurched. She recognized every word. It was the exact fate she had escaped by hours.
The video cut to a blurred but unmistakable shot of Alycia’s face.
Vera clapped her hands together, a dark, vindictive smile spreading across her face. “Karma is a bitch! The entire Upper East Side is melting down. The Ivy League alumni boards are expelling her. She is dead to the world, June. Dead p>
June did not smile. She did not cheer.
Her eyes had locked onto the background of the video. Beneath the blurred figure, she recognized the intricate custom-woven pattern of the Persian rug — Alycia’s penthouse. She knew that rug.
Her mind connected the data points in a fraction of a second. She didn’t need to have witnessed the aftermath firsthand. That particular method — scorched earth, unrestrained, indifferent to consequence — carried a signature she recognized as clearly as a fingerprint.
She reached out and paused the video. She pushed the iPad aside, took a long swallow of ice water, and waited for the bile to settle. Her pulse hammered against the gauze on her neck.
Vera leaned against the counter, watching the absence of celebration on June’s face. “You figured it out, didn’t you? Was it Crawford? Did he do this to avenge you p>
June shook her head. Her voice was steady and cold. “Crawford is a predator, but a corporate one. He wouldn’t leave a physical trail the FBI could walk straight back to his media empire. This lacks finesse p>
She looked up at Vera. “Only one person in this city operates like a rabid dog with zero regard for consequences p>
Vera’s hand flew to her mouth. “Cole? But — she was his everything. He destroyed his life for her. He actually ordered this p>
She searched June’s face. “June… is this his twisted way of making amends? Is he trying to prove something to you p>
A short, humorless laugh escaped June’s lips. “Amends,” she repeated. The word tasted like ash.