Page 53 of No Mane, No Gain

Olive set down her fork, meeting Tia’s gaze head-on. “Actually, I had a bit of trouble with my site earlier today. The strangest thing - it was taken down completely.”

She noticed Tia’s hand tighten around her wine glass.Got you.

“Oh no,” Tia said, not quite managing to sound concerned. “How awful. I hope it wasn’t... hacked or anything.”

Olive smiled, all teeth. “Oh, it was definitely a deliberate attack. But don’t worry, I have some very talented friends who managed to trace it back to the source.”

The tension at the table ratcheted up several notches. Chaos looked between Olive and Tia, confusion etched on his features.

“Olive?” he asked quietly. “What’s going on?”

This was it. The moment of truth. Olive took a deep breath, her heart pounding so loudly, she was sure everyone at the table could hear it. The weight of her phone in her hand felt like an anchor, grounding her as she prepared to unleash the storm.

“I think it’s time we addressed the elephant in the room,” Olive began, her voice steady despite the tremor in her hands. She locked eyes with Tia, who stared back with a mixture of defiance and poorly concealed panic.

“Earlier today, my website - my biggest passion outside of the foundation - was completely shut down.” Olive’s words cut through the sudden silence like a knife. She could see Marco and Isabella exchanging worried glances while Chaos sat unnaturally still beside her, tension radiating from every line of his body.

“At first, I thought it was a technical glitch. But thanks to the help of a very talented hacker” - here, Olive nodded gratefully at Chaos - “we discovered it was a deliberate attack.”

The air in the room seemed to thicken, making it hard to breathe. Olive pressed on, her voice growing stronger with each word.

“The attack was traced back to an IP address registered to this house.” She paused, letting the implications sink in. “More specifically, to Tia’s personal computer.”

The reaction was immediate and explosive. Marco’s face darkened like a thundercloud, his knuckles whitening as he gripped his fork with unnecessary force. Isabella gasped, herhand flying to her mouth in shock, eyes wide with disbelief and disappointment.

Chaos, for his part, remained eerily calm, his eyes never leaving Olive’s face. But she could see the storm brewing behind his hazel eyes, a tempest of anger and betrayal barely held in check.

Tia’s reaction was the most dramatic. Her face cycled through a kaleidoscope of emotions - shock, fear, anger - before settling on righteous indignation.

“She’s lying!” Tia shrieked, her chair scraping loudly against the floor as she jumped to her feet. The sudden movement sent her wine glass toppling, spilling deep red liquid across the pristine white tablecloth like a bloodstain. “This is ridiculous. I would never do something like that!”

Olive remained seated, her calm demeanor a stark contrast to Tia’s hysteria. “I’m not lying, Tia. And I have proof.”

With hands that shook only slightly, Olive unlocked her phone and pulled up the evidence Ziggy had provided. She slid the device across the table to Marco, who picked it up with a grave expression.

“These are messages between Tia and the hacker she hired,” Olive explained, her voice steady. “There are timestamps, IP addresses, even a record of the payment made.”

Marco’s eyes widened as he scrolled through the information, his face growing darker with each swipe. Isabella leaned in to look, her hand covering her mouth in horror.

“Tia,” Marco’s voice was low and dangerous, a growl that made everyone at the table flinch. “Explain yourself. Now.”

Tia’s eyes darted around the room like a cornered animal, searching for an escape. “I... it’s not... she must have faked it somehow!”

“That’s enough!” Chaos’s voice cracked like a whip, making everyone jump. He stood slowly, his eyes never leaving his sister. “Tia, how could you? Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

Tia’s desperation turned to anger, her face flushing an ugly red. “I did it for you, Chaos! For our family! She doesn’t belong here. She’s not one of us!”

The silence that followed was deafening. Olive felt as if she were watching the scene unfold from outside her body, the tension in the room so thick she could almost taste it.

Then, to everyone’s surprise, Chaos laughed. It wasn’t a happy sound - it was cold, bitter, almost frightening in its intensity.

“Not one of us?” he repeated, his voice dangerously soft. “Olive has shown more integrity, more strength, and more class in the past five minutes than you have in your entire life, Tia.”

He turned to Olive, his eyes softening as they met hers. “I’m so sorry,bella. I had no idea...”

Olive reached for his hand, squeezing it gently. “It’s not your fault, Chaos.”

Marco cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s attention. His face was a mask of barely controlled fury as he addressed his daughter.

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