The Spiteful Bride, Marry to Rival's Son-Chapter 107

A REVENGE THAT WAS ALMOST READY.

If there was one thing Mia had learned early in business, it was this: sometimes, silence speaks louder than any press conference.

And that was exactly the card she and Stefan were playing.

From the moment they returned to Manhattan, it began. The cold shoulders, the missed eye contact, the subtle but obvious distance. They turned the penthouse into a cold battlefield, making sure even the walls had something to whisper about.

Stefan would enter a room, and Mia would leave. Mia would eat in the dining room, and Stefan would take his meal in the office. Conversations were sparse, professional at best, and laced with unspoken tension. The perfect show for their audience. Though, staying away from each other was the last thing both of them wanted.... but they knew they had to sacrifice to gain something.

And the audience? Well, they were watching.

Whispers among the staff turned into full-blown gossip. The housekeepers began exchanging glances. The assistant chef who once prepared dinner for everyone now packed individual trays like meals for two strangers.

Soon, it wasn’t just inside the house.

Within days, rumors trickled into the public like a slow leak from a broken pipe. First came the blogs. Then the headlines. Then the press releases from "anonymous insiders."

People couldn’t get enough.

The picture-perfect couple, the business tycoons who defied all odds to merge two powerful families into one empire... were now allegedly falling apart.

After a week, it became worse. They no longer speculated. They carried the news like they were sharing the same pent house with them.

Speculation ran wild. Some said Mia had only married Stefan to gain quick control, that she had always been after power and now, having reached the top, she had no more use for him. Others said Stefan had embarrassed her.... had been seen with another woman during their honeymoon, and Mia had walked in on them. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

A particularly viral blog post suggested that the woman was none other than Elena, Mia’s supposed best friend, which added a twisted edge to the already scandalous story.

The juicier the tale, the faster it spread.

People assumed the worst, and Mia let them. She didn’t grant interviews. She didn’t post vague quotes on social media. She didn’t even make a public appearance unless it was strictly necessary.... and always alone.

And Stefan? He played his role too. Grim-faced, silent, reclusive. He hadn’t been seen with Mia once since their return. If anything, his solo court visits only fueled the rumors that a legal separation was underway.

They both never for once debunked the claims, they continue acting like it had nothing to do with either of them. Sometimes they secretly share what ever hilarious speculation they came across.

What the world didn’t know was that those court visits had nothing to do with a divorce. Something huge was cooking underground.

They weren’t dividing their empire. They were building and expanding their branches into measures no one had ever thought of.

But for now, the charade had to continue. Let them think what they wanted. Let them believe what they needed to believe.

Because when people think you’re down, they stop watching your hands..... and start celebrating too early.

And that was exactly what Mia and Stefan wanted.

The public was so caught up in their imagined heartbreak that they missed the real story unfolding right under their noses.

On the edge of Manhattan, just beside the towering Meyer and Sterling Empires building, something new was rising. It was in-between the two empire.

It was a property that both Samuel and Jeremiah had been trying to purchase for years.... but they’d both failed woefully over the past years, because it belongs to the government.

So at first, no one paid attention. It was easy to dismiss it as just another government luxury real estate project or some upcoming start-up flexing its wings. Construction in Manhattan was as common as traffic and everyone knew it was a government site. One that Samuel and Jeremiah couldn’t get their hands on.

But this site construction was different. The walls surrounding it were high and solid. Security was tight. The construction workers signed strict NDAs. No one spoke. No one leaked photos. No one had access except those with very specific clearance.

And then one day, without any fanfare, a massive black billboard appeared.

Simple white letters. No logo. No slogan.

Just one line:

"COMING SOON - Four Days More"

And beneath that, the most chilling part:

"THE FUTURE IS CLOSER THAN YOU THINK."

That was it. No name. No press. No leaks.

And that kind of silence? It was loud. It was something the government wouldn’t do. The government wouldn’t build a billboard just to post about their project in a secret manner.

Whispers started again, but this time, about the building. What was it? Who owned it? Who was funding it?

The headlines had shifted from Mia and Stefan’s supposed divorce, to mystery gigantic building.

The guesses were endless. A tech giant from Europe? A royal-backed luxury brand from the Middle East? Maybe even a new government intelligence facility? Who was able to secure the best property in the city? A rival?

Speculations ran wild, but no one could find a thing.

Even Samuel and Jeremiah, who had started to relax, thinking they’d won. Started to sweat. Every man was calling his or her contact, trying to get a glimpse of what was going on. But all efforts failed.

Samuel had hated to be taken unaware, and this was driving him crazy.

They kept trying to dig more. Hired people to infiltrate. Bribed local officials. But it was like chasing shadows. No trail, no access, nothing to link the project to anyone.

Samuel couldn’t help but think someone had decided to rival against him and Jeremiah. And it has to be someone from another country, because only someone with influence could pull this on. Not once did his mind ever thought of Mia or Stefan.

Jeremiah too, he was investigating all the construction companies outside the state. He was sure this was done by an already developed empire.

They were all locked out. Stefan had made sure of that. Every move had been calculated. Every paper trail wiped. Every company involved was a shell of a shell, leading nowhere.

It was perfect.

Mia, on the other hand, had orchestrated the timing. The gossip, the rumors, the silence.... all of it. She knew how people thought. She knew how the media worked. Feed them one story loud enough, and they’d never think to look behind the curtain.

So they let them talk.

Let them say Mia used Stefan. Let them say Stefan broke her heart. Let them believe the contract was crumbling. No one would ever suspect a couple who was breaking up would be capable of building something like this.

But on the day of the reveal, when the final curtain fell, all their enemies would realize the truth too late.

That they all, have been completely blindsided.

That she and Stefan.... the rejected children, had won them in their own dirty game.

What they were building would be bigger than anyone imagined.

A perfect revenge no one saw coming. A revenge bigger than their empire. A revenge that was now turned into a legacy.

A revenge that was almost ready.