Chapter eighteen — boldness is free
1332 Words
I returned to the hotel just before sunset, exhausted, drained, and running only on stubbornness. The entire day at the police station still clung to me like smoke—Alda’s terrified face, the accusation, the greedy woman trying to steal from her under the guise of “fake goods.”
I had managed to handle it, to expose the lie, to protect Alda. But the weight of it all left my bones heavy. For the first time, the thought truly sank in:
I couldn’t keep selling my old life to survive. Not if it put the people I loved in danger.
When the hotel came into view, something inside me loosened. Not relief… but the closest thing I’d felt to stability these last few days.
This place was the only shelter Kai had thrown me—carelessly, yes, but it had still been shelter.
I walked toward the entrance.
Only to be met by two security guards stepping forward, blocking my path.
I blinked. “Excuse me. I’m staying here.”
One of them shook his head immediately. “Ma’am, we have strict instructions not to let you in.”
A cold ripple went down my spine. “What? I have a room here. Check your list—Naya Shane.”
“No need,” the other guard said stiffly. “Your access has been revoked.”
Revoked.
My heart thudded, slow and hollow.
“By who?” I demanded. “Mr. Hadez owns this place. And he allowed me—”
That’s when a voice behind me answered, sweet in the way poison is sweet.
“Oh, not anymore.”
I didn’t even have to turn around.
Her tone alone made my stomach tighten.
But I turned anyway.
Beth Hadez stood there, glowing like a carefully polished weapon—hair silky, dress expensive enough to pay someone’s yearly rent, a smug softness to her smile that made it somehow even more cutting.
“Hello, Naya.” She tilted her head as if greeting a passing acquaintance instead of a threat she clearly wanted to exterminate. “Didn’t they tell you? This hotel is no longer under Kai’s management.”
My pulse missed a beat. “It was finally sold?”
“Oh, sweetheart…” Her laugh was airy. Delighted. Vicious. “No. It wasn’t sold.”
She lifted her hand, admiring her nails casually. “Kai gifted it.”
I stared at her, the words sluggishly sinking in.
Gifted.
To her.
My throat tightened, but my voice stayed even. “To you.”
“Of course to me,” she said brightly. “It’s part of my training. Managerial grooming.”
She stepped closer, lowering her voice. “Mother wants me to start taking on responsibilities within the Hadez portfolio.”
Of course she did.
Beth was the golden child in their eyes. The adopted daughter molded from porcelain and charm and quiet ambition.
“And as the new acting owner,” she continued, “my first decision was to remove certain… freeloaders.”
There it was.
The slap without the hand.
I inhaled slowly. “I stayed here for only a few nights.”
“For free,” she reminded. “Under Kai’s account. Without approval.”
She shrugged, falsely apologetic. “I simply corrected the misuse of company resources.”
Her smile sharpened. “You understand.”
Oh, I understood perfectly.
This wasn’t business.
This was personal.
She wanted me gone—physically, emotionally, strategically. Erased from the board before I even learned how to play the game.
She stepped even closer, close enough that her perfume—soft vanilla and something sharper beneath it—wrapped around me.
“And Naya… you’re not exactly subtle.” Her eyes slid down my clothes, lingering. “Your desperation shows.”
That one stung, but I didn’t flinch. She wanted to see pain. I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction.
I leaned in, my lips almost brushing her ear as I whispered, soft and lethal,
“You really should be more careful.”
She stiffened—but only for a second.
I continued, barely moving my mouth.
“After all, I know your little secret.”
Her breath caught. Her hand twitched.
And I let the knife sink deeper.
“You being Kai’s lover,” I murmured, “while also being his adopted sister? Imagine how the world would react if that slipped out.”
Her entire body went rigid.
For the first time, her perfect smile cracked.
Only by a hairline—but I saw it.
“Oh don’t worry,” I said sweetly, pulling back. “I’m not interested in exposing you. Not yet.”
Her eyes flashed, dark and murderous. “You think you can blackmail me?”
I tilted my head. “Did I say that?”
“You implied it.”
“Maybe,” I said softly. “Maybe not. But one of us here risked everything to be with Kai… and it’s not me.”
Her throat bobbed with a forced swallow.
Good.
“You’re bold for someone without a cent to her name,” she said tightly.
“Boldness is free,” I replied. “Luckily for me.”
Her expression twisted—but only for a heartbeat.
Then she recovered, smile returning with a delicate cruelty.
“You know what’s funny?” she asked softly. “You drop his name as though it will protect you. As though you matter to him.”
Her voice turned syrupy, mocking. “But he didn’t even tell you about the ownership change, did he?”
The question hit harder than I expected.
She saw it.
Of course she did.
Predators smell blood.
“He didn’t tell you,” she repeated, savoring it. “Because you were nothing but a temporary inconvenience he handled with pity.”
My chest tightened painfully. I tried to ignore it.
“Don’t flatter yourself,” she went on. “You didn’t matter enough for him to warn you. Or inform you. Or care.”
Her words sliced, each one precise and aimed.
“But do you want to know the best part?” Her smile widened. “Now that I own the hotel, not only are you barred entry… but even Kai can’t override my decision without causing a scandal with Mother.”
She leaned closer, whispering,
“You’ve lost your room.
You’ve lost your leverage.
And soon… you’ll lose him too.”
I met her gaze dead-on.
“I didn’t know I had him to lose.”
For the first time, she blinked—caught off guard.
Good.
I took a small step back, eyes calm even though my heart felt like it was slowly tearing.
“You win today, Beth,” I said quietly. “But you’re playing the wrong game.”
Her smile faltered again. Just slightly. “And what game are you playing, Naya?”
“The long one.”
A muscle in her jaw tightened.
I turned and walked away before she could reply, before she could see the tremor in my hands or the heat gathering behind my eyes.
As I left the hotel grounds, the neon lights blurred slightly. Not from tears—
I refused to cry in front of her.
But from a mix of fury and humiliation and something colder…
Resolve.
I didn’t know where I’d sleep tonight.
I didn’t know how I’d get through the next 24 hours.
Everything that had held me together was unraveling—Alda nearly arrested, my past being sold piece by piece, Kai ignoring me, Beth shutting me out of the only place I had left.
But one thought burned through the chaos:
I’m not done.
Beth wanted me weak, small, erased.
Kai wanted me at a distance—safe, predictable, forgettable.
Hana wanted me destroyed, stripped of everything, buried under her lies.
Fine.
Let them underestimate me.
Let them all think I’m cornered.
Because cornered things don’t cower.
They bite.
And I was ready to bite.
- Writer
