Chapter: The Truth Behind the Veil
The air in Felix's office turned frigid, the kind of cold that settles in your bones when a life-altering secret is ripped out into the light. Gloria felt like the floor had vanished beneath her feet. Her hand instinctively flew to the back of her ear, tracing the faint, flower-shaped mark she had carried since birth—the mark Felix had just described with haunting precision.
"You?" Gloria whispered, her voice trembling. "It was you that night?"
Felix stepped closer, his piercing eyes searching hers with a mixture of disbelief and a sudden, fierce clarity. The stern CEO facade he usually wore was cracking. "The hotel... The Sapphire Suite. You were disoriented, Gloria. I thought—I was told it was a setup, an arrangement. But when I saw that mark in the moonlight..." He trailed off, his gaze shifting sharply to Flora, who looked like a trapped animal.
"She's lying!" Flora shrieked, her face contorting. "Gloria is just jealous! She saw how much money you gave me and now she wants to steal my life again! Just like she stole Jemel!"
"Shut up, Flora!" Gloria finally snapped, the years of suppressed rage bubbling over. "I didn't steal Jemel, he was a bottom-feeder who couldn't keep his hands to himself! But this? You used my trauma—you used the worst night of my life to bankroll your designer clothes while Mom is sitting in a house with no power because we owe 5 million?"
The Confrontation
Felix's presence loomed over them both, but his focus was pinned on Flora. The 50 million he had handed over wasn't just money to him; it was a debt of honor he thought he owed to the woman he had "wronged." To find out he had been funding a con artist while the real victim worked as his subordinate for pennies made his blood boil.
"The proof, Flora," Felix said, his voice a low, dangerous rumble. "You showed me the dress. You knew the room number. How?"
Flora stammered, backing toward the mahogany door. "I... I just knew! We're sisters, we talk!"
"We don't talk," Gloria countered, stepping forward. "But you were there that night, weren't you? You followed me to the hotel. You saw me go into that room while I was drugged and instead of helping me, you took notes? You took the dress from my bag afterward?"
The silence that followed was an admission of guilt. Flora's eyes darted around the room, looking for an exit, but the weight of her lies had finally become too heavy to carry.
Felix's Resolve
Felix turned back to Gloria. The realization that the woman he had been falling for in the office was the same woman from that fateful night changed everything. The "unpleasantness" he felt about Flora now made sense—his body and soul had known it wasn't her, even if his mind had been tricked.
"Fifty million," Felix muttered, a dark laugh escaping his lips. He looked at Flora with pure disdain. "You have twenty-four hours to return every cent that hasn't been spent. As for the rest... I have very expensive lawyers who enjoy making examples out of fraudsters."
"Felix, please!" Flora lunged for his arm, but he stepped back as if her touch were poison.
"Get out," he commanded. "Before I call security and have you dragged through the lobby in front of everyone."
Flora looked at Gloria one last time—not with regret, but with a chilling, sharpened envy—before grabbing her purse and fleeing the office, the sound of her heels clicking frantically down the hallway.
Two Souls, One Truth
Now, only Gloria and Felix remained. The silence was heavy, filled with the ghosts of that night. Gloria felt exposed, her "mask of innocence" completely stripped away.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Felix asked softly, reaching out but hesitating to touch her.
"I didn't know it was you," Gloria choked out, tears finally spilling over. "It was dark... I was so scared, Felix. I blocked so much of it out. I just wanted to move on, to pay off the debts Flora ran up. I never imagined my boss was the man..."
Felix didn't hesitate this time. He closed the distance and pulled her into a firm, protective embrace. "I've been looking for you," he whispered into her hair. "I thought I found you in her, but it felt like a nightmare. Now I know why."
Gloria leaned into him, the scent of his cologne—sandalwood and expensive rain—suddenly triggering a memory of safety rather than fear. But as she pulled back to look at him, a new thought struck her.
"Felix... if Flora took 50 million, and we still owe 5 million to the people she borrowed from in Mom's name..."
"Consider it gone," Felix said firmly. "But there's a bigger problem, Gloria. If Flora was willing to sell your soul for 50 million, what is she going to do now that she's lost it all?"