The Executioner’s Return

After an intensely passionate night that lasted until the early hours of the morning, our intimate battle with Drake finally settled just as the sun began to peek over the Paris skyline. A satisfied smile played on my lips as I lay beside my possessive frenemy, my body thoroughly exhausted.

Just as sleep was about to claim us, the sharp ringing of my phone shattered the quiet room.

I reached for the nightstand, checking the caller ID. It was Vivian.

"Yes?" I answered, my voice raspy with sleep.

"Huh? You two don't want to go back home?" Vivian’s teasing voice echoed through the speaker. "It's time to leave, dear Aurelia. End your little honeymoon."

My brows furrowed at her sudden playful banter. "You're coming back with us? Fine... give us fifteen minutes," I groaned groggily.

Before I could set the phone down, a strong arm pulled me back into the bed, wrapping tightly around my waist.

"Who was that?" Drake murmured against my skin, his lips brushing the curve of my shoulder. "Hmm... I really love your morning scent, kitten. It turns me on."

"Stop fooling around, Drake," I said, trying to sound firm despite my flushing cheeks. "Vivian called. We have to leave right now."

"Oh?" Drake chuckled, his eyes gleaming with lazy amusement. "So that icy robot is coming back with us?"

I almost burst out laughing at his hilarious nickname for her.

Fifteen minutes later, we pulled up to the private airfield. Soon, our executive jet lifted off into the skies, leaving Paris behind and heading straight for New York.

I stared out the oval window, watching the clouds pass beneath us. I'm coming home, David. Wait for me. I am going to strip away everything you stole and kick you back to the gutter where you belong. After that... we settle the blood debt.

I had promised myself in my past life that I would become their executioner. Now, that moment had finally arrived.

"Aurelia! Hello! Hey! Come back to reality, girl!"

Vivian’s sharp voice snapped me out of my trance. I blinked, realizing I had been staring blankly at the glass for several minutes.

"Oh... what's wrong?" I asked, turning to her.

"Why are you so immersed in your own world?" Vivian sighed, shaking her head. "I've been talking to you for five minutes! Did you hear a single word?"

"Sorry, I was just thinking," I replied smoothly. "So, what were you saying?"

"I asked about your next move," Vivian said, her expression shifting to absolute seriousness. "Chloe is facing lifetime imprisonment, so she’s finished. But Jacob managed to secure temporary bail through his family connections. If he finds a way to clear his name, he might slip through our fingers."

A dark, playful smirk spread across my face. "Let him think he's saved. Getting out on bail is the exact trigger needed to spring the final trap."

"That's my girl," Drake interjected, leaning back in his leather seat with a proud, boastful grin. "Brilliant as always."

"You carry yourself like a true leader of the Mercer organization, Aurelia," Uncle Elias added from across the aisle, his eyes filled with immense pride. "Planning three steps to bring down your enemy is a masterclass move."

A dark twist of satisfaction filled my soul. After seven long hours in the air, the sprawling skyline of New York finally appeared through the clouds.

We had arrived.

A fleet of executive black SUVs waited on the tarmac. Aurelia, Drake, Uncle Elias, and Vivian slid into the lead armored vehicle, followed closely by city marshals and a heavily armed Mercer security detail.

An hour later, our motorcade pulled up to the gates of the grand Mendez mansion.

The estate was shrouded in an eerie, suffocating silence. It felt abandoned, as if the mansion itself already knew its downfall was imminent.

"We're here, David," I whispered, a cold sneer on my lips. "Are you ready to see us?"

I looked at Uncle Elias. "Let's go. It's time to throw these parasites out into the street!"

We stepped out of the vehicles. The heavy, synchronized sound of our footsteps echoed through the quiet courtyard, casting a terrifying weight over anyone listening from inside.

Our intelligence team confirmed that David and Valerie were hiding in the secondary basement panic room—the very same dark basement where I had been betrayed and killed in my past life.

What an ironic twist of fate, I thought, a bitter, dark laughter bubbling in my chest. They are hiding in the very room where they murdered me.

A deep breath escaped my lips. I wouldn't kill them here—not yet. Ending their lives too quickly was a mercy they didn't deserve. I wanted them to experience a life devoid of power, fame, and wealth first. I wanted to see them crawl in absolute agony before burning their world to ash.

BOOM!

Drake’s security team breached the doors, flooding the mansion.

"Ahhhhh! What are you doing?!" Valerie’s screech echoed from the hallway as guards dragged her and David out into the main foyer. "This is illegal! You are trespassing!"

I walked into the foyer, looking down at them. In just a few short days, they had aged dramatically. Their faces were hollowed by stress, and the grey hair they had spent years dyeing was showing at the roots. They looked utterly pathetic.

"Aurelia! My daughter!" David cried out, playing his pitiful, fake family card. "You can't do this to us! We are your family! Remember—when everyone else left you alone, we were the ones who took you in! Why are you destroying the family that accepted you?!"

A cold, mocking sneer curled my lips. Did he truly think his pathetic act would work on me now?

"Stop wasting your breath, David," I said, my gaze sharp enough to slice through steel. "You won't fool me ever again."

"No! I am your father! You unfilial brat!" David roared, completely dropping his fragile facade as panic took over. "Y-You can't do this!"

"You should have thought about this the day you planned to murder your own wife," I said, my voice dropping to a dangerous, icy whisper that silenced the entire room. "This day was always coming. No matter how many years you hid your crimes, the debt always comes due."

David's eyes widened in sheer terror.

"And if you think your hidden backer will save you," I continued with a dark smile, "don't waste your breath. I am going to hunt him down, too. Did he truly think he could destroy the Mercer family? He better run fast, because I'm coming for his head next."

David shrank back, trembling violently. In that moment, looking up at me, he didn't just see a young woman—he saw the terrifying, untouchable aura of old Thomas Mercer, the legendary patriarch who had given him nightmares in his youth.

Without another word, the city marshals grabbed David and Valerie, forcibly dragging them past the gates and throwing them onto the pavement outside their former home.

"Done," I said calmly, watching the gates lock behind them. "Now, it's Jacob's turn. Let's watch the rat take the bait."

An hour later, we gathered inside the high-tech command center at the Mercer private headquarters.

On the central surveillance monitors, a live feed showed Jacob inside a secluded safehouse, frantically typing on his encrypted laptop.

"Haha! It worked!" Jacob muttered aloud to himself on screen, his face twisted with arrogant glee. "All this offshore money is mine! Aurelia, you thought you could ruin me?! I'm untouchable! Only I decide my fate! I'm rich! I'm bloody rich!"

I watched him from my seat, sipping my coffee with an amused smile. How pathetic. He truly thinks he won.

"It's time," I whispered to my uncle.

On the live monitor, the door to Jacob's safehouse was suddenly kicked off its hinges. Drake, backed by federal agents and heavily armed guards, stormed the room.

"Who the hell are you?!" Jacob shrieked, slamming his laptop shut as agents pinned him to the floor. "You! It was you! You're the reason Aurelia changed! You seduced her! I'll kill you! Let me go! I'm going to sue you for assault!"

Drake stepped forward, towering over Jacob with an expression of supreme disdain.

"Heh. I don't know where you got that idea, but you're not entirely wrong," Drake mocked, resting a hand on his hip. "I did seduce her. And now, you get to enjoy your new throne in a federal prison cell for the rest of your life."

Back in the command room, my face flushed bright red at Drake's shameless comment on camera. I buried my face in my hands, utterly embarrassed.

Ahem.

A sharp, dangerous cough echoed beside me.

I looked up nervously. Uncle Elias was staring at the monitor feed of Drake, an immensely dark, protective aura radiating from his body.

"Oh?" Uncle Elias said, his voice dropping an octave into pure ice. "He seduced you, did he? Then let me see if his seduction is strong enough to handle me when he gets back."

I swallowed hard, silently praying for Drake.

Good luck, Drake... may your ancestors bless you. You brought this on yourself for talking nonsense on a live feed!