My Stepbrother Wants Me-Chapter 105: Filthy Rich

Catherine’s POV

Kiera stood before her wall of monitors, a sophisticated bank of screens that displayed more data than a command center.

"The window is closing," she announced, her eyes locked on a countdown clock displayed on one of the screens.

I got a message from Julian and checked immediately.

"Julian just informed me that the legal team have delivered a take down order to Collins and Sasha about fifteen minutes ago."

"Great. They must be currently feeling enraged. Our plan is going accordingly. This is the precise moment to strike."

I walked over to stand beside her. "Yes! The narrative is locked," I confirmed, reciting the key points of our strategy for the last time. "We hit the major gossip hubs. We frame Sasha as the venomous, cheating ex. Julian and me now become the innocent victims of a desperate smear campaign."

Kiera nodded, her fingers flying across a customized keyboard. "The video is routed through five separate encrypted proxy servers. The caption is attached. It’s set to auto-publish simultaneously on ’Elite Scrutiny,’ ’Society Whisperers,’ and ’The Gossip Cartel’—the three worst offenders for this kind of high-society takedown. We want maximum humiliation and viral spread."

"Execute," I whispered, sealing my response with a little laugh, my fingers twisting in anticipation.

Kiera typed in the final sequence. A large, crimson warning flashed briefly on one of the screens and then vanished.

"Command executed," Kiera stated, with an even voice. "The video is out. It’s routing now. Give it three minutes for the sites to verify the content and push the notification."

The next three minutes stretched into an agonizing eternity. I clasped my hands together, pacing a small, worn path into the beautiful, imported rug. Every second felt like a heavy weight pressing down on my chest.

My phone vibrated violently, startling me. It was Julian again.

I hurriedly checked his text. Did you get my message? The Legal action secured. C&D delivered to Collins and Sasha. Now, I’m focusing on damage control for the fake photo now. Hopefully dad hasn’t seen this.

Another text message followed. Meanwhile I’m thinking of you.

I let out a chuckle and quickly deleted it, before showing Kiera the first message. "Apparently, Julian still thinks he’s running damage control. He has no idea of the missile we just launched."

"He’ll know soon enough," Kiera smirked, before turning her face back on the screens. "And he’ll sure like our plan."

"No. I don’t want him to know we did it. He might start thinking I’m the evil bitch."

Kiera started laughing and suddenly, the screen displaying the main gossip aggregator exploded with color and data flow. The front pages of the targeted sites refreshed with brutal efficiency.

Large, bold headlines seized the top spots across all three platforms.

SOCIETY SHOCKER: JULIAN VAUGHN EXPOSED HYPOCRITE SASHA—EXPLOSIVE VIDEO CONFIRMS CHEATING AND VENGEFUL SMEAR CAMPAIGN

SASHA AND COLLINS CAUGHT: REVENGE PLOT EXPOSED AS CHEATER’S VIDEO GOES VIRAL

My breath hitched. The headlines were exactly as ruthless as we had planned, focusing the blame entirely on Sasha and Collins, and painting Julian and me as the completely innocent, besieged victims.

"It’s live," Kiera confirmed, her voice ringing with satisfaction. She immediately opened a new browser, monitoring the real-time trending data across social media platforms.

The effect was instantaneous and overwhelming. The initial spark of the gossip sites ignited a wildfire across the internet.

"Trend analysis is peaking," Kiera reported, her fingers flying as she pulled up comments and hashtags. "’Sasha Cheater,’ ’Vaughn Victim,’ and ’Collins Creep’ are all trending nationally. The narrative has completely flipped within sixty seconds, Catherine. People aren’t discussing your photo; they are condemning Sasha’s infidelity and malice."

I watched the scrolling flood of comments. The public response was exactly what we needed: furious condemnation of the perpetrators and absolute, unquestioning sympathy for the victims.

"Sasha is pure trash! Trying to ruin a good guy like Julian because she was the one cheating the whole time? Disgusting." "That video confirms everything. The stepsister [Catherine] is clearly a target in this. Sasha and her boyfriend are pathetic." "Julian Vaughn dodged a nuclear missile. Poor guy was trying to protect himself from his cheating ex."

The rush was intoxicating. I had faced down betrayal, rage, and physical violence this morning, and now, I had won. Sasha’s reputation was obliterated. Collins was exposed as a vile creep.

My phone rang again. It was Julian, of course. I took a deep, steadying breath, ensuring my voice sounded fragile, yet deeply relieved.

"Hey," I answered.

"Have you seen the news?" His voice was high, strained, and filled with a frantic energy that bordered on panic. "I—I can’t believe this! The video—you shared it? ... I just sent the C&D, and now this is out everywhere!"

I injected a convincing note of shock into my voice. "No, Julian, I didn’t do anything. I just saw the headlines when Kiera showed me. I can’t believe someone else had that video and leaked it. It’s absolutely horrifying, but... it is to our advantage, right?"

"Yes," Julian admitted, his voice now switching to a tone of righteous indignation. "My lawyer is already spinning this. This now confirms the public accusations against us were nothing but spiteful, calculated lies."

He paused, a heavy sigh traveling across the line. "Now the whole world knows that Collins is a bastard. They can’t touch you now. We are the victims in this whole mess."

I allowed a carefully constructed, shaky breath to escape my lips, feigning emotional exhaustion. "Thank you, Julian. I’m just so relieved we found a way out of this mess. I just want to forget this horrible thing that happened."

"I’m coming to get you," he declared, his voice thickening with possessiveness. "I don’t care what Gabriel says or thinks; I need you back here."

"No, wait," I interrupted gently but firmly, maintaining control. "I’m with Kiera. I don’t want to cause more tension by showing up right now. I’ll be back tonight. Just please, please, focus on sending Lucy out. This video proves her entire circle is dangerous, obsessive, and focused on harming me."

The reference to Lucy was critical. I had to pivot the momentum. Sasha was dead in the water; leaving Lucy as the final obstacle.

Julian hesitated for a long moment. "Yeah. Okay. Stay safe."

We hung up, and I turned back to Kiera, my triumphant grin finally returning.

"He bought every single word," I confirmed. "He’s completely running defense, and the focus is now squarely on getting rid of Lucy."

Kiera, satisfied, stepped away from the console. "Mission accomplished. Sasha and Collins are effectively canceled. At least that bitch won’t be seen in polite society for a decade. She can’t attack you when she is busy defending her own shattered reputation."

I felt an incredible, invigorating surge of power.

"We need to call in the final asset," I stated, pulling myself away from the glow of the monitors.

Kiera, already moving to switch the screens from monitoring public reaction to financial news and security protocols, looked at me with an approving nod. "You’re not wasting a minute. Good, because Lucy is actually my main target. I don’t like that stupid ass."

"Exactly," I confirmed, pacing the room again, but this time with purpose. "I’m glad that Julian already promised me he’d ’take care of her.’ I just need to make sure he gets her out of our house fast."

"I’m enjoying your villain era," Kiera mused, leaning back in her chair.

With a wink, I mouthed a "thank you."

"What has your dad said about this drama?" She suddenly asked. "Step-dad, I mean..." she added and my left brow and eye raised up together.

"Mr. Richard," I answered immediately. "Surprisingly? Nothing. I wonder if they’ve even heard of the drama."

She gave a long look, staying silent.

"Why are you quiet?"

She blinked and shrugged. "It’s strange. Isn’t he a media person? He’s supposed to have had the news by now? Moreover, I heard he’s been on his vacation for over a month, isn’t that too much break for a man who’s planning to become mayor?"

"I’m not the right person you should be asking. I know nothing about politics..." I paused to scratch my nose. "But Gabriel did mention something about Richard loving to bond with his new wife or woman, so maybe that’s why the honeymoon is this long."

"Mmmm. He must be a hopeless romantic."

I scoffed. "Or maybe he’s just trying to impress the public."

"Yeah, that could be it. That’s what politicians do best. Get the public to think of them as the best family people in the world, so they can trust that they would do a good job for the people."

I moved to the bed and sat down, already feeling bored of talking about Richard and politics.

"So, what about your dad? You mentioned that he is into tech. Is he around or at the office?"

Something shifted in her expression, I wasn’t sure what it was but I felt it, though she quickly flashed a smile at me, hiding it.

"My dad?"

"He is not in the country at the moment. He is on a business trip."

"Wow. That explains how you guys are so filthy rich."