The Woman in Crimson
328 Words
Chapter 39: The Woman in Crimson
Lena hadn’t expected her to look so… normal.
Ava stood at the end of the gallery hall wearing a blood-red dress that clung to her like a second skin. She wasn’t tall or particularly striking, but there was something electric about her—like she hummed with silent danger. Her eyes were the colour of smoke. And they were watching Lena like a hunter sizing up a deer.
“You’re prettier than I expected,” Ava said, her voice soft and liquid. “Though I imagine Jay didn’t choose you for your looks alone.”
Lena stiffened. “And you are…?”
Ava smiled. “Oh, he hasn’t told you? That’s disappointing. I used to know Jay very well. Intimately, you could say.”
She stepped closer. The scent of sharp citrus and jasmine clung to her, expensive and suffocating.
“Is this how you introduce yourself to strangers?” Lena asked coldly.
“Strangers?” Ava tilted her head. “Darling, I’m no stranger to the man you crawl into bed with every night. Or is it not every night yet?”
Lena’s cheeks burned—but not with shame. With fury. “Jay doesn’t belong to anyone.”
“Oh, sweet girl.” Ava laughed, soft and cruel. “He never did. But that never stopped me from keeping him.”
Something cold slid down Lena’s spine. Ava’s words weren’t just threats—they were promises dressed in silk.
“I’m not scared of you,” Lena said, standing straighter.
Ava leaned in, whispering just enough for only Lena to hear. “You should be. Because the people who come between me and what’s mine... have a habit of disappearing.”
Then she turned and walked away, her heels clicking like gunshots down the marble corridor.
Lena stood frozen, her pulse thundering.
Whatever this was—it had just become war.
And Ava was the kind who didn’t play fair.
- Writer
