Chapter Two
1138 Words
Everything was a lie!!!
Vincent William’s Garden District Mansion was a blood-money scheme disguised as Southern charm.
I sat rigid in Elijah’s Mercedes, watching wrought-iron gates swing open to reveal a white columned estate. Manicured gardens glowed under strategically placed lights. Everything screamed wealth, power, and legitimacy.
“Remember what I said. Elijah’s clamped on my thigh hard enough to bruise. “Smile, be charming. Don't embarrass me.”
My phone buzzed in my clutch, and Elijah was too busy to notice.
Unknown number: The study on the second floor, east wing. His safe is behind the painting, and the code is 0042. Could you get me a photo of whatever is inside?
My heart stopped. Karhi wanted me to break into Vincent's safe during dinner.
Me: You’re insane
Unknown number: You’re the one who let me into your apartment instead of shooting me. Elijah is moving the wedding up for a reason. Three weeks means something significant. By the way, you look beautiful in that blue dress, even with the scarf hiding its brutality.
I looked up sharply, scanning the darkened street. Karhi was watching.
“Put that away,” Elijah snatched the phone. He shoved it into his jacket. “ No phones at uncle's table!
Inside the mansion was obscene, with crystal chandeliers, marble floors, and oil paintings worth more than the Dauphine building.
A grand staircase curved upward to the second floor.
Elijah! There you are! A woman in her fifties descended the stairs, dripping in diamonds. “This is Joy? Ohh, she's lovely!
Aunty Motun led us to the dining room, which had eight seats beneath a massive chandelier. Vincent sat at the head, a face curved by cruelty.
“Joy Lewis, Vincent’s voice was smooth and cultured. “Please sit.”
The other guests: a judge, a city councilman, a police captain, and their wives. They are all on Vincent’s payroll.
I smiled and played the grateful bride to be while courses passed before me.
Thirty minutes in, Motun stood. “Joy, I need your opinion upstairs. Vincent waved and said, “Let the women have their fun.”
I followed up motun out, pulse hammering.
“Second floor, East wing,” she whispered. You have ten minutes.
I froze. “What?”
My daughter was r***d by one of Vincent's associates five years ago. Elijah made sure she couldn't report it and killed herself after 4 months. Her hands shook.
Karhi reached out three days ago. Move!!! She pushed me toward the east wing.
The study was exactly where Karhi said it would be. I put the painting aside and clicked the code 0042.
Inside, they were cash, ledgers, a passport with Vincent’s photo and different names, and a black book. I grabbed an old Polaroid camera from the desk.
I photographed everything, the Polaroid slideshow, and I shoved them into my clutch, rearranged everything, closed the safe, and hung the painting back on the wall.
Five minutes, I slipped into the hallway and collided with the police captain.
What are you doing here?” he curiously asked.
I… motun, wedding dresses, I got turned around…”
His hand grabbed my clutch and opened it. The pictures were right on top: Vincent's false passports and his ledger.
The captain’s face went red. “You stupid little…” I grabbed a steel and brought it down on his head. “He crumbled.
Oh God, I pressed my finger to his neck to feel his pulse, but he was already bleeding.
“Joy? Motun’s voice drifted up. “Time to go, dear!”
I stared at the captain’s body, at the pooling on Vincent’s floor.
Every instinct screams. But if Elijah hunts us down, we'd be dead in days. I smoothed my dress, checked my reflection, scarves hiding bruises, and descended with a smile.
“Did you find what you were looking for? Vincent asked.
Behind the question is “Did you betray me? I met his eyes, “Yes, Motun has a wonderful taste. I can't wait for the wedding”.
Elijah’s hand found my thigh under the table. Vincent raised his wine glass. “To the new family.” Everyone drank.
The Captain’s phone buzzed upstairs. Then again, Vincent’s eyes narrowed. “Where is Captain Mark?
The table went quiet. “Bathroom, probably,” Elijah said.
Fifteen minutes, Vincent gazed at me. “You were upstairs with Motun around that time, weren't you, Joy?
“Yes, looking at the catalogs in the sitting room, we didn't see anyone.
Hmm… “Vincent dabbed his mouth. “Elijah, go check on Mark.”
Elijah stood and squeezed my shoulder as he passed a warning or a threat.
A shout echoed from upstairs, running footsteps. Elijah’s voice, “Uncle Vincent!
Vincent was already moving; half the table stood with him, but the women sat frozen.
Aunty Motun! Elijah appeared, face flushed with rage. She paled but stood as she passed; she pressed something into my hand, and that was her car key.
“Black Lexus, East side of the property, Save yourself, Joy! Then she was gone. I looked at the key in my palm with fear.
The front door burst open, and four men in tactical gear, weapons drawn, flooded in, FBI
“Nobody should move! Place your hands where we can see them!
My mind went blank. How? When? Did I trigger it, or did Karhi?
“Vincent, you're under arrest!
The explosion shook the mansion. I saw flames through the windows, the study, and the safe; everything is burning.
“It's a hit,” an agent yelled.
I grabbed my clutch and ran toward the kitchen, Motun’s escape route.
I burst through the door into the night and froze.
I saw Karhi standing beside a black Lexus, smoke rising behind him, and the dark smile on his face.
“Time to go, Joy,” He said calmly. “Unless you would rather explain to Elijah why the police have your Polaroids in his jacket.
He'd planted them while Mark was unconscious; Karhi planted the whole thing.
I'd never been in danger of being caught, but Mark was.
“You used me,” I breathed.
“I gave you a choice, he opened the car door. “You chose revenge. Get in or stay and face Elijah’s justice. Decide now, Joy!
I looked back at the burning house, more gunfire from the inside, flames spreading, the life that had trapped me and Eijah’s cage, then at Karhi, the dangerous man who'd handled me the key.
I got in the car. As we peeled away, leaving chaos and fire behind, Karhi glanced at me and said, “Welcome to the war, Joy.”
Despite the violence, the manipulation, the impossible danger ahead, I honestly felt something I hadn't felt in two years.
Hope!!!
- Writer
