Married to the Billionaire Who Betrayed Me novel Chapter 226

Chapter 226 They Made Us The Villains

The maintenance tunnel offered zerolight. We ran in pitch black. Tristan kept a crushing grip on my hand. His fingers felt like iron bands. We navigated the narrow stone passage. Footsteps and shouted orders echoed off the damp concrete walls behind our location. Federal agents hunted us. They swarmed the coastal house. We reached the rusted iron grate. Tristan shoved the metal barrier into the dirt. We exited the tunnel. We stepped onto the jagged rocks of

the hidden cove.

The water crashed against the stone. Diego and Elias were absent Diego followed Tristan’s command and took the speedboat. My chest ached. My lungs burned. I wanted my son. I pushed the panic deep into my stomach. Hocked the fear in a cage.

“We need a screen,” I said. My voice broke. “I must see the news.”

Tristan pulled a flat, encrypted tablet from his tactical vest. He pressed his thumb to the scanner. The screen illuminated his face. The harsh blue light highlighted the grim tension in his jaw. The man who cooked breakfast minutes in the past was dead. The ruthless Johnston titan stood in his place.

We crouched behind a massive boulder. The cold wind whipped my hair. I pinned the loose strands behind my ear. I stared at the blank glass.

Tristan bypassed the local network. He accessed a global news feed. The Johnston Group logo filled the display. A red banner crawled across the bottom. The text confirmed the nightmare. Agents of the federal government secured our corporate headquarters.

The news anchor vanished. The broadcast cut to a press conference.

A man stood behind a wooden podium. The federal seal hung on the wall. He lacked the fake smile of a politician. He lacked the polished charm of an executive. He wore a standard gray suit. His silver hair lay flat against his scalp. His eyes were dark, empty, and devoid of emotion. He projected a chilling,

calculated calm.

The text under his face identified him. Federal Prosecutor Sterling.

“The FBI secured the Johnston Group headquarters, Sterling announced. His voice commanded attention. It carried the weight of a death sentence. “The public viewed the Whitmore family as a divided house. The media painted Julian Whitmore and Minerva Hayes as bitter enemies. The media fed you lies.”

I grabbed Tristan’s arm. My nails dug into the ballistic nylon of his vest.

Sterling pressed a button. A digital screen illuminated behind his podium. It displayed the exact spreadsheet I used against Julian. The offshore routing numbers. The shell corporation identities. The dark money ledger.

‘Minerva Hayes stood on a stage and accused her brother of numerous crimes,” Sterling continued. “She presented this ledger. She claimed it proved his guilt. My office decrypted the root source of this file. The digital footprint paints a different picture.”

Sterling changed the slide. It showed IP addresses and secure server nodes.

“The accounts trace to the secure penthouses and private terminals of Minerva Hayes,’ Sterling said. He stared into the camera lens. Julian Whitmore and Minerva Hayes engineered a massive conspiracy. They hijacked the Johnston Group resources. They funded domestic terrorism. When the scheme faced exposure, Minerva Hayes framed her brother. She discarded him. She intended to seize sole control of the illicit funds.”

My chest caved in. The air turned to ash in my mouth. I handed the federal government a murder weapon. I placed my fingerprints on the handle Julian knew I would find the ledger. He knew I would use it in public. He wanted me to present it. He wanted me to hand the weapon to the law.

Sterling took the truth. He warped it into a noose.

Julian’s arrest was a smokescreen. The surrender was a dead-man’s switch.

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Chapter 226 They Made Us The Villains

Lger up-the-Chairman seat,” I whispered. My voice shook, ‘I surrendered my corporate shields. I thought Julian wanted the throne.

*Sterling wanted you exposed, Tristan stated. He gripped the edges of the tablet. The plastic groaned under the pressure. A sitting Chairman possesses an army of lawyers. A sitting Chairman dictates, market shifts. A disgraced, resigned executive is an easy target.”

The realization burned. I outsmarted the businessmen. I outsmarted the hitmen. I failed to see the true predator hiding behind a federal badge.

Sterling resumed his speech. “Minerva/Hayes is a fugitive. She shares the corrupted blood of Thomas Whitmore. She is a danger to the public. We will hunt her. We will find her. We will bring her to justice.”

The press conference ended. The Johnston logo returned to the screen.

I looked at Tristan. The salt spray from the ocean wet his face. The tension between us felt thick. A wire stretched to the breaking point. Two apex predators

trapped in a cage. We built an empire. We fought syndicates. We operated with unlimited resources and unquestioned authority.

Sterling possessed the power of the law. He wore a badge. We could not shoot him. We could not buy him. The rules of engagement changed. The shadows

offered our remaining sanctuary.

“We need cash, Tristan commanded. He tapped the screen. He accessed his encrypted banking application. “We need to secure the untraceable funds. We

need a plane.”

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Married to the Billionaire Who Betrayed Me