A vow written in revenge

CHAPTER ONE A VOW WRITTEN IN REVENGE "Some vows are spoken before witnesses. The most dangerous ones are written in revenge." The rain began before dawn. By the time Iris Bennett stepped out of the taxi, the storm had swallowed the morning whole. Gray clouds pressed low over Bennett Manor, turning the sprawling estate into a silhouette of black stone and broken dreams. She stood at the iron gates for a heartbeat longer than she intended. Home. The word no longer felt right. The fountain that once sparkled at the center of the circular driveway had run dry months ago. Ivy had begun climbing the marble walls. Half the windows were dark despite the early hour, as if the manor itself had grown too tired to keep pretending everything was fine. Once, the Bennett name had opened every door in the country. Now it filled newspaper headlines beside words like collapse, debt, and bankruptcy. People called it bad luck. Iris knew better. Someone was dismantling her family piece by piece. She tightened her grip on the leather folder tucked beneath her arm and hurried through the front doors. The silence hit her immediately. No servants crossed the foyer. No laughter drifted from the drawing room. Even the grandfather clock seemed to tick more quietly, as though afraid to disturb the house. Something was wrong. "Iris." She turned sharply. Ethan Bennett stood outside their father's study. He looked terrible. His usually neat hair had been pushed back so many times it refused to stay in place. His tie hung loose around his neck, and a coffee stain marked the cuff of his white shirt. He looked like a man who hadn't slept in days. "You came," he said, forcing a smile that never reached his eyes. "You sounded terrified." Iris searched his face. "What's happened?" "It's..." He rubbed a hand across his jaw before letting out a tired sigh. "Just come inside." "Ethan." He hesitated. "I can't explain it." Her stomach tightened. "You mean you won't." His shoulders sagged. "Maybe." He pushed open the study door. "Dad's waiting." The familiar scent of old books had been replaced by antiseptic and medicine. Richard Bennett sat behind his enormous mahogany desk, but the man before Iris hardly resembled the chairman who had built one of the country's largest business empires. His face had grown gaunt. His shoulders seemed smaller. The clear oxygen tube beneath his nose stole what little composure she had left. "Dad..." A faint smile touched his lips. "My stubborn girl." The endearment almost undid her. She crossed the room in three quick strides and wrapped her arms around him as gently as she could. He felt... fragile. Not like Richard Bennett. Never like Richard Bennett. "You should be in bed," she whispered. "I've spent enough time in bed." "You've been discharged for two days." "So you've been keeping track." "Of course I've been keeping track." His smile faded. "Iris..." She pulled back just enough to study him. His eyes were bloodshot. Not from illness. From worry. Real worry. The kind that settled deep into a man's bones. Her pulse quickened. "What happened?" Richard glanced toward Ethan. Neither of them answered. That frightened her more than any words could. "Sit." She remained standing. "No." His brow lifted slightly. "If this conversation is bad enough that neither of you can look me in the eye, I'd rather hear it standing." A flicker of pride crossed Richard's face. Then sadness replaced it. "As stubborn as your mother." He reached for a thick folder resting on his desk and slid it toward her. Laurent Holdings. The logo alone made Iris's expression harden. She didn't touch it. "No." "You haven't opened it." "I don't need to." She pushed it back across the desk. "I refuse to hold anything with their name on it." Another silence. Long. Heavy. Richard closed his eyes. "The banks froze our remaining credit yesterday." "I know." "Our overseas investors withdrew." "I know." "The board voted to begin liquidation procedures." "I know." She answered too quickly. Too confidently. Because she already had a solution. "We'll sell the Singapore division." "It's already sold." Her words caught. "...Then we'll refinance." "They refused." "We'll restructure." "We tried." "We'll—" "No." His voice cracked through the room. Not loud. Just final. The single word stole every argument she had prepared. Richard leaned back slowly, exhaustion carving deeper lines into his face. "This time..." he whispered, "...we're out of time." For the first time in twenty-six years, Iris saw fear in her father's eyes. Not concern. Not frustration. Fear. She felt something inside her begin to crack. Richard slid another folder toward her. "Our final offer." Reluctantly... She opened it. Her eyes landed on the title. MERGER AGREEMENT BETWEEN LAURENT HOLDINGS AND BENNETT GROUP She frowned. A merger? She turned the page. Then another. Her fingers suddenly stopped. Her breathing became shallow. "No..." She blinked. Read the paragraph again. "No." The folder slipped from her hands. Papers scattered across the Persian rug. Ethan instinctively bent to gather them. She caught his wrist. "No!" Her voice shook. "This isn't a merger." Nobody answered. She laughed once. A short, broken sound. "This is blackmail." Still silence. She looked desperately at her father. "Tell me you said no." Richard lowered his head. "Dad..." "Tell me." When he remained silent, she spun toward Ethan. "You." His eyes filled with guilt. "Please..." He swallowed hard. "Iris..." "Say something!" He ran both hands through his hair. "I didn't want you to find out like this." "What are you talking about?" "The agreement has... one condition." Every instinct screamed at her not to ask. She ignored it. "What condition?" Richard slowly opened his desk drawer. His movements were painfully careful. He removed a cream-colored envelope edged in gold. He placed it between them. No one spoke. Iris stared at it. Her fingers refused to move. Finally... She picked it up. Her eyes scanned the elegant lettering. The Laurent and Bennett families request the honor of your presence... The room tilted. "No..." She kept reading. Her heartbeat became deafening. Marriage Ceremony Cassian Laurent & Iris Bennett "No!" Her chair toppled backward with a violent crash. "Absolutely not!" Her chest rose and fell so violently it hurt to breathe. "You agreed to this?" Richard looked at her, and for the first time since she'd entered the room... He looked broken. "I agreed to save this family." "You promised Mom!" His jaw tightened. "I know." "You promised we'd never kneel to the Laurents!" "I know." "Then why?" For a second... Richard Bennett wasn't a billionaire. He wasn't a chairman. He was simply a father running out of time. His hands slammed onto the desk. "I KNOW WHAT I PROMISED!" The shout echoed through the study. His breathing immediately became ragged. The oxygen tube shifted. Ethan rushed forward. "Dad—" Richard held up a trembling hand. He closed his eyes. When he spoke again... His voice was barely a whisper. "But promises don't pay eight thousand salaries." Iris couldn't answer. She had known those employees since childhood. She had attended their weddings. Their children's birthdays. Their retirement dinners. They weren't numbers on a balance sheet. They were family. And now... She was being asked to sacrifice herself to save them.