Rhea lay on her bed, still in the clothes she had worn for the night, knees drawn up, the bouquet discarded on the floor beside her. Ling's blazer was folded near the pillow, untouched. The room smelled faintly of wine and candles — of plans that had died before they were spoken.
Her eyes were swollen, throat raw. She stared at the ceiling without blinking.
Her phone rang.
Shyra.
Rhea answered immediately, voice already breaking.
"It's ruined," Rhea said before Shyra could speak. "Everything. Completely ruined."
Shyra went quiet for a second. "What happened? Did Mom—"
"She showed her," Rhea whispered. "She showed Ling everything she needed to break her. She played the recording. She took her away before I could even explain."
Rhea turned onto her side, clutching the blazer to her chest now, nails digging into the fabric.
"She thinks I never loved her," Rhea said, breath hitching. "She thinks I planned all of it. She thinks I destroyed her on purpose."
Shyra inhaled sharply. "Rhea… the headlines—"
Rhea frowned faintly, confusion cutting through the pain.
"What headlines?"
There was a pause on the line. Too long.
Shyra's voice dropped, careful, controlled. "You don't know?"
Rhea pushed herself up slightly. "Know what, Shyra?"
Another silence — heavier now.
"Ling was arrested tonight," Shyra said quietly. "Drunk driving. Possession. There are videos everywhere."
Rhea's breath left her all at once.
"What?" she whispered.
"She was released," Shyra continued, gently. "Victor intervened. But the damage is done. Her name is everywhere."
Rhea felt the room tilt.
"No," she said, shaking her head even though Shyra couldn't see it. "No, she was with me. She left angry, but she wasn't— she wouldn't—"
Her voice cracked completely.
"This is because of me," Rhea said hoarsely. "She broke because of me."
Shyra didn't interrupt.
Rhea pressed the phone against her ear harder, as if it could anchor her.
"She looked at me like I killed her," Rhea whispered. "And now… now the whole world is watching her fall."
Tears spilled onto the pillow, soaking into Ling's blazer.
"I was going to tell her the truth," Rhea cried. "I swear I was. I was going to choose her."
Shyra's voice softened but didn't lose its firmness. "You waited too long."
Rhea closed her eyes, the words cutting deeper than any accusation.
"I didn't know it would cost her this much," she whispered. "I didn't know she'd destroy herself."
On the other end of the call, Shyra closed her eyes.
"Mom did," she said quietly. "And she still hasn't finished."
Rhea stared at the darkened room, at the candles burned down to wax puddles, at the proposal that never happened.
She disconnected the call without another word.
Her hands were shaking.
For a second, the room was silent — too silent — the kind that rang in the ears. Then her phone buzzed again, not a call this time, but notification after notification piling up faster than she could process.
She looked down.
And froze.
Ling's face filled the screen.
Not the composed, untouchable Ling the world worshipped — but blurred, unsteady, laughing wrong, eyes empty. Another clip followed. Handcuffs. Police lights. Headlines stacked in bold, merciless fonts.
KWONG HEIRESS DETAINED — INTOXICATION & POSSESSION
LING KWONG'S SHOCKING NIGHT
FROM EMPIRE TO EMBARRASSMENT
Rhea's breath hitched painfully.
"No," she whispered, shaking her head. "No… no…"
She scrolled with trembling fingers, every new image cutting deeper — Ling leaning against a bar, Ling being led toward a police car, Ling's face tilted back in laughter that wasn't laughter at all.
"This is because of me," Rhea whispered, voice breaking. "This is all because of me."
Her chest tightened until it hurt to breathe.
She opened her contacts immediately and dialed Ling's number.
Once.
It rang twice.
Then went straight to voicemail.
She hung up and tried again, panic flooding in now, fingers clumsy.
The phone was switched off.
Rhea stared at the screen like it had betrayed her too.
"Please," she whispered, pressing the phone to her forehead. "Please pick up."
She tried again.
Nothing.
Again.
Nothing.
Her hands dropped to her lap.
The weight of it all crashed down at once — Kane's smile, the recording, Ling's eyes when she said you ruined me, the bouquet abandoned on the floor, the blazer now creased and useless beside her.
Rhea curled forward on the bed, clutching the phone in both hands like it was the only thing keeping her upright.
"I didn't mean it," she sobbed quietly. "I never meant to break you."
She pressed her face into the pillow, the scent of Ling still there, unbearable now.
Outside, the mansion was loud with celebration — Kane's birthday still ongoing, laughter and music echoing faintly through the walls.
Inside Rhea's room, everything was dead silent.
Ling was unreachable.
The truth was too late.
And the world was already punishing the woman Rhea loved —
for trusting her.
At the end of the night, Rhea understood something with devastating clarity:
Revenge had not just destroyed Ling's faith.
It had taken away Rhea's right to be believed.
Kane entered the room without knocking.
The door closed behind her with a soft, deliberate click.
"The guests have left," Kane said calmly. "You didn't even come down."
Rhea didn't turn around.
Kane walked further in, heels measured against the floor, eyes scanning the wreckage — the bouquet on the ground, the candles burned down unevenly, Ling's blazer on the bed.
A slow smile curved her lips.
"You should be happy," Kane continued. "Your revenge is complete. Exactly as planned."
Rhea turned then.
Her eyes were red, swollen, burning with something far more dangerous than tears.
"You ruined it," Rhea said, her voice shaking but loud. "You ruined all of it."
Kane stopped.
For a moment, her face was unreadable.
Then she laughed — short, sharp, humorless.
"I saved you," Kane said. "Don't confuse that with cruelty. I am happy finallyrevenge tastes like blood."
Rhea stepped closer, fists clenched. "You destroyed her. You destroyed me. This wasn't how it was supposed to—"
Kane moved faster than Rhea could react.
Her hand shot out and closed around Rhea's throat, slamming her back against the wall. The impact knocked the breath from Rhea's lungs.
"Now you're arguing with me," Kane said quietly, eyes cold, grip tightening just enough to remind her who held power. "Because of her."
Rhea gasped, fingers clawing at Kane's wrist, eyes filling again — but she didn't look away.
Kane leaned in, voice dropping to a lethal whisper.
"Remember this, Rhea," Kane said. "I ruined my life once for a Kwong. Once."
Her grip tightened for a second more.
"I will not let that happen again," Kane continued. "Not to my daughter. Not to myself."
Rhea's chest burned as she struggled for air.
"Get that into your head."
Kane released her abruptly.
Rhea slid down the wall, coughing, hands pressed to her throat, vision blurring — but her eyes stayed locked on Kane, filled with hatred and something dangerously close to resolve.
Kane straightened her dress, composed again, as if nothing had happened.
"This is over," Kane said coldly. "Ling Kwong is finished. And so is this weakness of yours."
She turned toward the door, pausing only once.
"Tomorrow," Kane added without looking back, "you will thank me."
The door closed.
Rhea stayed on the floor, shaking, throat burning, heart tearing itself apart. "I hate that I got succeeded in my revenge."
She pressed her forehead to her knees, clutching Ling's blazer to her chest like a wound that wouldn't stop bleeding.
For the first time, the truth settled brutally inside her:
Kane hadn't just destroyed Ling.
She had claimed Rhea completely.
And loving Ling now meant choosing something far more dangerous than revenge —
war.