Part 38 –
Just when you're ready to strike…
Your enemy doesn't always hit back.
Sometimes, they hit somewhere you'd never guard
Because you never imagined betrayal could wear a familiar face.
The Legal Ambush Begins
Wolfe Enterprises announced their countersuit in a shock press conference.
Lila stood tall at the podium, flanked by Marion, Ethan, and her legal team. Her voice was clear, firm.
"Today, we are not just defending ourselves we are defending truth, legacy, and the countless women who were silenced by Lucien Luthor's power. But silence ends now."
She unveiled the contract signed by Eleanor Whitmore and Victor Mirov proof that Luthor's foundational software was built on stolen ground.
The media exploded.
Investors began pulling from Luthor Enterprises.
And quietly, subpoenas were issued for former board members to testify.
Lucien's walls were cracking.
But he wasn't done fighting.
The Phone Call That Shook Her
That evening, as Lila prepared to meet with Victor and the legal team again, her phone buzzed with an unknown number.
She almost didn't answer.
But something instinct, maybe made her swipe it open.
"Lila."
A woman's voice.
Familiar. But long buried.
Lila froze. "...Celia?"
Her aunt. Her mother's estranged sister. The one who hadn't spoken to Lila since the funeral. The one who'd sold her shares of Wolfe for quick cash and vanished.
Now she was calling?
"Lucien found me," Celia whispered. "He offered me immunity. Said I could clear my name... if I gave him something."
Lila's heart pounded. "What did you give him?"
Silence.
Then: "I didn't mean to betray you. I just needed help."
Lila's stomach twisted. "Celia. What did you give him?"
Another pause. Then the whisper:
"Your mother's journals."
The Betrayal Deepens
The journals weren't in the briefcase. They had never been. Lila thought they'd been lost, or destroyed.
Apparently, Eleanor had mailed them to Celia just days before her death trying to mend things. But Celia had hidden them, too angry to read.
Until now.
And Lucien had them.
Lila dropped into her desk chair, the weight of it all crashing down. Ethan rushed in moments later, reading the panic on her face.
"What happened?"
"He has her voice," she whispered. "Her words. Her pain. Her secrets."
"If he twists them"
"He will."
Lucien's Masterstroke
The next morning, headlines exploded with selective pages from Eleanor's journals.
Pages where she questioned her ability to lead.
Where she wrote about her guilt over a failed prototype.
Where she confessed doubts about her daughter's readiness for business.
They were taken out of context but powerful. Emotional.
The media twisted it:
"Even Eleanor Whitmore Doubted Her Daughter."
Lucien held a press conference within hours.
He smiled, smug.
"The journals don't lie. Eleanor was brilliant but flawed. And she knew her daughter lacked the vision to lead. This isn't about power. It's about protecting a legacy she clearly feared would be misused."
Lila watched from Wolfe Tower, the color draining from her face.
For the first time since taking the CEO seat… she felt truly exposed.
The Breakdown
That night, she locked herself in her office.
She didn't cry. Not at first.
But as the lights of the city blinked below and the noise of the world quieted, the dam finally cracked.
Ethan found her curled on the couch, clutching a scarf that had once belonged to Eleanor.
"I'm so tired," she whispered. "I've fought so hard. And he just… turns her words against me."
Ethan knelt beside her.
"He twisted a dead woman's grief. That's not a victory for my mother it's desperation."
"She doubted me," Lila said, voice breaking. "Maybe he's right."
Ethan took her hands in his.
"No. She feared for you. Because she knew the war you'd face. That doesn't mean she didn't believe in you."
He looked her in the eyes.
"You're the only one who's ever scared Lucien. That's why he's reaching this low."
The Turning Point
Lila stood at Wolfe Tower the next day, ready for war.
She faced the cameras again this time not just as a CEO, but as a daughter.
"I am not ashamed of my mother's doubts. She was human. And her fear was never of me it was for me. She knew how cruel this world could be."
She held up a copy of the journal.
"I've read every page. I carry her fears, yes. But I also carry her strength, her genius, and her refusal to be owned by men like Lucien Luthor."
Silence filled the room.
And then a standing ovation.