THE BRIDE'S REVENGE

Ava Voss froze as she watched her father Thomas Voss being murdered in cold blood. On a rainy Thursday evening, Thomas was found sitting at the kitchen table with stacks of documents spread before him as he carried a worried expression on his face. Ava watched her father closely enough to see his expression. She had been seventeen, half asleep, curious ,she asked “Working late again?”. He looked up with fear in his smile, then quickly closed a folder and immediately sat on it. Ava walked up close and asked her father “What's wrong?”. But he hesitated and then answered…… “ If anything happens, take this file to your mother —- and just as he was a loud bang on the door. Three men, dressed in black with no possible way to recognise their faces, immediately walked to Thomas, beat him to a pulp and murdered him in cold blood. Ava ran with the file as though her life depended on it. ____ Ava had been working for the Hart's for about 5 years now with no serious motive but just to get closer to them. Years later, as glass shattered and sound echoed through the silent cemetery, heads turned, murmurs followed, Ava Voss froze and barely noticed as her gaze remained fixed on the massive digital billboard rising above the city skyline beyond the cemetery gates. The face staring back at her was impossible to ignore….Peter Hart, Luxembourg's golden billionaire, future ruler of Hart Global. The man the entire city seemed to worship. A smirk curved round his face as reporters surrounded him on the screen…. the headline beneath his name flashed in white bright letters. HART GLOBAL CLOSES RECORD-BREAKING €8 BILLION DEAL. The crowd hearing the number applauded loudly, even here, at the cemetery. Ava's fingers curled into fists, boiling in anger as her father had been dead for seven years and the people she blamed for destroying him were richer than ever. Her mother Grace Voss stood quietly beside the headstone with shoulders bent beneath the weight of grief that never seemed to fade. Ava swallowed hard and walked to her mother as she saw the engraved letters of her father's name “ THOMAS VOSS”. A beloved father, a loyal friend, not a criminal, not a fraudster and definitely not the disgrace newspapers had painted him to be. Just Thomas Voss, the man who taught her how to ride a bicycle, the man who never missed school play, the man who used to sneak chocolate bars into her lunchbox even when her mother complained. The man the world had forgotten except her. Ava sat beside the grave, drenched with the rain, she didn't care but whispered “I still remember everything, I remember how they looked at you”. Her throat tightened…..”I remember what they said”, the news with reporters crowding outside her house, with tears in her eyes she said “ I remember seeing you murdered in cold blood”. “ They got away with it — Ava brushed her fingers across the cold marble in tears as her mother consoled her. Grace knew that tone, the concern, the warning, the fear, she knelt beside her — “ Let it go”. Ava laughed almost humorously not because anything was but because she had heard those words too many times, “seven years later and you're still saying that” — “ Because I'm your mother”, Grace said but Ava hardly replied “ No because you are afraid”. Grace's expression faded, then she spoke softly “I don't want revenge to become your whole life”. Ava looked away and said “ You know what I think?”, Grace sighed “What?” — “ I think people tell you to move on when the truth makes them uncomfortable”. Her mother's eyes filled with tears, Ava knew she had hurt her with those words. Grace reached for her hand but Ava hesitated and stood immediately. A memory surfaced unexpectedly, her father sitting at the kitchen table one late rainy night as usual but his time with stacks of documents spread before him, a worried expression. Now she remembered something else, something she hadn't understood back then; the fear in his eyes, not stress nor exhaustion but FEAR and THE FILE. The memory vanished as quickly as it came but the feeling remained still. There was something missing and one day she would find it, no matter who stood in her way. ___ The city glowed beneath the night sky and Luxembourg looked beautiful from a distance, rich, perfect and elegant. Ava knew better as she sat alone in her apartment overlooking the city center with her laptop displaying hundreds of articles, most were years old, some were archived, all connected to the same people. The Hart with name boldly filled the screen — Victor Hart, Eleanor Hart, Lucas Hart, Isabella Hart, Peter Hart especially Peter Hart ….the youngest CEO in Hart Global history, a business prodigy, natural leader, media darling and investors favourite, a man journalists described as brilliant, visionary and unstoppable. Ava clicked another article, then another and another, all about the Harts as her jaw tightened with irritation written all over her face. Her phone buzzed as she glanced down, a message from her best friend - “ still working?”. Ava reluctantly smiled, typing back almost immediately, as another notification popped across her screen…… Breaking News , her attention shifted instantly. A livestream began. Hart Global Headquarters; she clicked, the video opened. As reporters crowded the entrance of Hart Tower, flashes exploded, questions flying in the air. Then Peter appeared, confidently and untouchable. The crowd moved forward. A reporter spoke immediately –” Mr Hart ! Is it true shareholders are questioning your leadership?” Peter stopped walking, his expression flickered a little bit not that Ava didn't notice. Peter was about to give an answer when a call came across from a strange number and unknown caller, Ava frowned. She almost ignored it but then answered, “Hello?” for several seconds no one spoke “Who is this?”; a man's voice emerged low, nervous, rough “ If you want answers about your father's death?” Every muscle in her body locked in — “What?”. Ava sharply said. The stranger inhaled sharply speaking with fear “ Meet me tomorrow”, Ava stood immediately “ Who are you? How did you know my father?” She got no answer but more silence. Then……” they lied to you Ava”, the unknown caller said and the line went dead. Ava stared at the phone, frozen and breathless as different thoughts clouded her mind…. Ava slowly lowered the phone thinking “ How did he know her father and What truth had been hidden all these years?”. Most importantly “Who was the caller?”. Tomorrow couldn't come fast enough……