Chapter 521:

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Another reporter, this one from the New York Post, shoved a microphone so close she could smell the stale coffee on his breath. “Sources say you were near the scene of the parking garage shooting last night. Your comment?”

A third voice, shrill and accusatory, sliced in. “Is it true the attack was related to the internal power struggle at Montgomery Group? Did you conspire with Mr. Kensington’s enemies?”

The questions were a barrage of poison-tipped arrows. This wasn’t an interview. It was a public execution, meticulously planned. The shock that had frozen her in place began to recede, replaced by a wave of ice-cold fury.

She saw the faces in the crowd now, not as a faceless mob, but as individuals. Hungry, predatory, enjoying the takedown.

She took a slow breath, forcing oxygen into her lungs. The panic subsided, leaving behind a hard clarity. Her chin lifted. Her eyes narrowed.

I𝗇t𝗲nѕ𝘦 r𝗈𝘮а𝘯𝘤e 𝗼n 𝘨𝘢𝘭𝗻𝘰𝗏𝗲𝘭𝘴.c𝘰𝘮

She didn’t answer. Instead, her gaze swept across the sea of faces until it locked onto the Post reporter, the one who had asked about conspiring with enemies.

She raised a hand, not to shield her face, but to point a single, steady finger at him. When she spoke, her voice was not loud, but it cut through the din with the precision of a scalpel.

“You. What’s your name?”

The reporter blinked, thrown off balance. The pack always attacked; the prey was not supposed to bite back.

Allison took a step forward, invading his space. The crowd instinctively shifted, giving them a small, charged circle. The flashes continued, but the shouting died to an expectant murmur.

“I’ll ask again,” she said, her voice dropping lower. “Your name. And the source for your allegation that I ‘conspired with enemies.’ I need to make sure my legal team spells it correctly on the defamation lawsuit.”

A stunned silence fell. The sheer audacity of the counterattack short-circuited the frenzy.

She seized the quiet, her gaze sweeping over the other reporters, cold and dismissive. “Regarding Mr. Kensington’s health, I have no comment. Regarding any baseless accusations against my character, my lawyers will be responding to each of you individually.”

She tried to push through the wall of bodies, but the moment passed. The reporters surged forward again, blocking her path, their questions now tinged with a more aggressive energy.

“Are you threatening the press, Ms. Montgomery?”

“Trying to intimidate us?”

The company’s security guards, two men in ill-fitting suits, finally pushed through the lobby doors. They tried to form a wedge, but they were hopelessly outnumbered, swallowed by the tide of bodies.

In the chaos, a photographer shoved her hard. Allison stumbled, the heel of her pump catching in the crack between two paving stones. Pain shot up her leg as her ankle twisted.

She was a wounded animal surrounded by sharks. The isolation was absolute.

She ripped her shoe free and steadied herself. When she looked up, her eyes held no fear, only a chilling, unwavering resolve. One crack, and they would tear her apart.

She pulled out her phone, not to call for help, but to open the camera app and switch to video.

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