THE DISABLED HEIRESS, MY EX-HUSBAND WOULD PAY DEARLY.

At that moment he paused briefly, letting his words hang heavy in the air, then pressed on, "I built it to the point that it became a global brand. ZXZ wasn't just another company, it became very, very big and successful. People respected the name, and they respected me for it. And then, all of a sudden, everything changed. Abigail, do you know what she did? She found her courage, but not in a good way. She grew a knife behind my back. She betrayed me and snatched it."

His jaw tightened as the bitterness laced his tone. "She brought in an investor. A slick, manipulative investor who slid a clause into the deal I signed. I didn't even know it was there. I was blind to it. That tiny clause was the weapon she used against me. It gave her the power to take ZXZ away from me. And with that, Abigail she bullied me. She bullied me to collect it. Forcibly. Without mercy. She took what was mine."

James leaned forward now, his eyes flashing with anger and frustration. "That's why I need you, Abigail. That's why I need your influence. You know how to push narratives. Everybody sees Cora as untouchable right now. She's the shining one, the successful one. But the truth? She's a bully. She's the reason I lost everything. I built ZXZ, and because I refused to stay under her shadow, she came after me. She couldn't stand the idea of me walking away. So she took the one thing she knew would break me my company."

At that moment His voice grew heavier with emotion. "If the public hears this, if they see me not as a failure but as a victim, they will sympathize with me. The company circles, the industry, the press they'll all pity me. They'll see Cora for what she really is: a manipulative bully who crushed the very man that helped her rise. And once that story spreads, her image will crumble."

James then leaned back, his tone turning almost persuasive, "And you, Abigail you control most of the media. You know how to twist the right words, plant the right angles, manipulate the headlines so it feels real. You've done it before, and you can do it again. If we spin this well enough, if we make it convincing, then definitely definitely you can give me the favor I need. And at the same time, people will no longer see Cora as their shining star. They'll see her as a big bully."

At that moment, upon hearing what James just said, Cora Abigail wasn't fully convinced about it. It wasn't strong enough, and from the look of things, she could tell that, yes, it just seems as if James was just trying to benefit himself than what she actually wants. She actually wants something more solid, something more unique, strong enough. But this one wasn't strong enough for her.

Her brows furrowed, her lips pressed into a thin line as she leaned back into her chair, gripping the edge of the table with her long, manicured nails. Abigail had been expecting something earth-shattering, something that could tilt the entire balance of Cora's world in her favor. Instead, what James offered felt half-baked like a desperate man trying to cling to the scraps of a chance. In her mind, she thought, does he really think this is enough to bring Cora down? Does he think I will waste my influence, my media power, on something so weak?

Then she said. "James," she said coldly, "this is not strong enough. I actually want something that is very, very strong and very, very enticing. Something that will not just scratch her image but bury it. What you're suggesting… I'm not feeling it. Not at all."

James could feel his throat tighten. Sweat formed on his forehead, though the room wasn't hot. The silence that followed her words pressed heavily on him. He clutched the phone tighter in his hands, as if his grip alone could keep him from losing this chance. His chest rose and fell as he took in a deep breath with the phone still on his hands.

He then said to Abigail that, well, it is strong enough. His voice trembled at first but then hardened with a false confidence. "Abigail, it is strong enough," James insisted. "It all depends on what you want to do with it. We can easily portray Cora as a bad person portray her as a bully. The public already sees her as untouchable, but if we start small, if we push this narrative, it will spread like fire. People will believe it. And once this is up in the air, once everyone starts talking, then we are going to hit her with something very unique. That one, I am planning it already. And very soon, it is going to be ripe."

He paused, his breath ragged, his mind racing as he tried to sound convincing, even though doubt gnawed at him inside.

"So," he added with a final attempt at persuasion, " I just want this to be the first step to take first."

At that moment, just after James had insisted this was only the very first step and that more was still to come, Abigail leaned back in her chair with a sharp glint in her eyes. She stayed silent for a moment, letting the weight of his words settle, as though she were measuring every possible angle. Then, in a tone that was both calm and calculating, she responded over the phone.

"Well," Abigail said slowly, "no problem. Since more is still on its way, since more is still going to come, then we'll use this as the first bait. The first spark to test how quickly she reacts. We don't need to tear her down all at once. This." she paused, her voice deliberate, "Will be enough to shake the waters, to see how she scrambles, and to understand what she really has hidden in her bank."

Then Her voice hardened, each word dripping with confidence. "I want to know what she holds. I want to know every secret she's been keeping, every card she has pressed close to her chest. And this," she added with a faint chuckle, "this is only the beginning. Once we see her flinch, once we see her bleed, then the real game begins. And when the real strike comes, it won't just bruise her it will destroy her completely."

James held the phone tighter, his breathing uneasy. Abigail's tone was chilling, but at the same time, it was strangely reassuring. For her, this wasn't just revenge it was strategy, a well-calculated war plan. And now, whether he liked it or not, he was part of it.