Chapter 2

 Chapter 2

Luke gently placed the glass back down on the table, walked over to the entryway, and pulled the door open. A young lady stepped briskly inside, shutting the heavy door firmly behind her.

“Stephanie! Thank God you're here,” Arden gasped, a surge of overwhelming relief washing over her. “I'm losing the baby. Please, help me... I don't know what's wrong with Luke.”

Stephanie stopped dead in her tracks, looking down at Arden sprawled helplessly on the floor, then glancing over at Luke. Both of them burst into sharp, mocking laughter.

“Arden, darling,” Stephanie cooed, walking forward. She bent down, grabbed a thick handful of Arden's hair, and yanked her head violently backward.

“Stephanie, what are you doing? It hurts,” Arden choked out, coughing up a mouthful of dark blood that splattered directly onto Stephanie’s pristine outfit.

"You bitch!" Stephanie groaned in disgust, releasing her grip and delivering a vicious slap that snapped Arden's head sideways. Stepping back in fury, Stephanie drove the heel of her shoe into Arden's ribs with a sharp kick, before hurrying toward the bathroom to scrub the blood from her clothes.

"Where's that phone?" Luke demanded, pacing back to the bed. He bent down and snatched up the device, which had slid underneath the mattress when it fell. "This bitch has been on the line listening to us this whole time," Luke snarled, tapping the screen to end the call.

"Who?" Stephanie asked, stepping back out of the bathroom while wiping her hands with a hand towel.

"Kate," Luke replied with a dark scowl. He walked over to Arden, knelt beside her, and roughly forced her limp thumb against the screen to unlock the phone.

"That interfering bitch," Stephanie hissed, curling her fingers into tight fists.

"I'll handle her," Luke muttered, walking back to sit on the edge of the bed as his thumbs flew furiously across the keypad.

"Back to you, darling," Stephanie said, turning her attention back down to Arden.

“Why are you doing this?” Arden whispered, hot tears of agony and betrayal blurring her vision.

“Calm down, I'll tell you everything, and then you can say your final prayers,” Stephanie replied with a sickening sweet smile, squatting down to Arden's eye level. “Because you aren't just going to lose your baby today... you're losing your life, too.”

“I took you in like my own sister,” Arden wept.

“Shut up, you bastard!” Stephanie shrieked, striking her across the face again and again.

“Hey! Hey, easy,” Luke called out, rushing over to pull Stephanie back as she tried to wriggle out of his grip. “Calm down, Stephanie. You’ve gotten what you want already.”

“I wouldn't want you leaving bruises all over her body, or would you want the authorities getting involved?” Luke asked.

“I just want her to feel a fraction of the pain her family caused me,” Stephanie spat.

“Yeah, but we don't want the police asking uncomfortable questions,” Luke replied, slowly releasing her wrists. “Do whatever you need to feel better, but be smart about it, okay?”

Stephanie rolled her eyes, shaking out her hands. “Fine.”

“Come here,” Luke murmured, turning her around to face him. “Why are you in such a foul mood? You should be celebrating our victory.”

Lifting her chin with two fingers, he planted a soft, lingering kiss on her lips. Stephanie rolled her eyes playfully before melting into the embrace, gently hitting his chest.

“Is that any way to treat the boyfriend who just executed a flawless plan?” Luke teased against her mouth.

“Of course not. I plan on showering him with kisses and taking him to cloud nine and back,” Stephanie replied, tracing lazy circles against his chest. “But first, I have a little unfinished business to attend to.” Stephanie said turning to look at Arden and pulled away with a smirk, Stephanie stepping back to Arden, while Luke nodded approvingly and walked back to the bed leaning against the headboard.

“Arden, darling, make sure you greet Mr. and Mrs. Johnson for me when you get to hell,” Stephanie whispered, her voice dripping with venom. “Especially Mrs Johnson that foolish woman.”

“I begged my parents to adopt you,” Arden forced herself up on trembling elbows, reaching out a weak hand. “How could you pay us back like this?”

Stephanie knocked her arm away, sending Arden crashing back flat onto her stomach. “Now you listen to me! Your stupid parents only adopted me so they could parade around playing the neighborhood philanthropists for praise.”

“No... they loved you and treated you as their own,” Arden gasped, her chest heaving.

“Shut up!” Stephanie screamed, striking her hard across the cheek. “Of course you're going to defend them—you're no different from them! They treated me as their own, you say? They handed their entire empire and wealth over to you while leaving me with just a worthless house. If I were their child, would they have treated me like a second-class citizen after everything I sacrificed?”

“Stephanie, you should have just told—'” Arden started, choking on her own blood.

“Shut your mouth! What made you think I came here to negotiate?” Stephanie cut her off, her voice rising in pitch. “You and your precious family always expected me to remain your shadow. That was why I engineered this whole thing—I brought Luke into your life, and you fell for him like a fool. That's why we're standing here tonight.”

Stephanie paused, a cruel smirk spreading across her face. “Oh, and the plan wasn't even to kill you not yet. But you just had to go and get pregnant with my boyfriend's child before me. I had no choice left but to eliminate you and your little bastard.”

“Now, I can finally take over your company and everything your parents worked themselves to the bone for,” Stephanie concluded.

She walked over to her designer bag on the vanity, unzipped it, and pulled out a preloaded medical syringe. She knelt back down beside Arden.

“This little beauty right here will cover all our tracks,” Stephanie whispered proudly, tapping the plastic barrel. “It erases every trace of poison from your system, making it look like a sudden, tragic cardiac arrest. Nobody will ever suspect a thing, and Luke and I will live happily ever after.”

She tilted her head, batting her eyelashes. “Aren’t I so smart? Only if your mother were here right now to see how smart I've become.”

Grabbing Arden's limp wrist, Stephanie drove the needle deep into her vein, plunging the fluid into her system.

Tossing the empty syringe carelessly onto the carpet, Stephanie stood up and sauntered back toward the bed.

“So, where were we?” Stephanie asked, a triumphant smile lighting up her face.

Luke reached out, his hands gripping her waist and pulling her down onto his lap as their lips crashed together in a greedy kiss.

“I’ve missed you so much,” Luke murmured between breaths.

On the cold hardwood floor, lying in a pool of her own blood, Arden stared up at the ceiling as heavy, rhythmic moans filled the suite.

I curse you both, Arden thought, hot tears mixing with blood as her chest grew unbearably hollow and her vision faded into absolute blackness. Stephanie. Luke. May you never know a single day of peace.

If I am ever given a second chance... I will burn your world to the ground.

Her breath hitched one final time, and her eyes drifted shut.