21
###21
It was already late when I got home. I quietly sat down and ate the small cake my mentor’s wife had made. It was light, sweet, and delicate-each bite tasted like warmth. For a moment, I felt as if all the pain and injustice of the past twenty years had somehow been exchanged for this fleeting but pure happiness.
I lit a candle, snapped a photo of the beautiful cake, and posted it on social media with a caption:
“My mentor’s wife makes the most amazing cake ~ so delicious!”
Almost immediately, the likes poured in, along with a wave of comments.
Most were kind-well wishes, words of envy, people happy for me. But the usual critics were there too. Some still accused me of murder, claiming I was just trying to ruin the Wren family’s name and discredit poor, missing Delilah.
Then, under one of those hateful comments, a reply appeared out of nowhere:
“If that’s what you think, then let me show you who Delilah really is.”
Moments later, the internet exploded.
Dozens of videos surfaced-evidence of Delilah’s past, and every one of them damning. It was as if someone had been holding onto this material, waiting for the perfect time to release it.
I instantly realized-it had to be Daniel or Julian.
They’d once wanted to deal with her privately, but now, perhaps to clear my name, they’d finally exposed everything.
The footage went viral within minutes.
News outlets scrambled to pick up the story. Social media was on fire.
#The True Face of Sweetheart Delilah
#Ava’s Innocence Proven-The Real Criminal Was the Fake Daughter
These headlines topped trending lists across the country. Outrage flooded the internet.
‘Delilah was in my high school! She was a bully-mean and two-faced. Once, she made a girl drink toilet water just because she bumped into her in the hallway.”
‘I used to work as a maid in the Wren household. She made me crawl on the floor like a horse. When I got pregnant, she slipped abortion pills into my drink. My husband and I tried for ten years to have a child… I lost it because of her. I still suffer from depression.”
“How can someone look so innocent but be this evil inside?”
“The Wren family covered for her for years. But justice catches up. She deserves to be banned, jailed, erased.”
More and more dark secrets poured out-bullying classmates, tormenting servants, extravagance, lies, and slander. Her once-polished image crumbled overnight.
And just like that, I was fully exonerated.
The next day, the Wren Corporation’s stock price plummeted. A month later, while I was finishing
up work on a new film, a friend told me the Wren family had collapsed. Business partners cut ties. Lawsuits piled up. They were heading for bankruptcy.
Could one person-Delilah-really bring down an entire empire?
Or was someone else pulling the strings behind the scenes, using this moment to deliver the final blow?
That same evening, I received a call from an unfamiliar number.
It was Julian.
I was about to hang up when I heard his voice.
“Hey, wait! Don’t hang up!”
His voice was hoarse-strained, desperate. I’d never heard him sound like this before. “Dad’s condition has worsened. Mom… she had a breakdown. She’s in the hospital. They keep calling your name. They miss you. I know we’ve made mistakes, but… you’re their daughter. Can’t you just come back and see them once? Please?”
I laughed bitterly.
“Their daughter? What kind of parents treat their daughter like that? Mr. Wren, I’ve told you before-I’m no longer part of the Wren family. My last name is Monroe. I have no parents. No brothers. Please, stop calling me.”
I hung up and blocked the number.
The next day, I saw the news.
Julian-crushed by the company’s downfall and the chaos at home-had gone completely gray overnight.
