She is called the rare gem, but when her father died, Ava inherited nothing but betrayal wrapped in hell and ice. Her step-sister, Ivana, who by character is the devil's bride, took it all. The company Ava built from dust, the legacy that bore her name, and worst, her husband. Stripped of everything, Ava vows revenge. The kind to make a man beg for death instead, and the one to make the dead yawn for judgement. However, as she claws her way back to power, secrets rise from her father’s grave. Darker than blood and deeper than betrayal she has ever known. Will she destroy the man who once vowed forever? Or will the truth behind her father’s will break her harder than any heartbreak ever could?
View MoreAva’s POV
The door creaked open and the blood drained from my veins. Ethan was naked, slamming into not just any woman… but my step-sister. “Ethan!” My voice mimicked the sound of a high mountain crumbling down, with raging thunder backing it up. Pulling his hardened length out of her, he pushed his finger in and out of her before walking towards me with his dripping finger. He moved it towards my mouth and without thinking, my pale palm met his cheek with a force strong enough to turn his head to a whole new direction. “Happy anniversary, wife,” he chuckled at my despair while my step-sister, Ivana, only smirked in satisfaction when I held the wrap of the condom up. “You couldn’t even wait or leave our anniversary out of this, Ethan! How could you do this to me?!” I slapped his chest with blurry vision from my tears. Wasn’t Ivana supposed to be tending to our father? Wasn't he planning a surprise? Haven’t I done everything that I was supposed to do as a wife and as a woman crazily in love today and days before today? What then did I do to deserve this?! “I’ll suggest you take your filthy hands off of him,” Ivana’s cold and venomous voice stung me in my chest. “He’s my husband, how could you?” I spat, feeling like the earth should swallow her up already. She just sat on the bed with her hands dancing and slowly caressing her bare body just to tick me off. I glanced over at Ethan at least to draw some sort of sympathy out of him, but his emotions towards me were as cold as ice, void as space and flat as a mirror. “You wouldn’t dare talk to her in that tone ever again, Ava,” he sneered at me with disgust, crushing the part of my heart that's barely beating. “And I’m not your husband,” he added with an intense gaze and clenched jaw. " I’m done with you, so get lost!” Was it the hate in his eyes? The venom in my voice or the irritation that he exuded when he spoke to me? Everything made it clear that he was done? Everything made me question if it was truly the man I had grown to love. I looked over to Ivana, trying hard to hold back the tears the second time, but it hurt. It hurt so bad that I felt their betrayal literally burning my skin, leaving my veins popping out and my complexion red. “You will pay for this.” I slammed the door in their faces and ran as fast as my feet could carry towards my car. As long as I stayed within the premises, it became more difficult for me to breathe. It felt like the memory of them together drained down the air in my lungs and everything left for me to do was to run as fast I could. Driving back to the company, I decided to stay for a while until I was a bit fit to go back home as my father would be worried sick if he got to see me like this. However, Ethan was fond of creating a romantic scene at my place of work during the past wedding anniversary. Now it was going to look strange if I walked into the company again on the day of my anniversary. I stayed in my car, drowning in sorrow until there were no more tears to shed. My head ached as much as my heart did and when the noise began to fade, I smiled sadly hoping to finally get some peace. My phone rang for the second time today and my heart skipped one unlucky beat in anticipation of seeing Ethan’s call hoping that maybe, he wanted to apologise. However, it was the nanny. “I’m sorry I couldn’t make it home quite early today, I-” I was interrupted by an indistinctive whispering at first, then came a sniffing sound and finally an outburst. “W-w-what’s wrong?” I stammered, not ready for another bad news in one day. Her fears spoke louder than whatever was going on in her mind, and the cryptic message her sobs sent made the hairs on my arms stand erect. My gaze was fixed in one direction and my grip against my phone tightened. “Take it easy, okay?” I tried to soothe her across the distance. “Whatever that's happening, you have to at least try to speak,” my own words were laced with the same uncertainty a diver has before he jumps from a cliff. Seeing that she wasn't going to stop sobbing, I opted for a different approach with a fuzzy mind, but before I could ask anything, she had already spoken up. “Please, Ma’am, I need you to come quickly to the hospital,” her voice cracked. Hospital… Fear crippled my feet while my irresponsibility covered my mouth. Damn! How did I forget about my father's condition?! “I-is everything okay? Is-” I swallowed, but there was nothing to go down my throat. I emptied my bag on the seat next to me while searching for both my car key and the right words. “A-are you alone there?” “It’s your father, Ava,” her sobs continued. “Please be quick, I think you’re the only one he wants to see now.”Ava's POV He nodded and relaxed into the leather chair.“Since you're so confident, I'll inform the CEO about it, or do you think it should wait?”“I'll direct you on what to do and when to do it.”With that, he stood and left my office. I leaned into my seat, twirling as I tried to picture the look on Ethan's face when he realises what hit him. Thankfully, I had nothing much to do that Rosalie wasn't already taking care of, so in my little moment of calmness, I decided to get lunch in a restaurant. I quickly placed an order, but as I turned to look back, I saw a side profile of James. Now, this was starting to look bizarre. Why do we keep meeting like this? I swapped my position to prevent him from knowing I was the one even if he turned to my direction. However, I regretted the decision immediately. Since I was now facing the entrance, there was no way I could avoid Ivana whose eyes landed on me instantly. Her lips curled up to a wicked smirk, and her high heels began to click a
Ava’s POV “I said get in,” he repeated, only that this time, his voice was slower as if buying enough time in my head for the full effect of his words to kick in. I stumbled on my first step, but he dashed out right in time to stop me from hitting the ground. “Are you okay?” his voice washed over me. “I’m fine,” I stammered, pushing his chest immediately. His eyes flickered immediately, hiding something that suddenly made me unable to breathe. I stood my ground, though, clearing my throat and walking past him. “Thank you,” I muttered after he joined me in the elevator. I didn’t dare look him in the eyes as the tension between us only intensified. “For what exactly?” His voice was unnaturally calm. He was very formal and polite, but at the same time, it felt as if he intended to peel the layers of my skin with his words. “For everything,” I mumbled. “Cordelia sent the message across, and even though I still don't get why you insisted on getting me a gift, it's all go
Ava's POVI got back home that day feeling so uneasy, but I didn't want to ruin Cordelia’s day, so I pretended to be fine. I promised to get her some matching shoes and bags. I really wanted her to fully take the role of my mother, following me to events and looking as gorgeous in them as ever. I wanted to see the woman who happily took the role of being my mother get all the happiness and be treated awesomely for it. The weekend passed by quickly, and it was another day to get to work. I got out of bed and stared at the small package blankly, wondering if James really had a thing for giving gifts or if there was something more to it.“Good morning, dear,” Cordelia walked into my room with the usual tray in her hands. She hadn't stopped expressing her gratitude ever since, and I wouldn't lie, it was starting to piss me off. “Please don't tell me you're here to say thank you again,” I groaned.“No, not really. I just noticed that you haven't been feeling well and I forgot to inform y
Ava’s POV“He had been through a lot to see that his family was where it was, and knowing that he didn’t stay much longer even to see his son grow a bit older hurts me. Even if he did, my poor boy still met his end very untimely, and I guess it would have crushed him more than it still crushes me now…” her voice began to break into small sobs.“I’m so sorry you had to go through all of that, Cordelia,” I whispered, tightening my grip around her hands.A part of me finally understood the reason she never agreed to stop working after my father’s death. She was as broken as I was, and just like me, she had nothing to run to. Even if she did, staying was a way of distracting herself from the pain of her loss without having to constantly cry or mourn over it. What a woman.“You know, you told me once that you never thought of marrying my dad. Instead, you let my stepmother in. I think it’s because you loved your husband so much that even in death, you couldn’t betray the love you two share
Ava’s POVI had gone home that day not knowing what to make out of what James had done. I had constantly told myself that it was just a mistake, and anyone as excited as he was then would have done the same. However, there was a little part of me that didn’t see it that way even though it wasn’t somewhat inappropriate.“Hmm...” I hummed, stretching from having to lying down for a long time.“Hello, dear,” Cordelia greeted, leaving a small tea cup by my bed stand. “You seem to be taking today off,” she cleared her throat.I gestured for her to sit on the bed if she wanted, but she just shook her head and took a few steps backwards.“Is something wrong?” I raised a brow at her sudden withdrawal.“No. I’m just not done with my chores, and I’d really love to let you rest for a while. You look like you need a huge amount of it,” she said calmly while her eyes observed my every move.“Doesn’t it bother you that I might actually get irritated at the way you look out for me? I mean, you have
Ethan's POVI woke up staring directly at the ceiling and walls of my apartment. It felt as if the world was quiet since I pulled everything I shared with House of Astor. Phone calls, emails, everything that can disrupt a man's peace was what I had to deal with for more than forty-eight hours of leaving Ivana's company.However, I chose to call it what I called it, because it was all I needed to be free from Ivana's clutches and the only price I was going to pay was the price of having to wait this long to figure out that all this while I thought I could gain something out of her, she only played me right through the mud.“It's been ages man, do you plan on locking yourself up for eternity there? I'll be at the club by seven, if I don't see you there after thirty minutes, you'll leave me with no other choice than to invade your privacy,” Richard's voicemail said.I exhaled, finally giving in to cancel my quarantine. I asked him to come over instead before going about my activities for
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