To Love the Enemy

Chapter 4: Avril

EIGHT YEARS LATER

“Mummy, are you excited? We’re going back to your country!” Gianni smiled, his brown eyes sparkling with excitement

“I’m more than excited,” I replied.

After eight years, excited was an understatement.

“And remember, she’s Avril when you get there,” Kane said, smiling at a now solemn Gianni.

“But why?” Gianni asked, his onyx eyes—just like his father’s—full of curiosity.

“Because it’s more fun to be your sister than your mum, Gianni Campbell.” I leaned over and kissed his chubby cheek.

“What else aren’t you supposed to do?”

“Talk to strangers, never get into a car unless it’s you, Joe, or Avril driving, and never give too much information to strangers.”

“That’s my boy,” Kane said, fist-bumping him.

“Miss Campbell, the jet is ready,” Joe, Kane’s assistant, announced as he approached.

“Take care, Avril. I’ll join you as soon as I can.”

After the accident eight years ago, I had lost all memory and had no emergency contact. Kane took me in. Even after I regained my memories months later, while giving birth to Gianni, he stayed by my side and helped me plot revenge against those who destroyed my life.

To the world, Avril Montreal died in a car explosion. But Avril Campbell was coming back and not even the devil could imagine the hell she was bringing.

I had sworn to burn their world to the ground, starting with my cowardly brother Reggie and his mother, who had run my father’s legacy into ruin. By the time my memories returned, my father was gone—dead from a heart attack three months after the crash, broken by his endless search for me. I was declared dead the day after he passed, and all investigations were conveniently closed.

Cathy and Reggie took over the company and bled it dry. Now, desperate for investors, they didn’t even see Kane coming. As a multi-billion-dollar investor, he seized the chance to buy in quietly, amassing over twenty-five percent of the company and becoming the largest shareholder.

A board meeting was scheduled to fill the chairman’s position. This was our perfect opportunity to strike and to start my payback.

The jet landed, and we were on our way home. Home was now a penthouse in a new apartment complex I’d leased a few months ago, built right where the haunted mansion used to stand.

“Ma’am, today is the death anniversary,” Joe said quietly.

The words made me shiver. On this exact day every year, the scar on my left palm itched more than usual. It was the only scar that remained from the accident. I’d had surgeries to remove the others, but I never touched that one. It was ugly, but I left it as a reminder. A reminder of what I had survived.

“Take Gianni home. I’ll join you later.” I glanced at his sleeping form in the back seat.

“Ma’am, I should go with you,” Joe insisted.

“Joe, I’ll be fine. Please.”

He hesitated but eventually pulled over in front of a florist’s shop and let me out.

Officially, Joe was just my assistant, but we both knew Kane had sent him to keep an eye on me.

“Good evening. How may I help you?” a young woman around my age greeted as I stepped inside, pulling my hoodie low and adjusting my cap to avoid her gaze.

“What would you recommend for visiting the dead?” I asked, avoiding eye contact.

“You can get whatever flowers you want. Their favorite is always a good choice,” she suggested warmly.

I thought back to my father’s favorites but came up blank. He had loved everything I gave him even the Barbie-themed bathrobe I’d gifted him for my seventh birthday.

“I doubt he had a type. He loved whatever I gave him,” I said with a small smile, remembering him proudly wearing that ridiculous pink robe.

“Okay, would you like Orchids ? They were just flown in this morning.”

“Sure.”

As she turned to get them, I noticed a few blue roses tucked in a corner.

“Wow… You have blue roses? I didn’t know they came in that color.” I picked one up to smell, and the fragrance unlocked a memory I had almost forgotten—my first date with Tobias at the haunted mansion. He’d brought me blue roses, and no matter how much I begged, he never told me where he got them.

“They’re dyed white roses,” she explained.

“Can I get those too?”

“Of course. You can place an order, I’ll have it delivered to you, or you can pick it up.”

“No. I mean… can I get them now?”

“I’m sorry, I prepared these for another customer,” she said, handing me the lilies instead.

“It’s okay.” I placed the money on the counter and grabbed the bouquet.

I was stepping out, disappointed about the roses, when the florist called out to me.

“Hey! You can have one. You look like you really need it. It’s on the house. I’ll just tell the customer he’s getting twenty-three instead of twenty-four.” She laughed nervously and handed me a single blue rose.

“Thank you!” I blurted out, genuinely grateful. As I stepped back inside to take it, I caught a proper glimpse of her face. There was something so familiar about her… but I couldn’t place it.

By the time I got to the cemetery, the sun had set and the sky was dimming fast. It took me a while to find my father’s headstone.

I placed the flowers down gently, then set the lone blue rose next to the second headstone , the one with my name on it.

I stood there in silence for a while, searching for the right words… but nothing came. Just as I turned to leave, heading in the opposite direction I had come from, something...no, someone...caught my attention.

A figure was approaching the graves.

I turned slowly to see who it was, and my breath caught in my throat.

Tobias Hawthorne.

In all his striking, infuriating glory, walking straight toward my headstone.