CHAPTER 914: CHAPTER 914 XAVIER’S CHANGE

Backed into a corner, they had no choice but to sever all ties with Mindy in a desperate attempt to preserve what remained of their reputation. If they didn’t act swiftly, they risked being completely devoured by their competitors, and even by the Arnaults themselves. In the end, the Arnault family emerged with significant gains, carving out a large portion of the Pinaults’ influence and assets as a reward for exposing the truth.

And worst of all, Mindy was left completely alone to fend for herself. With the crimes piling up against her, she was thrust into the spotlight as headlines exposed one scandal after another. She couldn’t even step outside her residence without being egged by angry passersby, and crowds of protestors gathered daily, demanding justice, some even calling for her execution under Parisian law.

It was only then that the weight of the situation truly hit her. Panic set in, and for the first time, Mindy felt real fear. Desperate, she tried reaching out to her so-called friends, but none of them returned her calls. Her credit cards were frozen, her family had cut her off, and she was forbidden from leaving the city, let alone the country.

To prevent her from escaping, police officers were stationed outside her home, watching her every move. The trial hadn’t even started, but the world had already passed judgment. It felt like she was already in prison. And for the first time, Mindy understood what it meant to be truly alone, trapped with no way out, abandoned by everyone she once believed had her back.

Now, for the first time, Mindy was beginning to feel the same fear and helplessness her victims once felt, those she had coldly targeted by hiring assassins to "take care of them." Some of those victims had been humiliated, raped before their deaths, and left disfigured beyond recognition. When authorities discovered their remains, if they found them at all, there was barely any flesh left intact.

Most of these victims came from lower-class families or were individuals who had only recently found financial success. Some weren’t even connected to Alexandre in any meaningful way. Mindy simply found them annoying, and that alone was reason enough for her to order their deaths.

It wasn’t long before the public branded her a psychopath, and many expressed sympathy for Alexandre, pitying him for ever being associated with her, even for a second.

And Alexandre’s response?

"I’ve never once seen her as my fiancée."

Silence followed.

With those simple words, he made it clear to the world that Mindy never meant anything to him, and that whatever twisted fantasy she clung to, it was hers alone.

And so, as the date of her trial approached, Mindy was consumed by despair. She already knew what awaited her—execution. The mounting pressure, relentless public harassment, and total abandonment by everyone she once called a friend and family finally broke her.

One morning, she snapped. Without warning, she climbed to the fifth floor and attempted to take her own life.

But no one tried to stop her. In fact, the crowd below jeered and shouted for her to jump. And unlike the twisted vision she once had, where her death would haunt those who treated her harshly, where guilt would fester in their hearts, what she received was celebration. They laughed. They rejoiced. And in that moment, utterly broken, Mindy let herself fall.

But fate had one final, cruel twist.

She didn’t die.

She survived the fall but suffered severe spinal damage, leaving her permanently paralyzed from the waist down. Rather than sending her to prison, authorities placed her in a high-security nursing facility where she could no longer harm anyone else. But even there, life offered no peace.

To make matters worse, some of the newly hired staff at the facility were no ordinary caretakers; they were the family members of Mindy’s victims, the very people whose lives had been shattered by her cruelty. They had taken the job not out of compassion, but for vengeance.

And they made sure she knew it.

They didn’t grant her the mercy of death. Instead, they gave her something far crueler, a life of constant, calculated torment. Every day became a waking nightmare, filled with pain, humiliation, and despair. They made it clear: she was to live a life worse than death. To atone, if atonement were even possible.

But over time, even that hope vanished.

Mindy’s sanity eroded slowly under the relentless torture, until she was little more than a shell of the woman she once was, alone, broken, and forgotten. And that, in the end, was her punishment.

A fate far crueler than execution.

And so, that was the end of Mindy’s story, not with vengeance or redemption, but with quiet, forgotten torment.

As for Hera, she returned home, not alone, but surrounded by her people. Xavier, Minerva, Athena, and Liz were with her. Alexandre came too, along with his friend Antoine, as if they were stepping out to write a new story in a new world.

Since Hera couldn’t stop Alexandre from tagging along, she eventually gave up and let him be. But what really caught everyone off guard, especially Xavier, was discovering that Hera had another private plane.

That was when Xavier truly began to question just how wealthy his girlfriend actually was.

He used to believe he could give her the world if she ever asked for it, but now it felt like he was the one riding her coattails. To realize that Hera was not only serious when she mentioned her wealth, but also capable of supporting her man without batting an eye, it hit him harder than he expected.

A little disheartened, Xavier couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t doing enough for her. And so, with quiet resolve, he made a decision: he’d return home and finally accept the legacy he once ran away from. He’d take responsibility for the Montague Group and become its new CEO.

If Hera had known that a simple, casual display of wealth would light a fire under Xavier and push him to step up, she might’ve done it much sooner. And if Xavier’s family ever found out what finally brought their rebellious son back into the fold, they’d probably build a shrine for Hera in gratitude.

After all, they had tried everything, every tactic, every trick in the book, to convince Xavier to come back and inherit the business, and each time, they failed spectacularly. They had nearly given up, resorting to outsiders to manage their hard-earned empire...

Then, out of nowhere, Xavier returned home and asked for the reins. His parents were so overjoyed, they couldn’t stop laughing, even in their sleep.

Even in the original story, Xavier never returned to his family. Instead, his family ended up hiring a professional manager to oversee their companies and handle their wealth, while Xavier remained out in the world, acting in movies with the original female lead and showering her with affection like it was nothing.

Although Xavier was already wealthy in his own right, it was nothing compared to the vast fortune of his family. In the novel, his family was only briefly mentioned, mainly when he leveraged their influence to team up with his friends and fight against the Averys. But beyond that, his background and family connections were barely explored.