Cross paths

1. Introduction: The Set-Up

Ava stood in the shadows, her fingers tracing the edges of the folded photograph she kept tucked inside her jacket. The image, worn with time, showed a family that no longer existed—her family. She’d been only ten when it happened, but the memory had never dulled. The night her parents were murdered was branded into her soul like a scar she could never erase. They had been targeted, victims of a rivalry they had never wanted any part of. But that didn’t matter to the powerful Donovan family. Her parents' deaths were collateral damage in their endless pursuit of wealth and control.

It took years for Ava to gather the pieces of the story, but she eventually learned the truth. The Donovans—one of the wealthiest, most influential families in the city—had orchestrated her parents' demise. Her mother and father had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, witnesses to a crime that was never meant to see the light of day. They’d been silenced before they could speak. Ava was lucky to survive, if you could call living for revenge lucky.

Now, years later, she stood outside the lavish Donovan estate, her heart pounding with a mixture of rage and anticipation. Liam Donovan, the only son and heir to the Donovan empire, was the key to her plan. He wasn’t the one who had ordered her parents' deaths—he was likely a child himself at the time—but he was still a Donovan. He had grown up in the luxury built on the ashes of her family. And for that, she held him responsible.

She’d spent months crafting her approach. Liam was known for keeping a low profile compared to his notorious parents. He was seen as the "good one," charitable and distant from his family’s dealings. But Ava wasn’t fooled. No one grew up in that world without being tainted by it.

Disguised under a new name and identity, Ava made her move, carefully inserting herself into his world. She landed a position at a nonprofit organization Liam often funded. It was the perfect cover—close enough to observe him, but distant enough to avoid suspicion. Her plan was simple: get close, learn his weaknesses, and dismantle the Donovan family from the inside.

But as Ava watched Liam from the safety of her car, a sliver of doubt gnawed at her. She shoved it aside, reminding herself of her purpose. She wasn’t here to question her path. She was here to take down the man who represented everything she had lost.

---