Chapter 4: The Real Power Walks In

Just as the tension peaked, my phone rang. The ringtone cut through Savannah’s yelling. I ignored them and picked up.

A familiar, lazy voice came through. "Babe, they won’t let me in. Should I just break in?"

I smiled. "Let’s keep it legal."

Then I turned to the director. "Mr. Reed, my friend’s here. Why aren’t they letting him in?"

The director protested, saying I was making it up, and led the staff and cameras to the entrance. "You’re lying on a live stream! Let’s show everyone how professional our staff are—"

He glared at me the whole way, but as soon as we hit the door, he froze. After a beat, he rushed forward and slapped the security guard. "Don’t you know who you’re stopping? That’s Mr. Grant!"

The guard looked panicked. "Huh? Mr. Grant? I’m just the guard! And weren’t you the one who said to make it hard for Maya’s friend to get in, no matter who it is? You said to use something like ‘bad hair day’ as an excuse..."

The director’s face went every shade of red before he slapped a hand over the guard’s mouth and hissed, "Who told you to say that?"

Then he started bowing to the man at the door. "Mr. Grant, please forgive the staff’s ignorance."

Lucas Grant didn’t even look at him. He took off his glasses and strode straight to me, bending down with a soft smile. "Sorry, babe. Flight was slow—sorry you had to wait."

As he took off his glasses, his face was crystal clear on camera. The chat blew up:

"NO WAY! That’s Lucas Grant! He’s actually here, on a reality show! Am I hallucinating? Someone meme this!"

"Isn’t he supposed to be the ice-cold CEO? And he’s apologizing to Maya Brooks? This is straight out of a romance novel!"

"So that Instagram was real?"

"Didn’t Carter and Savannah swear it was fake? Talk about a plot twist."

"This is epic!"

Everyone was stunned. Savannah, a beat behind, grabbed Carter. "Carter, did you bring Lucas here? Go tell him what Maya did!"

Carter shook her off. "Tell him what? Just shut up!"

Savannah lost it. "Why should I? She started it! You’re his best friend—stand up for us!"

Lucas noticed the chaos, his gaze darkening. Carter started shaking, then shoved Savannah aside. "I said shut up!"

Savannah hit the floor, staring at Carter like he’d grown a second head. Lucas walked over, hands in his pockets, and looked Carter up and down with a frosty smile. "You’re the one from Quinn Construction?"

Carter tried to butter him up, but Lucas had already pulled out his phone, voice ice-cold. "Cut off all funding to Quinn Building Materials."

Carter’s face drained of color. He lunged, hugging Lucas’s leg, sobbing. "Mr. Grant! I’m sorry! I never should’ve lied about being your friend! Please, one more chance—the company’s toast without you!"

The chat:

"Why’s he groveling already? 😂"

"So he never even knew Lucas Grant?"

"This plot twist is everything. Savannah was lying too?"

"Called it. Two big liars, and Maya got blamed for telling the truth!"

"She only asked a couple questions, and everyone jumped on her. Even if she wasn’t married, can’t she use whatever wallpaper she wants?"

"Poor Maya—she used her own husband’s photo as wallpaper, got roasted, then called a liar, and when her husband spoke up, nobody believed her. Now the real boss is here to set things straight."

Security hauled Carter away. Lucas brushed off his sleeve, face cold. "If you’re gonna use me, expect consequences."

I shrugged, all innocence. He cracked a smile, then turned to Savannah. His voice dropped. "You insulted my wife in public."

He looked at everyone else. "And you, mocking her without even checking the facts. She’s so gentle she barely raises her voice, and just for using a photo she took as her wallpaper, you all tore her apart. I might not care about the entertainment industry, but don’t think I can’t step in."

Savannah finally realized what was happening. She cowered on the floor, hand over her mouth. "This can’t be real!"

She scrambled for her phone. "Carter, didn’t you say you’d introduce me to Lucas? What is going on?!"

I blinked. "Yeah, you were friends, right? What happened to all that?"

Lucas, still bristling, softened when he heard me. He took my hand. "Babe, you know I’d never have some random woman in my contacts."

Carter hung his head, defeated. Under pressure, he confessed: he’d created a fake WhatsApp account pretending to be Lucas Grant. He knew Savannah was obsessed and lied about being his best friend to get close, even faking chats as Lucas. When he got scared of being exposed, he claimed to be cleaning his contacts and blocked her.

The chat:

"Where do these gross guys come from? Aren’t they afraid of being exposed?"

"Savannah’s not innocent either—she barely chatted with a fake account and claimed to be tight with the golden boy. Who’s the real clout-chaser here?"

"Honestly, Maya’s the saddest one. Poor girl!"

Once the truth was out, Savannah lost it, unloading on Carter. "You’re useless and disgusting! You lied and made me look like a fool!"

Carter, bitter, snapped back. "What right do you have to blame me? If you weren’t so desperate to marry into money, would I have done this? You begged me to hook you up with Lucas again and again, and when I dodged, you lost it!"

Savannah screamed, "You’re lying!"

Carter sneered, "How many times did you say you wanted to marry Lucas Grant? How many times did you blow up when I wouldn’t introduce you?"

Savannah clutched her head and shrieked, "You’re lying! Liar!"

The chat was dying:

"This is peak TV. She called Maya a delusional fangirl, but she was the real one!"

"Karma. Savannah is seriously nasty."

"She tried to blame Carter, but he spilled all the tea. I can’t stop laughing."

"She’s done. No way she stays in the industry after this."

...