Chapter 4

I took out my phone. My face was blank. I dialed the number.

"Cassian," my voice was like ice. "Bring your men to my penthouse. Now."

Smash!

I didn't finish. The purple-haired girl lunged at me. She slapped the phone out of my hand. It hit the floor hard. The screen shattered into a spiderweb.

"Who are you trying to fool?" Crystal crossed her arms. She looked down at me. "You think you can just scare me?"

Her friends joined in.

"She's just a freeloader. And she's calling for backup?"

"She just wants to extort us. A pure scam."

"Cheap trash like her is only good for serving people."

The filthy insults rained down. I didn't care.

I stared at my broken phone. Murderous rage climbed in my chest inch by inch.

Crystal seemed to gain confidence from my silence. She stepped closer. Suddenly, she grabbed me by the collar.

"Oh," her eyes locked on my chest. They lit up. "What's this? Looks expensive."

My heart dropped.

It was an antique platinum pocket watch. I wore it on a chain around my neck. I never took it off.

"Don't touch it," I warned. I stared daggers at her.

"What, feeling guilty?" Crystal mocked. She twisted my panic on purpose. "Let me guess. You sold yourself to some old man for it? Look at you. That's the only way you can hook a guy."

"I'll say it again. Let go." My voice was dead cold.

I was four years old. Rivals ambushed my father. In his last moments, he shoved this watch into my hand. His voice was hoarse.

"Inside... there's a picture of you and Mom... survive..."

It was my only keepsake. The only warm thing left inside my hollow body.

I raised my hand to grab her wrist.

But the man next to Crystal shoved me. She yanked hard. The chain snapped.

The watch fell to the floor.

"Unless you want to leave here in a body bag today." I stared at her. My voice was flat, but chilling to the bone.

Crystal just looked at me. A flash of twisted joy crossed her eyes.

She had found the perfect way to torture me. She moved her high heel right over the watch. A cruel smirk grew on her lips.

"This piece of junk? You dare threaten me?"

The heel crushed down hard.

The watch case shattered. The yellowed photo inside tore in half. It flew next to a booze stain on the rug.

My blood turned to ice.

More than ten years.

I guarded it with my life for over a decade. I took it everywhere. I slept with it by my pillow.

And now, it was broken. Utterly destroyed. Beyond repair.

My mind went blank. Only a tearing pain remained. It spread from my chest to my bones.

But my sanity snapped with that cracking sound.

I grabbed an unopened bottle of Dom Pérignon from the coffee table. I didn't blink. I shattered it against Crystal's skull!

"Smash!"

She let out a blood-curdling scream. The heavy glass shattered. Blood and golden champagne mixed instantly, pouring down her face and head.

Crystal fell to the floor holding her head. Pure terror covered her face. "Murder! Help!"

She turned to her friends, her voice cracking. "A hundred grand! I'll pay a hundred grand to anyone who stops this psycho!"

The bystanders' eyes lit up instantly.

The guy charged at me, swinging his fists.

I dodged him. I kicked the side of his knee with no mercy.

He screamed and dropped hard to his knees.

"A hundred grand?" I tossed the broken neck of the bottle away. I looked down at the shivering Crystal. My voice dripped with mockery. "You idiots. You don't even know what kind of cheap trash Marco is, and you dare cross me in my own house?"

Right then, a deep rumble of engines approached. The convoy parked downstairs.