Chapter:21
1747 Words
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A Dimly Lit Loft, City Outskirts, Late Evening
The air was thick with smoke and the faint hum of jazz playing from a battered old record player. Ava Richmond slipped into the shadowy loft, heels clicking against the concrete floor. Her expression was cool, almost unreadable—yet her eyes gleamed with a secret fire.
Waiting by the window was Derek, her secret boyfriend. He was lean, sharp-featured, with a calculating look that matched her own ambition.
Ava closed the door quietly behind her and leaned against the frame. “You’re late.”
Derek smirked, lighting a cigarette. “Traffic. Not the best night to be sneaking around.”
She crossed the room, pulling out a sleek folder from her purse and tossing it onto the table. “Enough. We’ve got to talk strategy.”
He flicked the cigarette ash into a tray and leaned forward. “Lucas is tangled up with Jasmine and Ethan. Julia’s running hot and cold. And the Clay family’s moving in on our girls.”
Ava’s lips curved into a sly smile. “Exactly why it’s time to shake the board.”
Derek’s eyes sharpened. “What’s your move?”
She tapped the folder. “Sky’s been distant from Lily lately. We exploit that. Liam’s too wrapped up in his secret obsession with Lily to notice Ava slipping through his fingers.”
Derek raised a brow. “Risky.”
“Calculated,” Ava corrected. “If we can fracture the Clay engagement from the inside, it’ll give us leverage—power to negotiate, maybe even more.”
He nodded slowly. “And if Lily finds out?”
Ava’s smile turned colder. “Then she’s just collateral damage. The Richmond family comes first.”
Derek grinned. “I like how you think. What about Lucas?”
She hesitated, then whispered, “He’s a wild card. But if we push the right buttons, even he’ll fall in line.”
The two leaned closer, voices dropping into conspiratorial whispers.
“This family feud just got a lot more dangerous.”
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Two Weeks Later
The Grand Astoria Hotel glittered like a dream—floor-to-ceiling chandeliers, crystal glasses shimmering with champagne, and designer gowns brushing against velvet carpets. The Richmond-Clay engagement was the event of the season. Everyone who was anyone in elite society was in attendance. A red carpet stretched from the main entrance all the way into the ballroom, lined with paparazzi calling names, flashes bursting like fireworks.
Ava and Lily Richmond stood at the top of the grand staircase, stunning in custom-made couture gowns that matched the Clay brothers' tailored suits like they were born for this moment. Ava wore sleek emerald green, her arm looped through Liam’s as cameras followed her like she was already royalty. Lily wore soft rose gold, her eyes occasionally flicking to Sky, who couldn’t stop glancing at her in return. Despite everything, there was something unspoken between them—electric.
Just as the emcee prepared to introduce the couples officially, a sudden commotion erupted at the entrance.
The crowd turned.
Ethan Richmond walked in—tall, broad-shouldered, dressed in an impeccably tailored black suit. He looked like a man reborn. And beside him, hand in hand, was Jasmine DuBois—Lucas’s fiery ex-girlfriend, known not only for her beauty but for her scandal-laced departure from Richmond affairs months ago.
Gasps rippled through the room. Cameras clicked wildly.
Lucas choked on his drink. His eyes locked on Jasmine, then on Ethan—pure venom rising in his chest. Julia, perched near the champagne tower, crushed her glass in her hand, blood mixing with Moët.
Ava and Lily froze. Lily’s face lit up with stunned joy, but Ava’s expression shifted—eyes darting to Lucas, then back to Ethan. Trouble.
Lily didn’t wait. She rushed down the stairs and wrapped Ethan in a fierce hug.
“Oh my God—you’re alive!” she cried, tears glimmering. “Where have you been? We thought—”
“I know,” Ethan whispered into her hair. “I’ll explain everything. Just… not here.”
Jasmine stood to the side, lips curled in amusement, scanning the room like a cat that just walked into a room full of dogs.
Lucas approached slowly, expression unreadable, glass of whisky in hand. “Look who dragged himself out of the grave,” he said casually.
Ethan gave him a smirk. “Didn’t know you cared.”
The two brothers locked eyes. No punches were thrown—yet—but the air sizzled with silent war.
Julia didn’t approach. She stayed near the bar, texting furiously. A hired hand? A Plan B? Only she knew.
The engagement party resumed, but the mood had shifted. Behind every smile was a whispered theory. The return of Ethan. Jasmine’s reappearance. Lucas’s clenched jaw. Julia’s disappearing act.
As the toasts ended and the crowd dispersed, Ethan walked out into the private parking garage. He slid into his matte black Mercedes.
To his surprise—but not really—Jasmine was already in the passenger seat.
“You always sneak into cars or just mine?” he asked, amused.
She crossed her legs, leaning back. “Only the ones driven by men who want revenge as much as I do.”
He started the engine. Neither of them spoke as they pulled onto the quiet streets of the city. But the silence between them pulsed with tension—unfinished business, mutual benefits, danger.
From the shadows of the hotel rooftop, Julia and Lucas watched.
“I say we finish it,” Julia hissed. “Now.”
Lucas didn’t answer right away. His eyes were fixed on Jasmine. His voice, when it came, was low. “Not yet. I want to know how far she’ll go… and who she’ll hurt first.”
“What? You're still hung up on her?” Julia snapped.
Lucas glanced at his sister. “She was mine. And now she's not. I need to know why.”
Julia rolled her eyes. “You're pathetic.”
“And you're impulsive. That’s why your hit failed.”
“Don't tempt me to try again.”
As the Richmonds danced and smiled upstairs, the real drama was only just beginning. Loyalties would be tested, bloodlines shaken, and no one—not even Lily or Sky—would walk away clean.
Because in the world of the powerful, love is currency, revenge is sport, and family is a weapon.
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Later That Night
The city skyline blurred past as Ethan’s Mercedes cruised through the quiet streets. Jasmine sat with one stiletto heel propped against the dash, arms crossed, eyes fixed on Ethan’s profile.
“You’re quiet,” she said, breaking the silence. “Planning your next move?”
“I’m always planning,” Ethan replied, eyes on the road. “But tonight’s about you. You didn’t show up just to hold my hand and piss off Lucas.”
She smirked. “No. I came because revenge looks better in designer heels.”
He let out a dry laugh. “So what’s your endgame?”
“Simple,” Jasmine said. “Burn Lucas from the inside out. You want to bring down your traitor brother. I want to ruin the man who used me, lied to me, and threw me away the second I became inconvenient.”
Ethan’s fingers tightened around the wheel. “Then we help each other.”
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Back at the Hotel Rooftop
Julia leaned against the balcony edge, cigarette dangling from his fingers, his eyes locked on the receding taillights of Ethan’s car.
“Lucas,” he said coldly, “if you don’t handle this, I will.”
Lucas shoved his hands into his pockets, jaw tight. “You already handled it, remember? You got someone to shoot him. And yet—he's alive. Dramatic as always.”
Julia turned to face his brother. “He’s alive because you didn’t finish it. You hesitated.”
Lucas’s voice dropped, deadly quiet. “Because he was with Jasmine.”
Julia scoffed. “Don’t tell me you still care.”
Lucas didn’t answer.
“I should’ve killed him myself,” Julia muttered. “Next time I will.”
Lucas turned slowly, stepping in close. “You do anything reckless again, and I’ll make sure Father cuts you out of everything. You won’t even have a title, let alone a legacy.”
Julia’s eyes narrowed. “You think I care about the business? I care about power. And Ethan being alive weakens mine. Yours too.”
The tension between the two brothers thickened, sharp as a blade. But Julia only smiled then, stepping back and tossing his cigarette over the edge.
“Don’t worry, big bro. I won’t kill him yet. Let’s see how long he and Jasmine can play house before someone breaks.”
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At Ethan’s Apartment – 2:03 AM
Jasmine poured herself a glass of red wine while Ethan stripped off his jacket, revealing the healing scar on his shoulder.
“Does it still hurt?” she asked softly.
He looked at her, surprised at the question. “Yeah. But not as much as betrayal.”
She stepped closer, the tension simmering. “You’re not the only one who got stabbed in the back.”
Their eyes met. For a second, the fire between them flared dangerously close to something else—desire, maybe. Maybe something deeper.
But Ethan stepped back, clearing his throat. “We should get some rest. Tomorrow we start digging.”
Jasmine’s smirk returned. “I’ve already started.”
She pulled a USB from her clutch and dropped it on the table. “Emails. Phone logs. And a voice memo between Lucas and a fixer named Kael. I’ve been playing nice, but I always record my enemies.”
Ethan raised a brow, impressed. “Remind me not to get on your bad side.”
“You already are,” she whispered, walking past him to the bedroom. “But I’m making an exception.”
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Meanwhile, at the Richmond Estate
Lily stared out her window, clutching the necklace Sky gave her earlier that night. She should’ve been floating from the engagement party, but her mind kept returning to Ethan. To Jasmine. To the fire in Lucas’s eyes.
Something was wrong.
In the hallway, Catherine Richmond watched her daughter from the shadows.
“Still keeping secrets, Raymond,” she whispered to herself, her eyes steely. “Your children are just like you.”
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- Writer
