The email arrived at six a.m.
I was already awake. I'd been awake since four, sitting in my office with a cup of black coffee and the lights off. The city was still dark outside. Quiet.
The subject line read: YOU DESERVE TO DIE.
I opened it. Read it. Deleted it.
Then I opened the next one.
By seven a.m., there were forty-three more.
Diana arrived at seven thirty with two additional security guards I didn't recognize. They wore dark suits and earpieces and stood by the door like statues.
"These are from Sentinel Executive Protection," Diana said. "Former Secret Service. They'll be with you twenty-four seven until this situation stabilizes."
I looked up from my laptop. "I don't need bodyguards."
"You received two hundred and sixteen death threats overnight," Diana replied flatly. "Seventeen included your home address. Nine included photographs of you entering this building. You need bodyguards."
I closed the laptop. My coffee had gone cold again. I hadn't noticed.
"The tabloids are running it everywhere," Diana continued. She dropped a stack of newspapers on my desk. The headlines screamed in bold print.
MANHATTAN'S MOST HEARTLESS WOMAN.
BILLIONAIRE HEIRESS DESTROYS DYING WOMAN'S LAST HOPE.
VIVIENNE MONTGOMERY: THE FACE OF CRUELTY.
I stared at my own face on the front page. The photo was from a charity gala three months ago. I was wearing a white gown. Smiling. I looked like someone else entirely.
"Our social media accounts are being flooded," Diana said. "Thousands of comments per minute. The PR team is recommending an immediate public statement. They want you to go on camera. Show emotion. Humanize yourself."
"No," I said.
Diana paused. "Vivienne, the public narrative is—"
"I said no." I looked at her. "Tell the PR team to wait."
She studied my face for a long moment. Then nodded. "What are you planning?"
"Something better than a statement," I said.
Diana almost smiled. "I'll tell them to stand by."
After she left, I opened my laptop again. The emails kept coming. I didn't read them anymore. I just watched the number climb.
Somewhere out there, two million people thought I was a monster.
They had no idea what was coming.
---
Diana returned at noon with a tablet and an expression I'd learned to recognize. She'd found something.
"Raymond Holt," she said, setting the tablet in front of me. "Convicted document forger. Currently operating out of Newark under three different aliases. He's been careful. But Estella wasn't."
I looked at the screen. Text messages. Screenshots. Payment receipts.
**Estella:** I need hospital records. Stage four stomach cancer. Make it convincing.
**Raymond:** That's a complex job. $15K. Half up front.
**Estella:** Done. I need it by Monday.
The timestamps were from six weeks ago. Right before she reappeared in Caden's life.
I scrolled further. Venmo transactions. Wire transfers to an offshore account. A scanned copy of the forged medical documents with Dr. Sarah Chen's signature—a signature that didn't match the real one by several obvious tells.
"She used a burner phone," Diana said. "She thought she'd wiped it clean before throwing it away. Our investigative team pulled it from a dumpster behind her apartment building and recovered everything."
I stared at the messages. Estella's words were casual. Transactional. No hesitation. No guilt.
"And the real doctor?" I asked.
"Dr. Chen is willing to provide a signed statement confirming Estella Munoz has never been her patient. She's also willing to testify that Estella had a routine physical four months ago and was in perfect health."
I set the tablet down. My hands were steady. My pulse was steady. Everything inside me was cold and clear and sharp.
"Schedule the stream for Thursday," I said.
Diana blinked. "You want to go on their livestream?"
"I want two million people to watch me end this," I said. "Make it happen."
Diana's smile was slow and dangerous. "Consider it done."
---
The announcement came Tuesday night.
Caden posted it across every platform. A photo of Estella in a hospital bed, eyes closed, an IV line in her arm. The caption read: *Join us Thursday at 8pm for Estella's final message. This will be her last chance to speak to the world. Please share.*
The post went viral in minutes.
By Wednesday morning, the livestream had two million people signed up to watch.
I sat in my office and read through the evidence file one more time. Every text message. Every receipt. Every forged signature. I memorized the details until they were burned into my brain.
Diana knocked once and entered. "The access link is ready. I'll send it to you at seven fifty-eight on Thursday."
"Good," I said.
"Vivienne." She hesitated. "Are you sure about this? Once you do this, there's no taking it back."
I looked up at her. "I don't want to take it back."
She nodded slowly. "Then let's bury them."
After she left, I stood at the window and watched the city move below. Cars. People. Lives happening in real time.
Somewhere out there, Caden and Estella were rehearsing their final performance.
They had no idea I was about to walk onto their stage.
And when I did, the curtain would fall on both of them.
