CHAPTER 5
2199 Words
“Every queen has her rival. Every rival eventually bleeds.”
The morning light was unkind.
Ava sat alone in her penthouse kitchen, robe cinched tight, coffee untouched.
The city outside buzzed to life… horns, heels, a thousand ambitions grinding against steel and glass… but inside, it was quiet. Too quiet.
Ethan had left before sunrise. No note. No goodbye. Just the faintest dent on the pillow beside hers, the scent of him still clinging to her skin.
She told herself it didn’t matter.
That it was easier this way.
Clean exits. Clear lines.
But something about the silence felt...off.
She reached for her phone, scrolling through encrypted alerts and board reports, until her inbox lit up with a single subject line that made her blood cool:
Selene Laurent: Exclusive Interview, European Financial Review.
She tapped it open.
Her eyes scanned the first lines:
> “In a surprising shift of tone, global strategist and legacy heiress Selene Laurent opens up for the first time about the rumored betrayal within the Dubai board, her vision for female-driven empires, and the ‘ironic tragedy’ of trusting the wrong people.”
The photo beneath it was pure poison: Selene in silver, smiling like a viper in velvet. Calculated. Composed. Already rewriting the narrative before Ava could touch it.
And there it was, buried halfway through the article:
> “When you build your empire on revenge, you leave your back exposed. Eventually, someone will aim for the spine.”
A direct hit.
Ava exhaled slowly.
Selene wasn’t just throwing barbs. She was setting the next domino.
And worse… she was doing it in Ava’s language. Ruthless elegance. Weaponized femininity. Control disguised as vulnerability.
She glanced back at her phone, fingers tightening around the device. The Dubai board hadn’t leaked the press release yet. Someone close to her had handed it to Selene.
Someone inside.
Vincent was already burned. That left two other possibilities.
Neither of them would survive what came next.
Ava rose from her seat, unfastening her robe as she walked. The silk slid off her shoulders like water, bunching behind her.
She looked at herself in the mirror.
Not the hair. Not the bruises on her neck. Not the mark Ethan had left behind on her collarbone.
Her eyes.
That was where the war was.
And it wasn’t over.
***
Later That Day
Selene Laurent Holdings— Enterprises Global HQ, Midtown Manhattan
Selene didn’t try to hide her smile.
She sat back in the leather armchair in her penthouse office, swirling the champagne in a glass cup as if she had not just gotten shot across the bow.
“Do you think she’s caught it yet?” she said to her assistant, tossing her platinum hair behind one shoulder.
The assistant, younger and more nervous than she looked, nodded. “It’s trending on two platforms already.”
“Good,” Selene purred.
“Let her bleed a little.”
A beat passed before she added, “Then schedule the charity gala for next weekend. Invite everyone Ava’s ever wronged. Let’s see how many knives show up.”
Her gaze turned cold.
“Tell Ethan he’s not invited.”
***
The moment Selene’s name appeared in her schedule, Ava knew.
She stared at the line on her calendar like it was a coded threat:
> Private Gala – Selene Laurent Holdings— Enterprises Invitation Only
The invite had arrived under the guise of exclusivity. A carefully veiled trap dressed in satin and press coverage. A reminder of the world Selene played in… one where image mattered more than truth, and blood came wrapped in glittering couture.
Ava sat in the center of her walk-in closet, phone balanced on her knee, surrounded by weaponry disguised as dresses. Gowns tailored to conquer. Heels sharp enough to draw blood.
She chose the black velvet one.
Not red. That would be expected. Black was a funeral.
For whatever Selene thought she’d buried.
Her phone buzzed. A private message.
Unknown Sender: You’re walking into the lion’s den.
Ava’s lips curved.
Ava: I’m the lion.
She closed the screen.
Ethan hadn’t texted.
She hadn’t expected him to. Not after last night. Not after how fiercely their bodies had collided… and how carefully he’d slipped away before morning.
But something gnawed at her. A hollow place beneath the rage. A scar that hadn’t yet turned numb.
She shoved it down. She had no time for softness. Not when Selene was making her next move.
***
Later That Evening
Private Lounge – The Delacroix Hotel
The lights were low, the jazz darker.
Ethan nursed a scotch in the corner booth, his tie undone and his sleeves rolled. He no longer appeared the mogul, but a man unraveling slowly.
His friend Gabriel slid into the seat across from him without asking.
“Tell me you’re not still pretending this doesn’t matter,” Gabriel said, eyeing the untouched drink.
Ethan didn’t look up. “It doesn’t.”
“She’s baiting you,” Gabriel pressed.
“Selene doesn’t go public unless she wants to provoke something. Or someone. And you, my friend, are very much someone.”
“She’s baiting Ava,” Ethan said flatly.
“Not me.”
Gabriel studied him. “You slept with her again, didn’t you?”
Silence.
Then Ethan exhaled through his nose. “It wasn’t supposed to mean anything.”
Gabriel’s laugh was humorless. “Nothing with Ava ever means nothing.”
That was the problem. Ava wasn’t some pawn in Selene’s game.
She was the damn queen.
And Ethan had forgotten… just for a second… how dangerous queens could be when they’d been betrayed.
***
Back in the Penthouse
Midnight
Ava stood on her balcony, the city stretching below her like a battlefield.
Her hair whipped in the wind. Her bare feet were cold against the stone. But her blood burned.
Selene had gone public. That meant she was ready for war.
Fine.
Ava didn’t need weapons.
She was one.
She picked up the phone and dialed.
“Activate Plan Echo,” she said.
“Pull the Dubai surveillance tapes. I want everything Selene buried. Every whisper. Every fund she funneled offshore. And check the signature logs. If someone on my team leaked that interview... I want names.”
She paused.
“And if it was Ethan?”
The line crackled.
Ava’s voice was calm when she spoke again.
“Then burn him too.”
She ended the call and looked back toward the skyline.
Because the queen was no longer bleeding.
She was sharpening her crown.
***
Selene had been going over the guest list for the charity gala when she'd spotted the message in her inbox. She squinted at the subject line.
From: Ava Moreno
Subject: Game On
She read the letter with a lingering smile on her lips.
Selene,
You want to test my patience? Consider it tested.
Bask in the spotlight, but know this: You can’t win the crown without handling the heat.
I'll be there.
The final sentence hung in the air like a warning. Ava wasn’t only reacting to Selene’s gambit. She was raising the stakes. Selene, and even as decomposed posting as she may seemed to be, had an inch niggling cold sense of unease.
“You’re not the only one who plays with fire,” Selene grumbled to herself, clicking to the next page of her gala plans. The guest list was carefully curated — just like her own public persona: each rival, each enemy, and each person who could be useful… or compromised for their weaknesses — was coming.
The gala was not the real game. It was the delicate alliances that would either crumble or be strengthened by the end of the night.
“Have the staff made the backroom ready for the VIPs,” she barked to her assistant without looking away from her screen.
“No one leaves without a marking.”
The assistant nodded, obviously disturbed by the venom in Selene’s voice.
Ava’s Penthouse – Late Afternoon.
Ava was standing in front of her mirror, adding some touches to her makeup. A soft glow hovered around the vanity lights, only to accent the hard stripe in her stare.
Tonight would be different. She would make it different.
For a second she let herself remember the way it had begun. How she'd believed in Selene once— before it all fell apart. But trust was a luxury Ava no longer possessed.
Not when she knew how fast people like Selene could turn a knife in your back.
Her phone buzzed.
Ethan Blackwood- I’ll be there tonight. Don’t do anything reckless.
Ava gripped the phone in her fingers. He thought she was reckless? Reckless was something he had never seen before.
She typed off a quick reply, fingers skimming against the screen with frosty determination:
Ava: You might just get out of my way.
The Gala – Selene Laurent Holdings— Enterprises Event
The gala was everything it was to be: high ceilings, sparkling chandeliers, and a sea of fancy faces chattering over champagne. The laughter was slick, the smiles too perfect. The masks everyone was wearing were all too familiar.
Ava swept into the room with practiced grace, all eyes turning to her as she passed through the imposing double doors. The dress, black velvet, fit her close as a glove and outlined her costume in curving beauty, also a suggestion of late-night mystery. She was every inch the woman who had nothing to lose and nothing more to gain.
She scanned the crowd, a predator flash blazing in her eyes.
Selene had put herself in the middle of it, standing there, smiling, talking to the people from the press, charming the high rollers. She hadn’t seen Ava come in either, but it was only a matter of time. And Ava was done waiting.
Stepping further into the room, the sound of her heels striking the marble floor, she caught a glint of movement… Ethan.
Their eyes met across the room. His face was inscrutable, but there was a flash of something. Regret? Desire? She didn’t know and, honestly, she didn’t care.
Ethan Blackwood had his own wars to wage tonight. Ava had hers.
And Selene was not going to escape unharmed.
***
Selene’s Corner
Aware of Ava’s arrival, Selene’s eyes traveled the room, sipping champagne. No shock, no panic… just the measured poise of someone who had been in the game long enough to see every move before it was made.
But then, for just a split second, her eyes darted to the right, where Ethan was standing. Watching. Ava’s appearance had obviously made him uneasy, and the way he kept glaring at Selene made her want to smile.
Selene took another sip and narrowed her eyes so slightly. She wasn’t the only one who showed up to play tonight. And though Ava burned for it all to go down, Selene always had the upper hand.
***
Ava Approaches
Ava sliced through the crowd of people like a knife through silk. Each time she got a look it melted away under her steady gaze. She wasn’t here for chitchat. Not tonight. Not with Selene.
She marched over, her heels steady as she halted in front of Selene, who was talking to another group of potential investors. They hushed, feeling the mood suddenly shift in the room.
Selene looked up, her smile not wavering, but it was strained by now.
“Ava,” she said, her voice a flickering laugh, light, sharp as glass.
“I can’t believe you agreed to have dinner with me. Or were you just too excited to find out what’s next in my game?”
Ava returned her stare, as cold as ice. "I didn't come here to play games, Selene. I’m here to end yours.”
The words were left hanging between them, they feel heavy in the air and instantly tension erupted between the two women. Whispers began to spread around them, more eyes casting in their direction.
Selene c****d her head, the corners of her mouth spreading into a wicked grin.
“End mine?” she repeated, clearly amused.
“You didn’t even have the courage to f*****g end yourself last night.”
Ava’s eyes flared. She was not going to blink. Not in front of these people. Not after all that had been been put in motion.
“Maybe,” Ava said in a low voice, close enough to Selene for only her to hear.
“But I’m about to wrap up what you began. And when I get done, the only one left will be me.”
***
As the energy whipped between the two women, Ethan slipped into the shadows of the room, watching Ava’s every move. He knew he would get a blowback from this. There always was. But looking at Ava, the way she was now, so strong, so fiercely herself… something haunted him about it.
Maybe he had made a mistake. Maybe he wasn’t in control of the situation as he’d imagined.
But it was too late by then. And now, all of them could only wait, watching as the world around them began to change.
- Writer
