Chapter 49

Kenya.

The determination I felt was raw, a cold fire burning within me that I knew was about to be unleashed.

I felt unstoppable now. This was a different Kenya—one born out of sorrow and the desperate need to become a woman of strength. I could see the astonishment in Claudine’s eyes as she watched me; I was equally surprised by my own reflection.

This new side of me was bold, calculative, and strong-willed. I found myself yielding to this drive because I needed to see this plan through to its conclusion. I wanted an indestructible legacy, a life reclaimed. I didn't know the full extent of Claudine’s financial deceptions—the details of her insurance fraud and the betrayal of her husband remained hidden in the fine print—but the fear in her expression told me everything I needed to know. I had to achieve this. It was a necessity to end Levi’s hold over my life and the lives of those I loved.

Perhaps this was my way of proving I could fight for my own rights. Perhaps it was the only way I could grow. I needed a life where Levi could no longer hurt me—a life where I held the leverage.

Yet, amidst the plotting, I couldn't deny the volatile pull that existed between us. It was a cataclysmic connection, a resonance so strong it often left me breathless. I wondered what would become of that magnetic tether once I unleashed the storm I had planned.

"I don't know why Levi did this. I don't know his reasons for manipulating the situation this way," Claudine’s voice broke my thoughts. I stared at her, caught off guard.

She rose from the couch and joined me at the window, looking out at the city. "But I see something when he is with you, Kenya. A sincere devotion. It reminds me of what I once shared with my first true love."

Horror etched across my face. "What? Devotion? Claudine, he’s controlling me."

"It reminds me of Jean," she continued, her gaze turning misty. "I loved him when I was just a girl on a farm in Brittany. But my parents had debts they couldn't manage. Then I met Jimmy. He was an American tourist who helped my parents, invested in their farm. They saw him as a godsend."

She let out a hollow laugh. "A few days later, they told me I had to marry him to save the family. They forced my hand with threats of their own despair. I married Jimmy and never saw Jean again. Jimmy was nice, he was caring, but there was no soul in our union. No love."

I considered her words. Her story was a mirror of my own—a life carved from coercion.

"So why did you do it? Why defraud Jimmy if he was kind to you?" I asked.

"Because he stole my life," Claudine said, her voice dropping to a sharp, cold edge. "I wanted him to pay for the years I spent as a bird in a gilded cage."

I saw the fury burning in her eyes, even after all these years. I wondered if I truly held that same disdain for Levi. The difference was terrifying: I had started to care for Levi, whereas Claudine had stayed cold to Jimmy until the end.

“J'aime? Does it mean what I think?" I asked, curiosity momentarily overriding my dread.

A small, sad smile touched her lips. “J'aime Jean. I love Jean. Still."

The simplicity of those words carried the weight of a lifetime of regret.

“I won’t be changing the name of the school. Everything will remain as it is,” I assured her, meeting her eyes. An appreciative smile touched her face, and she pulled me into a tight, emotional hug. We stood there for a long moment, two women bound by different versions of the same sorrow.

After a while, Claudine pulled back and held my face in her palms.

"What will you do with this 'twister' you’ve planned for your husband if you realize you’ve fallen for him?"

The question hit me like a physical blow. "What makes you think that would happen, Claudine?"

"I wasn't born yesterday, Kenya," she grinned slyly, her eyes sparkling with a hint of her old mischief. "Passion like yours doesn't just vanish. It transforms."

Levi.

Meanwhile...

"This is outrageous!" I roared, slamming the documents onto my desk.

My hands shook with a rare, unbridled rage as I scanned the reports Blake had compiled. The investigation had gone deeper than I ever anticipated.

"These papers, sir," Blake said, his voice taut with concern, "show that RINA Mines has been fueling conflicts in those regions for years. We accounted for almost every subsidiary when we took over, except for one: CARSON Mines."

I stared at the name on the letterhead. It was a ghost company, a shadow on the balance sheet with no feasible profits or public records.

"We uncovered that CARSON Mines was a front for an illegal diamond extraction operation," Blake continued. "It was owned by your father and a select group of his associates. They used it to strip resources and bypass every international procedure and human rights protocol on the books. It was a black site for wealth, Levi. And the records show it’s still active."

The realization hit me like a lead weight. My family’s legacy—the very foundation I had worked so hard to sanitize and build upon—was built on a bedrock of blood and secrets. And if this came out now, it wouldn't just destroy my career; it would incinerate everything I was trying to protect. Including Kenya.