My Best Friend Stole My Fiancé and My Beauty Empire

The television above the Continental Club bar blared. I stopped halfway across the lobby carpet.

Serena’s face filled the massive screen. She stood at the press podium, wiping a single, perfectly timed tear from her cheek.

"Leaving LUMERIA was the hardest choice of my life," Serena told the cluster of reporters. "But Iris Hale made it impossible to stay. She took credit for my marketing campaigns. She mocked my ideas in board meetings. I endured her abuse for years."

A reporter shoved a microphone forward. "Miss Serena, is it true Miss Hale also interfered with your personal life?"

Serena lowered her gaze. "Iris always wanted what I had. When she found out Carter and I were engaged, she lost her mind. She tried to ruin our relationship. She even..." Serena’s voice broke. "She tried to force herself into his life as the other woman."

My phone vibrated in my palm. A barrage of notifications flooded the screen. Strangers were already swarming my social media, branding me a homewrecker, a fraud, a desperate mistress.

On the broadcast, Carter stepped up to the podium and wrapped a protective arm around Serena.

"Iris Hale’s obsession with me crossed a line," Carter announced. His tone rang with righteous authority. "I funded her startup out of pity. In return, she threw herself at me, trying to break up my family. Let me be clear. I have never loved anyone but Serena."

I stared at the screen. The sheer audacity of his lie paralyzed my vocal cords. He had hidden me for seven years, only to brand me a stalker on national television.

A bartender shot me a disgusted glare, clearly recognizing my face from the broadcast.

I turned and walked out the revolving doors. Thorne would have to wait. He had demanded I bring the original LUMERIA patent deeds to secure his five million, and those documents were still locked in the wall safe at Carter’s penthouse.

I hailed a cab. The ride across town passed in a blur of ringing phones and hateful text messages from former colleagues.

When I reached the penthouse, I punched my emergency code into the private elevator keypad. The doors slid open.

A sharp, frantic sob echoed from the living room.

"It burns, Carter! Do something!"

I stepped into the foyer. Serena sat on the velvet sofa, scratching at her forearm. Red, angry hives covered her skin. Carter knelt beside her, a crumpled piece of paper clutched in his fist.

"I'll call the private doctor again," Carter said, his jaw tight.

"I just came for my documents," I announced, walking toward the hallway.

Carter spun around. His eyes widened, then darkened with absolute fury. He marched across the rug and shoved me hard against the wall.

"You psychotic bitch," he snarled.

My shoulder blades hit the plaster. "Get your hands off me, Carter."

"You poisoned her!" He waved the crumpled paper in my face. "Toxins in her custom night cream. High concentrations of lead and sulfur. You tried to induce a miscarriage!"

I pushed his arm away. "I haven't been in this apartment for two days."

"You kept your security code!" Serena cried out from the sofa. She held up her blotchy arm. "You snuck in while we were at the press conference. You want to kill my baby because Carter rejected you!"

"I came here five seconds ago to get my company patents," I said, keeping my voice deadpan. "I don't care about your skincare routine, Serena."

Carter smoothed out the paper and shoved it against my chest. "Read the toxicology report, Iris. Dr. Miller just emailed it. The cream on her vanity was spiked."

I glanced at the printout. The numbers were high. Lethal, even.

"If she used a cream with this much sulfur, her face would be melting off," I pointed out. "She just rubbed a mild irritant on her arm to stage a scene."

"I am pregnant!" Serena shrieked, burying her face in her hands. "Why are you doing this to us? First you stalk Carter, now you try to murder our child!"

"Stop acting," I said. "There are no cameras here."

Carter grabbed my wrist, his grip bruising. "I defended you for years when my board called you a gold digger. I gave you everything. And this is how you repay me?"

"You gave me nothing," I fired back, yanking my arm free. "You hid me like a dirty secret, then stole my business to fund your mistress."

"Serena is my fiancée," Carter corrected, stepping into my space. "You are nothing but a jealous, unstable mistake. I should have ruined you the day I met you."

"You're certainly trying to now," I said. "That press conference was a masterclass in fiction."

"It was damage control." Carter sneered. "I had to protect Voss Industries from your toxic reputation."

"My reputation is toxic because you lied on national television!"

"I told the truth," Carter said, his voice dropping to a lethal whisper. "You seduced me. You begged for my money. You are a pathetic, obsessive woman who couldn't take a hint."

A cold laugh scraped its way up my throat. "Seven years, Carter. We shared a bed for seven years. You bought me a ring."

"I bought you a prop to keep you quiet," he snapped. "Now get out of my home before I call the police and show them this lab report."

I looked past him to Serena. She peeked through her fingers, a triumphant smirk playing on her lips despite the fake tears. She had orchestrated this perfectly. The press conference destroyed my public image. The fake poisoning gave Carter an excuse to legally bar me from the property and my own assets.

"My patents are in the safe," I said, refusing to back down. "Give them to me, and you'll never see me again."

"You don't own LUMERIA anymore," Carter stated. "Those patents belong to Voss Industries now. Compensation for the damage you've caused my family."

"You can't do that."

"I already did." He pointed toward the elevator. "Leave. If you ever come near Serena again, I will bury you so deep you won't even be able to get a job pouring coffee."

I stared into the eyes of the man I had loved for almost a decade. There was no warmth left. Only a ruthless, calculating stranger.

"You're going to regret this, Carter," I said quietly.

"Goodbye, Iris."

I turned and stepped back into the elevator. The metal doors closed, shutting out Serena’s fake sobs and Carter’s harsh glare.

As the cab plunged toward the ground floor, my phone rang again.

Thorne.

I answered it. "Mr. Thorne."

"You're late, Miss Hale," the deep voice rumbled. "And my television is telling me you're quite the menace to society today."

"Don't believe everything you see on TV," I replied, staring at my pale reflection in the elevator doors.

"I don't. That's why I'm still waiting." A pause hung on the line. "Do you have the patents?"

My hands curled into tight fists. "Carter stole them."

"Then you have nothing to offer me."

"I have the formula in my head," I said, my voice hardening. "And I have the one thing you want more than a cosmetics brand."

"Oh? And what is that?"

"I know Carter Voss's private offshore account numbers," I lied smoothly. "I know exactly where he hides his slush fund. Meet me at the club, and I'll hand over the keys to his empire."

The elevator chimed.

"Five minutes, Miss Hale," Thorne said. "Impress me."