Next day, Mira woke to the sound of her phone vibrating violently across the nightstand.
Nathan was already awake beside her, he had barely slept since the FBI visit. His arm instinctively tightened around her when he felt her shift.
"Who is calling you this early?" he murmured.
Mira squinted at the screen.
Unknown numbers. Dozens of them.
Messages flooded in.
Her stomach dropped.
Nathan's phone buzzed at the same moment.
Marianne Kwan.
He answered immediately.
"What happened?"
There was a brief pause on the line.
Then Marianne said the one sentence Nathan had been expecting since the war began.
"You need to see the news."
Nathan reached for the tablet on the bedside table.
The headline was already everywhere.
BUSINESS TITAN NATHAN OLIVERO'S PREGNANT WIFE HIDING A SECRET PAST
Mira felt the air leave her lungs.
Nathan scrolled.
Another headline.
OLIVERO HOLDING HEIR MARRIED TO FORMER NIGHTCLUB HOSTESS?
Another.
WHO IS MIRA MANO REALLY?
Mira's fingers trembled as she took the tablet from him.
There were photos. Old photos.
Blurry ones taken years ago outside a downtown club.
She looked younger. Different.
Smiling beside a tall man whose arm was draped around her shoulders.
The caption beneath the image read:
Mira Mano with former boyfriend Adrian Sam — convicted financial fraudster sentenced three years ago.
Nathan's eyes hardened instantly.
"Where did they get this?"
Mira's voice came out small.
"…I dated him before I met you."
Nathan looked at her.
"You never told me."
"I didn't think it mattered."
Her chest tightened painfully.
"It was years ago. Before you."
Nathan kept reading.
The article continued.
Sources claim Mira Nathan was financially supported by Adrian Kwan during their relationship and frequently appeared at high-profile nightlife venues tied to his investment network.
The implication was obvious.
Gold digger.
Opportunist.
A woman who climbed into Nathan's life through money.
Mira's throat burned.
"That's not true," she whispered.
Nathan believed her immediately.
But belief didn't stop headlines.
Another article loaded.
This one worse.
INSIDE THE WOMAN WHO DISTRACTED OLIVERO'S CEO DURING FEDERAL PROBE
Mira closed the tablet. Her breathing was shallow now.
"They're saying I ruined your company."
Nathan's voice dropped.
"They're saying what someone paid them to say."
Victor. Of course it was Victor!
This wasn't random gossip. It was a surgical character assassination. If Nathan looked like a compromised CEO because of his wife…The board would move against him. Nathan grabbed his phone again.
"Marianne."
"Yes."
"Trace the first publisher."
"Already trying."
"Find who fed them the story."
Pause.
"You think it's your father." Nathan didn't answer. Because they both knew. Within two hours, Olivero Holdings tower looked like a media battlefield. News vans lined the street. Cameras pointed at the glass entrance. Reporters shouted questions at every executive entering the building. Inside the boardroom, directors watched the headlines unfold in real time.
One of the director, Mike, spoke first.
"This is becoming a liability."
Another director nodded grimly.
"Federal investigations… a volatile stock price… and now this."
Victor sat at the far end of the table, perfectly composed. He said nothing. But the silence worked in his favor.
"You married this woman without due diligence."
Nathan's eyes flashed.
"She is my wife."
"And now she's dominating financial headlines," Mike replied. "Do you understand how damaging this is to investor confidence?"
Nathan leaned forward slowly.
"Her past relationship has nothing to do with Olivero Holdings."
"Public perception disagrees."
Victor finally spoke.
His tone calm. Measured.
"Perhaps this is why leadership requires discipline."
Nathan looked at him.
Directly. Coldly.
"You leaked it."
Victor raised a brow slightly.
"That's quite an accusation."
Nathan didn't care about the room anymore.
"You're attacking my wife."
"I'm protecting the company."
Nathan's hands tightened on the table.
"You poisoned her."
Victor's eyes flickered.
For half a second. Enough for Nathan to see it.
Victor leaned forward slightly.
"If your wife cannot withstand public scrutiny," he said quietly, "perhaps she was never suited for this world."
The room fell silent.
Nathan stood abruptly.
The chair scraped loudly against the floor.
"Say one more word about her," Nathan said softly, "and I will forget you are my father."
Victor studied him.
Then leaned back again.
The damage had already been done.
Back at the penthouse, Mira sat on the couch surrounded by screens she wished she could turn off.
Every channel. Every site. Every headline.
Her past. Her ex-boyfriend.
Speculation about her pregnancy.
A commentator's voice echoed from the television:
"Critics argue Nathan Olivero's emotional attachment to his wife may be clouding his judgment during Olivero Holdings's largest crisis in a decade."
Mira muted the TV.
Tears burned in her eyes.
She wasn't crying because they exposed her past.
She was crying because they used it against Nathan.
The front door opened.
Nathan walked in fast.
He crossed the room in seconds.
"Don't read it," he said immediately.
"I already did."
He knelt in front of her.
"This is propaganda."
"They're saying I ruined everything."
"You didn't."
Her voice cracked.
"I should've told you about Adrian."
Nathan shook his head.
"You had a life before me."
"But he was arrested for fraud," she whispered. "Now people will think I was part of it."
Nathan reached for her hands.
"I don't care what they think."
"But the board does."
He didn't deny it.
That silence hurt more than the headlines.
Mira wiped her cheeks.
"You're fighting your father, federal investigators, and the market."
Her voice trembled.
"And now you have to defend me too."
Nathan's gaze sharpened.
"I'm not defending you."
She looked up.
"I'm protecting you."
There was a difference.
And suddenly Mira realized something terrifying.
Victor had chosen the perfect weapon.
Not corporate pressure. Not financial collapse. But humiliation.
If she became toxic enough, Nathan would be forced to choose.
His wife or his empire.
Nathan brushed her hair away from her face.
"Listen to me."
She met his eyes.
"None of this changes who you are."
Her voice shook.
"But it might change who you have to be."
Nathan stood slowly.
"Good."
She frowned.
"What?"
His eyes were colder now.
Harder.
"If they want a scandal," he said quietly, "I'll give them one."
Mira's heart skipped.
"What are you going to do?"
Nathan picked up his phone.
"Call a press conference."
Her breath caught.
"You're going public?"
"Yes."
"With what?"
Nathan looked toward the skyline where Olivero Holdings tower pierced the clouds.
"With the truth."
Across the city, Victor watched the same headlines with quiet satisfaction. Nathan's phone buzzed in his hand. Internal notification.
CEO PRESS CONFERENCE ANNOUNCED — 6:00 PM TODAY
Victor smiled faintly.
Good.
Because when wars became public, collateral damage was unavoidable. And Victor had just turned Mira into the battlefield.