Chapter 5: Family Ties and Dirty Lies
569 Words
Chapter 5: Family Ties and Dirty Lies
Lucy sat stiffly across from Jayson in the back of his black Rolls Royce, the city lights a blur outside the tinted windows. The drone footage had changed everything.
“Uncle?” she asked, her voice sharp. “John is your nephew?”
Jayson nodded slowly. “Yes. My younger brother’s son. A spoiled, entitled brat who’s been trying to steal my company since the day he got his trust fund.”
Lucy leaned back against the plush leather, stunned. “You didn’t think that was important to tell me?”
“I was going to,” Jayson said calmly. “After the gala. After we had a plan. I didn’t want it to color your judgment.”
“Oh, you mean the judgment I needed when I found out I was using your own blood for revenge?” she snapped.
His jaw tightened. “John stopped being family when he tried to sell my company secrets to competitors. He’s not a nephew—he’s a liability. A threat.”
Lucy exhaled slowly. “And now he knows we’re working together. This just got a hell of a lot more complicated.”
Jayson’s eyes flicked to her. “Then it’s time to escalate. John wants a war? He’ll get one.”
They arrived at Jayson’s private residence, a sprawling penthouse with a panoramic view of the city. But neither of them admired the skyline that night. They were too busy planning.
Lucy paced the marble floor as Jayson pulled up files on a hidden screen in his office.
“John’s recent deals,” he said, sliding her a tablet. “Shady investments. Shell companies. A failed crypto scam. He’s bleeding money.”
Lucy scrolled through the documents. “What’s the plan?”
“We pull the rug out from under him. Quietly. We contact his investors. We plant doubts. Let his own greed unravel him.”
“And Mary?” Lucy asked.
Jayson smiled darkly. “Mary is easier. She thrives on attention. Let’s give her just enough rope to hang herself.”
Lucy’s heart pounded. This wasn’t just revenge anymore. It was war.
But a knock on the door interrupted them.
Jayson frowned. “I wasn’t expecting anyone.”
He opened the door—and froze.
There stood a woman in a tight silver dress, her lips painted crimson, her eyes cold and glittering.
“Hello, darling,” Mary Davis purred, stepping inside like she owned the place. “Fancy penthouse. Shame I had to find out about it through John’s tracker.”
Lucy stared in disbelief. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Mary’s smile sharpened. “I came to see how far you’d fallen, Lucy. Imagine my surprise to find you rising instead—like a well-dressed parasite.”
Jayson moved between them. “You need to leave.”
“Oh, but I haven’t even said the best part,” Mary whispered, pulling out her phone. “John’s not just watching. He’s planning. And he says if Lucy keeps playing dirty, someone might just end up buried.”
She tapped the screen and showed them a live video.
It was Lucy’s mother.
Tied to a chair.
Sobbing.
The screen cut to black.
Mary’s smile vanished. “Tick-tock, traitors.”
She turned and walked out, heels clicking like gunshots.
Lucy stood frozen.
Jayson caught her before she fell.
- Writer
