Victoria was nursing Leo on the balcony when her phone buzzed. It was the text from Dominic.
Before she could process it, a news alert flashed across the top of her screen. Then another. Then a flood.
*THE SENTINEL EXCLUSIVE: FROM STRIPPER TO MOTHER? IS THE CROFT HEIR SAFE?*
Victoria’s blood ran cold. She tapped the link.
The article was a masterpiece of Cynthia Sharpe’s cruelty. It featured photos of “Luna” on stage in her most revealing costumes, juxtaposed with grainy, long-lens photos of Victoria looking exhausted and disheveled leaving the hospital.
The text was worse. *”Can a woman addicted to the adrenaline of the stage provide stability for a billion-dollar heir? Sources claim Ms. Vance has a history of mental instability and reckless behavior…”*
“William!” Victoria cried out, standing up.
William rushed onto the balcony, his phone already to his ear. He saw the screen. He saw the tears welling in her eyes.
He hung up on his lawyer. He walked over and took the phone from her hand, turning it off.
“I saw it,” William said, his voice deadly calm. “It’s Cynthia. She’s working for Arthur.”
“They’re using Luna against me,” Victoria whispered. “They’re trying to say I’m unfit.”
“Let them try,” William said, pulling her and Leo into his arms, cementing the ‘United Front’ theme of the season. “They want us to fight with fists so we look unstable. We won’t. We fight with the truth. You are the mother of the heir. And I am the CEO. We aren’t hiding this time.”