QUEEN'S DO CONQUER
853 Words
Chloe’s POV
The scent of fresh roses and bergamot lingered in the air as I stepped into the dimly lit master bathroom of our penthouse. My heels clicked softly against the marble floor, echoing with the kind of luxury that used to feel foreign to me. Now, it was part of my new skin.
But beneath the surface, beneath the diamonds, the silk robes, the name Mrs. White; there was a storm, thick and simmering, and no amount of lavender oil could calm it.
Lyon.
He was haunting me. Not with words. Not with pleas. But with silence that dug deep into my bones. Silence that followed our unexpected encounters like a ghost I couldn’t shake off.
It wasn’t just about him anymore.
It was about me.
About what I needed to become to survive.
I applied a touch of crimson lipstick, bold, commanding, a shade he once told me was “too aggressive” for my soft features. I smiled at the mirror, slow and cold. Let him see me now.
My phone buzzed. A message from Richard:
"Board meeting rescheduled. Dinner tonight? I miss you."
I stared at the screen, my heart tightening. Richard my husband. The man who took me in when I was all ash and no fire. Who offered me protection, power, and a name that struck fear in boardrooms and admiration at galas.
But did he truly know me?
Did anyone?
Because the woman he married was a carefully constructed illusion. One built on the ruins of Chloe Bennett, the woman Lyon tore apart piece by piece.
And now I was something else entirely.
Still, I typed back:
"Dinner sounds lovely. Wear the navy suit. I’ll wear the red."
I needed Richard to keep loving me. I needed him in my corner. Because the war I was waging was no longer one of heartbreak.
It was vengeance.
And it was only beginning.
I walked back into the bedroom, trailing my fingers across the velvet headboard, the memories playing like shadows behind my eyes. That confrontation at the salon with Sherry earlier today, her hissed threats, her trembling rage, it told me everything I needed to know.
She was slipping.Cracking.Panicking.Good.She should be afraid.
I remember the way her eyes searched mine, desperate to find the old Chloe. The naive girl she’d stabbed in the back. But all she found was a woman reborn in fire. And I saw it, the moment realization dawned in her expression.
I wasn’t back to play house.I was back to take everything.
My fingers curled slightly as I remembered her words: “You came back to ruin me.”
I didn’t deny it.
Why would I?
Some truths deserve to be spoken loud.
She thought she’d won back then. Stole my man. Made me the villain in my own story. Lied about a pregnancy that never existed. Whispered poison into Lyon’s ears until he looked at me with disgust, not love.
But time has a funny way of unmasking people.
And karma?
She’s a patient woman.
I sat down at my vanity and opened the small velvet box hidden in the drawer’s corner. Inside was a single USB drive, black, discreet, harmless in appearance. But it held everything I needed. Letters. Bank records. Private conversations. Proof of the affair between Sherry and Lyon, before I ever married him.
Yes, I knew.
I’d known for over a year.
But this wasn’t about petty confrontations or screaming matches. No. That would’ve been too easy. Too weak.
I wanted their downfall to be slow. Calculated and cold
My lips curved as I placed the drive back into the box and shut the drawer. Not yet. Timing was everything.
Especially when your enemies believed they were still winning.
The door to the bedroom opened quietly, and for a second, I stiffened, instinctively on guard.
“Everything alright, darling?” Richard’s voice filtered in, smooth and unsuspecting.
I turned and gave him a dazzling smile. “Perfect. Just getting ready for dinner.”
He walked over, placing a kiss on the top of my head, his fingers briefly touching my bare shoulder. I looked up at him, studying the lines in his face, the familiar weight of his affection.
He didn’t know.
Not yet.
Not about the part he played in my carefully orchestrated revenge.
Not about how deep the betrayal ran on all sides.
I’d use him as long as I needed. Because the man who had once been my enemy was now my most valuable asset.
He just didn’t realize it.
“Wear the red dress,” he murmured. “You always look irresistible in it.”
I kissed his cheek and nodded. “Anything for you.”
He left the room, humming to himself. And the moment he was gone, the smile slid from my face like melting wax.
My eyes drifted to the window; the city sprawling beneath us like a chessboard. All my pieces were in play. All my enemies still dancing under the illusion of safety.
But I was the queen now.
And queens don’t just survive.
They conquer...
To be continued!
- Writer
