The room quickly turned cold as the tension in the air remained high.

Not one word was spoken as one by one, managers and bodyguards left the room. A bomb of truth was dropped, leaving everyone speechless as their heads tried to wrap around the alarming information that was just learned.

Even Tiffany stood off to the side quietly as she eyed the folder with distaste. And no, she wasn't contemplating whether or not she had done wrong. Her face remained completely guilt-free and she wasn't feeling one ounce of regret. Deep down, she probably knew she was fucked, yet she continued to believe it wasn't over for her. Her mind was swarming with ways to discredit everything that was just revealed.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, was how her twisted mind worked. Instead of feeling remorse, she was thinking of ways to bring Alana down.

"As mentioned earlier, my clients will not be signing with your agency, Mr. Pierce," Leanne stood up and began to gather the contracts. She placed them on top of the manila folder that remained untouched, pushing it closer to the other side of the large conference table. "If you would like to see more evidence, please do not hesitate to reach out."

Leanne placed her business card on top of the pile before making her way towards the door but stopped suddenly. She turned to face the executives sitting at the conference table once again.

"If I may, as a word of advice, Mr. Pierce. Cases like this, especially one that involves someone as influential as Ms. Sommers, can get messy. I think we all know that the media will be eating this up like a pack of wolves, so I suggest you plan your next moves carefully."

"I hope that isn't a threat, Ms. Harrison," Adrian's jaw was clenched as he glared up at Leanne. The tension between the two was thick as one continued to glare while the other looked straight into his eyes nonchalantly.

Leanne held her head up high, not feeling the need to cower as she put the people in front of her in their places. Adrian couldn't help but admire the boldness of the beautiful celebrity lawyer in front of him, yet he was irritated at the words of venom she was spitting at him.

Leanne shrugged. "Just a mere suggestion to take care of a pest before your company gets dragged along with her."

With that, she walked out of the conference with a smirk on her face, allowing chaos to ensue behind her. No one messes with her friend and gets away with it.

And this was only the tip of the iceberg.

"Schedule a board meeting in an hour," Adrian quickly addressed Noelle, who had just been quietly standing in the corner. Alana was someone that Noelle looked up to and she had no idea Alana had gone through something as traumatic as she had. She felt a newfound respect for the brave woman, who stood up to the person who had hurt her and instead of choosing to sign millions with the agency, chose to speak out and tell her truth.

"Yes, sir," Noelle muttered, quickly escaping the deadly silent conference room. She was never a fan of Tiffany but hearing all this made her dislike the woman even more.

How could someone be so despicable? Perhaps, there would never be a definite answer to this question.

They say silence was deafening, and in a way it was. No words were being spoken out loud, yet their minds were a raging storm.

Asher abruptly stood as he glared at the one who had hurt the woman he desperately cared about. He was in disbelief as Tiffany still had the audacity to hold her head up high with confidence but at the same time he was not surprised.

He should've known.

Asher reached forward and grabbed the manila folder, hesitantly, opening it up to see its contents. Already, the first page tore his heart apart. It was hard seeing the images of the assault on Alana's skin, back when she was 16. The date on the bottom was just weeks before she had left.

He was disgusted and angry—angry at himself for allowing this to happen. His mother and brother looked over his shoulders with shock and disgust written on their faces.

"She's lying," muttered Tiffany blatantly.

Their heads snapped to Tiffany who was faking a sad look on her face. She brought her head down, trying hard to try to sway them into believing she was not that evil person that Alana had painted her.

She continued, trying to use her ways of manipulation to get the Pierces to believe her words. "Those are all fake. I would never do anything like that— you guys have to believe me."

Marianne scoffed, as she couldn't take any of her bullshit anymore. She had seen first hand both the destruction and the difficult recovery Alana had to go through. She was frustrated at her family for not believing her when she had warned them multiple times that Tiffany was not a good person.

Fuming, she stormed towards Tiffany, causing the latter's eyes to widen. A loud slap echoed throughout the deafening room.

"How dare you? How dare you fucking accuse my best friend of lying when you've been manipulating my family all these years. I had to watch my friend suffer through this pain that you put her through all because of what? Because you were jealous that Asher gave her the attention you craved? That everyone seemed to like her more than you? Well, I fucking wonder why."

Her tone was sarcastic and there was no stopping her rant as she continued.

"My best friend, my sister, almost ended her life because of you. She had to endure years of suffering, years of therapy, years of fear, yet you're still here yapping about how she's the one lying. Grow the fuck up— have you really got no shame? I hope you rot in jail, you conniving bitch," spitted Marianne, glaring at the cowering blond in front of her. "Now leave before I do anything worse because I, for one, am not afraid of you."

Tiffany held her cheek before scrambling to her feet and to the door.

"I'll deal with you later," Adrian angrily said before she left the room, causing her to gulp.

Marianne took a deep breath. She was still fuming when Asher spoke up, angrily. "You knew? You fucking knew and you didn't even tell any of us?"

Marianne scoffed, turning to direct her glare at her idiotic brother. "You, of all people, have no right to be mad at me. She made me promise not to tell anyone, and unlike you, big brother, I keep my promises."

Asher's expression turned from anger into one of shock at the words thrown at him, processing what his sister had just said. It was true. He broke the very first promise he made to her— a promise to protect Alana.

And he had indeed failed.

"I've warned you guys countless times that she was a horrible person," Marianne continued, this time, her words were directed at her family. "Even though I couldn't say anything, I still warned you. Yet no one listened to me because you all thought I was young and jealous of her, right?"

"Sweetie, you know that wasn't it," Helen tried to calm her daughter down.

Marianne chuckled humorlessly. "Who are you trying to convince mom? Every time I tried to bring the topic up, I was brushed aside. All because her family had a little money and you had to uphold a reputation. That's why you felt it was okay to push me aside and ignore my warnings. Well, guess what? They're fucking broke— Mr. Burke gambled all their money away and they're in debt. So, why do we still deal with their bullshit? What happened to family first?"

Her brothers and mom looked at her with regretful expressions. Turmoil seemed to wreak havoc on a day that was supposed to end in happiness.

Marianne shook her head as she stared at her family with disappointment. Her mom had tears in her eyes, Asher had his head down, and Adrian was growing angrier and angrier as he flipped through the manila folder. This wasn't just about losing the record deals, it was about how all this pain went unnoticed. Alana was family to the Pierces, yet they had all failed her.

With no more words left to be said on her part, she abruptly left the conference room. She knew ultimately it was only one person who was to blame for her actions, yet she couldn't help but look at her family with disappointment.

★ ★ ★

He should've known.

He should've known she was hurting, yet he was so blind-sighted to see that. Blind sighted by what exactly? He didn't even fucking know.

It was this moment where he hated himself the most. He thought back to the day they had spoken in Marianne's kitchen, and what she had said was 100% true. He broke the one promise he swore he would never break.

The promise to always protect her.

Yet 6 years ago, he broke that promise, allowing her to get hurt.

It was hard looking through the manila folder of evidence collected. His heart clenched in sadness as continued to look over the contents in the manila folder. From witness statements to her hospital records, everything was recounted in full detail. He couldn't help but feel like he could've prevented all this from happening.

Running a hand through his unruly dark brown hair, he stood up, needing another drink. He walked over to the nearby cabinet with his glass in his hand.

It was late in his office as he poured himself another glass of whiskey. Everyone had gone home and only he was left in the office. His head was so full of conflicting thoughts that he didn't hear the door to his office opening.

It wasn't until he felt a dip in the seat on the couch that he finally noticed Marianne had taken a seat next to him. Silently, she poured herself a glass of wine before she began speaking.

"It's late— what are you still doing here?" She asked, putting the bottle down, grabbing the glass of red wine in her hands.

Asher shrugged halfheartedly. "Didn't want to leave yet, I guess."

Marianne eyed the manila folder, knowing why he was really here. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I just— when she asked me to promise her not to tell anyone, the look in her eyes— I couldn't break that promise. She was so broken, and I just couldn't do that to her."

"I should be the one apologizing— I was a fucking idiot, still am, to be honest," he admitted quietly. "Sometimes I just wish I could go back in time and forget about my stupid fucking ego for a second. Maybe things would've been different. Maybe then, she wouldn't have gotten hurt. I just can't help but feel like this was all my fault."

"It's not your fault— don't be too hard on yourself," She quickly cut in. "There's only one person at fault and she's going to pay for everything that she's done. You know Lani's stronger than she looks and she's had time to realize that. Maybe things happen for a reason and I'm not saying what happened to her was necessary, but it certainly helped her grow. You'd be proud of how far she's come."

"I know," He gave her a small smile. "I just wish I could've been a part of that journey. I want to be there for her and I want to be someone who she can come to whenever she needs someone by her side. And I couldn't do that for her 6 years ago and if I had just been there for her, fuck," he cursed in frustration and dropped his face to his hands, tangling his hands into his unruly dark locks. "What happened to her wouldn't have fucking happened in the first place."

"Stop beating yourself up over that— it's not your fault and she knows that, well, at least deep down she does," Marianne put her hand on his shoulder, giving him a reassuring pat. "Lani's more forgiving than you think, she's just been through a lot."

"I know, and I probably already ruined my chances already," he sighed again for the nth time.

"So, you're telling me you're giving up already?" Marianne raised her eyebrow as she taunted him.

"Hell fucking no," he denied, scoffing. "If anything, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get her to forgive me."

"That's what I thought," she smirked, bringing her glass of wine to her lips before taking a sip. "We, Pierces, don't give up easily. Just be patient with her and I don't know— start with a simple conversation. Be her friend first and be there for her. I've been her best friend since we were 6 and the only thing that she wants is someone genuine with their intentions."

He nodded, his head coming up with ways he could fix what he had screwed up 6 years ago. "I'm going to prove to her that I'm that person for her. I'll be the one she can come to when she's feeling down. I'm not giving up and maybe this time, I can properly admit my feelings for her."

Marianne smiled softly at his determination. "You love her, don't you?"

"I never stopped loving her," he answered almost immediately. "I was just too dumb to realize it."

"I couldn't agree more— the part about you being dumb," she chuckled, causing Asher to roll his eyes. "Just don't break her heart this time."

"Never," Asher promised as he drank the rest of his whiskey, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Marianne was right— he wasn't one to give up so easily. Even if he had to climb mountains for her, he was never going to give up trying to make this right nor was he going to give up chasing her.

★ ★ ★

A little insight on Asher-- don't hate on him too much, I swear he's a sweetie. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Thank you so much for being patient with me and I promise the next chapters will start to move on a little quicker!