A kiss for revenge

The balcony

Sophie’s POV

The night air hit me like a slap. I stumbled onto the balcony, gripping the marble railing as if it could steady the chaos inside me. My lips still burned from his kiss, a brand I couldn’t scrub off, no matter how hard I wished it away.

Damn him.

The city glittered below, lights flickering like a thousand secrets, mocking me. I had come here prepared—armored in silk, steel, and lies. I had rehearsed every smile, every move, every perfect note of indifference.

But one kiss, and Adrian Blackwood had shattered it all.

I pressed my fingers to my mouth, hating the tremor in them. I wasn’t supposed to feel this. Not heat, not longing, not the wild rush that made my pulse race like I was still that foolish girl who believed in him.

I was supposed to remember the truth.

The truth of how my father’s empire had been dragged into the ground. How I had stood helpless as headlines branded us traitors, thieves, failures. How Adrian had walked away untouched, richer than ever, while we were left in ruins.

That truth should have been enough to turn my veins into ice.

So why did I still burn?

Behind me, the sound of footsteps broke the fragile silence. My body tensed even before I turned.

Adrian filled the doorway, tall and immovable, his presence bending the night around him. He looked at me as though I were prey, cornered and waiting.

“Running already?” His voice was silk laced with mockery. “That’s not like you, Sophia.”

I straightened, forcing steel into my spine even though my heart thundered. “Stay away from me.”

He stepped onto the balcony, closing the space between us with unhurried ease. “If that were true, you wouldn’t have kissed me back.”

My breath caught, fury sparking. “You forced me.”

His smirk was infuriating. “No. I reminded you.”

My nails bit into the railing. I wanted to scream, to claw the arrogance off his face. Instead, I met his gaze, unflinching. “I didn’t come back for you.”

Adrian leaned closer, shadows sharpening his features, his voice dropping low. “Didn’t you?”

The air between us thickened, charged, impossible to escape. And for the first time since returning, I realized my carefully built revenge might not be as airtight as I thought—

Because Adrian Blackwood was already unraveling it, one heartbeat at a time.

The night pressed in around us, heavy with secrets I wasn’t ready to hear. Adrian moved closer, slow, deliberate, until the railing dug into my back. I refused to flinch, though every nerve in me screamed to run.

“You think you know what happened,” he murmured, his gaze locking me in place. “But you don’t, Sophia.”

I clenched my jaw. “I know enough. You destroyed us.”

His expression didn’t shift. No denial. No apology. Just that maddening calm that made me want to slap him.

“And yet here you are,” he said softly, “dressed like a queen, standing in front of the man you swore to hate. Tell me, Sophia… what exactly did you come back for?”

My throat tightened. The answer—revenge—burned on the tip of my tongue, but I didn’t give him the satisfaction. Instead, I held his gaze with cold defiance. “Not you.”

Something flickered in his eyes, too quick for me to name. Then he stepped even closer, his breath brushing my cheek, his voice dark silk.

“Your father begged me once,” he said.

My heart stuttered. “What?”

“He came to me, desperate. Hart Couture was already bleeding. Investors circling like vultures. He asked for help.” Adrian’s lips curved into a humorless smile. “Do you know what he offered in return?”

I swallowed hard, my nails digging into the railing behind me. “Lies. You’re lying.”

His gaze never wavered. “He offered you, Sophia. Your name, your career, your freedom. He was willing to trade his daughter to save his empire.”

For a second, the ground beneath me tilted. The night spun, cold and merciless. I wanted to scream that it wasn’t true, that Adrian was twisting the past to hurt me.

But a memory surfaced—my father’s tired eyes, his silence whenever I asked about the company’s debts, the way he avoided me the night everything collapsed.

No.

No, I couldn’t believe this.

“You expect me to believe you?” I whispered, my voice breaking despite the steel I fought to keep. “You—the man who ruined everything we had?”

Adrian’s face was unreadable. “I expect you to wonder why I didn’t take the deal.”

The words sank into me like claws, sharp and impossible to pull out.

I turned away, desperate to breathe, to think, to escape his gravity. But he caught my wrist, his grip firm but not cruel, holding me in place.

“Careful, Sophia,” he murmured, his eyes burning into mine. “Revenge is a dangerous game when you don’t know the truth you’re fighting against.”

I yanked my hand free, my chest heaving. “Then tell me the truth!”

He leaned in, his lips close enough to brush my ear, his voice a low promise.

“Not yet.”

And then he stepped back, leaving me trembling against the railing, my mind spiraling with more questions than I had answers.

The door clicked softly behind him, and for the first time all night, I was alone.

Alone with the echo of his words.

Your father offered you.

The sentence replayed, over and over, a cruel melody I couldn’t silence. My chest ached, my pulse raced, and for one terrifying moment, I thought I might crumble.

No.

I gripped the railing until the cold bit into my palms. I hadn’t clawed my way back here, hadn’t rebuilt myself from ashes, just to fall apart at the sound of his voice.

Maybe he was lying. Adrian Blackwood was a master manipulator; he thrived on twisting truth into poison. But what if he wasn’t? What if my father—the man I’d trusted, the man who had built my world—had been willing to trade me like currency?

I swallowed hard, forcing the bile back down. My father was gone. The past couldn’t hurt me anymore. Only Adrian could. And I refused to give him that power.

He wanted me close? Fine.

I’d give him exactly what he asked for.

I straightened, wiping at the corner of my mouth where his kiss still lingered like a curse. If Adrian thought he could use desire as a weapon, I’d turn it back on him. If he believed he was the only one capable of playing this game, he was wrong.

He wasn’t the only predator in the room.

Inside, laughter and music drifted back through the glass doors, muffled but insistent. The party was still going. Deals were being made, alliances whispered over champagne. Adrian had returned to his kingdom, and I… I would walk right back into it.

But not as his pawn.

As his undoing.

I took a deep breath, lifted my chin, and stepped back into the ballroom, every inch of me cloaked in icy elegance. Heads turned again, whispers chased me, but this time, I welcomed them. Let them watch. Let them see.

If Adrian wanted me tangled in his web, then I would weave my own threads through it—threads sharp enough to cut him where he least expected.

My heart still thudded too fast, my lips still tingled with the ghost of his kiss, but I buried it deep. This wasn’t about what my body remembered. This was about revenge.

And I wouldn’t stop until Adrian Blackwood was the one begging.

I was halfway across the ballroom, my smile sharp as glass, when I saw him.

Adrian stood near the bar, speaking with a man I didn’t recognize. Tall, broad-shouldered, with a scar tracing his jawline. His gaze flicked to me, assessing, cold.

The kind of gaze that made my skin prickle with warning.

Adrian followed it, and when his eyes met mine, a slow, dangerous smile curved his lips.

As though he knew exactly what I was planning.

As though he was already three steps ahead.