After Rebirth, I Became My Ex's Aunt-in-Law-Chapter 24: A Knife Hidden in a Smile

The three of them—Aria, Damien, and Zoe—stood around Damien’s desk. Zoe unlocked her cracked iPhone and slid it across the mahogany surface.

"I’ve been trailing Lucas for weeks," Zoe explained, her voice low. "You know, trying to find dirt to help you break up with him before... well, before all this happened."

She tapped the play button.

The video was shaky, taken from a distance—likely from inside another car or behind a bush. It was night, grainy and dark, but the subject was illuminated by the harsh yellow glow of a streetlamp.

It was Lucas’s distinct white Porsche convertible. The top was down.

Inside, two figures were tangled together in the passenger seat. It wasn’t a conversation. It was a frantic, messy collision of mouths and hands.

The camera zoomed in. The woman threw her head back, laughing—or moaning.

It was Bella.

And the man burying his face in her neck, his hand sliding up her thigh, was unmistakably Lucas.

"Timestamp: Two days before his birthday," Zoe said grimly. "While he was telling the press he was ’shopping for an engagement ring’ for you, he was parked in a side street playing tonsil hockey with your sister."

Damien stared at the small screen. His expression was one of pure, unadulterated disgust.

"They play the ’brother and sister’ act in public," Damien muttered, his voice icy. "Lucas calls her his ’little sister’. The public thinks their bond is familial. Wholesome."

"Wholesome," Aria repeated, a dry, humorless laugh escaping her lips. "Bella loves that narrative. It makes her seem safe. Innocent. The ’Nation’s First Love’ who just wants everyone to get along."

She looked at the video, watching Lucas kiss Bella with a passion he had never, ever shown her. In her past life, this would have broken her heart. Now? It just confirmed she was indeed stupid and naive to trust them.

"He’s cheating trash," Zoe spat, crossing her arms. "And she’s... well, she’s Bella. Aria, if we leak this, their ’pure’ image dies tonight. The incestuous undertones alone will make the sponsors vomit."

"Release it," Damien commanded, looking at Zoe. "Send it to every outlet in the city. Blur the faces just enough to create speculation, then drop the unedited version an hour later."

"No," Aria said.

She reached out, tapping the phone screen to pause the video right on Bella’s ecstatic face. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"Keep it, Zoe. Back it up on three different drives. But do not leak it."

Damien looked at her, his brows knitting together. "Why? It’s a kill shot."

"Because a kill shot is useless if the target is already wearing a vest," Aria said, turning to face him. "Right now, Bella is bruised from the press conference, but she still has her fans. They think she’s a victim of my bullying. If we leak this now, she’ll spin it. She’ll say it was a moment of weakness, or that they fell in love while grieving my ’mental decline’. They’ll turn it into a tragic romance."

Aria’s emerald eyes hardened.

"I don’t want a tragic romance. I want a scandal that smells so bad no amount of PR perfume can cover it."

She looked back at the frozen image.

"Let them film The Empress’s Shadow. Let them play the noble Emperor and the pure Saintess. Let the public fall in love with their on-screen chemistry. Let them build their pedestal so high that when we kick it out from under them... the fall will shatter every bone in their careers."

Zoe looked at her best friend, a mixture of fear and awe on her face. "Damn, girl. You’re playing 4D chess while I’m playing checkers. Operation: Boil the Frog is a go."

"You’re hired, by the way," Damien said to Zoe, his gaze softening as he looked at Aria’s ruthless expression. He liked this look on his fiancée. "Head of Public Relations for Aria Vale. Triple your current salary."

Zoe’s jaw dropped. "I... I work for a blog that pays me in exposure. And I’m not really looking for a corporate gig."

"Triple the exposure, then. And a salary. Don’t make me repeat myself," Damien said calmly. "Aria needs someone she trusts. She trusts you."

Zoe looked at Aria. "He’s serious?"

"He’s serious," Aria nodded, squeezing Zoe’s hand. "I need you, Zoe. I can’t do this alone."

"Done!" Zoe grinned, snatching her phone back. "I’ll keep this video in the vault. ’The Incest Tape’. Catchy."

Aria smiled, grateful. Then, she straightened up, her business mode returning.

"Now," she said. "We have one more problem. My clothes."

"I told you," Damien said. "I’ll buy you a new wardrobe. Paris, Milan... name the city."

"No," Aria shook her head. "It’s not about the clothes. It’s about the principle. My mother’s jewelry. My journals. My vintage collection. My things are still in that house."

She looked at the timestamp on Zoe’s phone.

"Raymond will be expecting me to cower after the press conference. He thinks I’m hiding behind you in some fortress."

"You are hiding behind me," Damien pointed out. "Ideally, in my bed."

Aria rolled her eyes, ignoring Zoe’s muffled squeak of shock.

"I’m going back to the Vale Estate," Aria decided. "To pack. Properly."

"I’ll send a team," Damien said immediately.

"No team," Aria corrected. "Just me. And a moving truck."

Damien frowned, stepping closer. "Alone? You want to walk back into that house alone? Raymond tried to hit you."

"And he learned what happens when he tries," Aria said, her chin lifting. "I need to do this myself, Damien. If you come, or if I bring a security detail, they’ll just see me as your pet. They’ll be afraid of you, not me. I need them to realize that I am the one they should fear."

She looked him in the eye.

"I want Bella to watch me take everything she wishes was hers. I want to strip that house bare, and I want to do it while looking her in the face."

Damien studied her for a moment. He saw the resolve in her posture. She wasn’t asking for permission.

"Fine," he relented, though he didn’t look happy about it. "But you take the secure phone. And Ken drives the moving truck. If you don’t come out in two hours, I’m coming in."

"Deal," Aria agreed.

She looked down at her jeans and blouse.

"And," Aria added, a mischievous glint in her eye. "I think I need to borrow your credit card, Mr. Wallet. If I’m going to raid my old house, I should probably bring a housewarming gift. Or perhaps... a demolition gift."

Damien reached into his jacket pocket. He pulled out a sleek, black card made of anodized titanium. The Centurion Card. The "Black Card" of legends.

He held it out to her.

"There is no limit," he said. "Buy the house if you want. Burn it down if you prefer."

Aria took the card. It was warm from his body.

"Oh, I’m not going to burn it down," she whispered. "I’m just going to redecorate."

She turned to Zoe.

"Grab your camera, Zoe. We’re going shopping."

She paused, looking at the door.

"And then... I’m going home."