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009 Torn Desires

Author: Anney GW
last update Huling Na-update: 2025-04-21 13:41:33

(Ava)

I’m pacing the edge of our rooftop terrace, our private haven.

We don’t sleep up here. It’s more for… intimacy.

I’m as nervous as I was on that first night as a virgin at my twenty-first birthday party.

But for different reasons.

Now, it’s because of what I do know, not what I don’t know.

Watching the neon haze of the Las Vegas skyline sprawl out in the distance. Just a few miles down the highway, the Strip glitters like a mirage in the desert night.

We were married in Vegas. Conceived Lila that same night, my first time.

From here—our mansion perched on the outskirts of Henderson—you can see everything: shimmering lights, endless roads, the hush of a city that never truly sleeps.

It’s breathtakingly beautiful.

But I can’t seem to enjoy the view I always loved tonight.

My heart pounds.

Lila’s asleep in her nursery two floors below, a baby monitor screen placed on a small glass table nearby, the volume turned low.

I glance over every few seconds, half-expecting some shri
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  • Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire   035 Showing Up For Myself

    (Ava)I haven’t slept much.I kept thinking about Zach, about Sienna, about what he said to me—and what he didn’t. The way he made it sound like I started the whole thing.Like I’m the problem again.Why does he always have to just believe anything she says? He’s such an idiot that way. If she said that I’d beamed aliens down to attack her, he would believe her. I don’t even get the benefit of the doubt.By eight, Lila is playing quietly, and I’m sitting at the kitchen table, nursing my third coffee.I message the staff to take the day off—not because they did anything wrong, but because I don’t want anyone else in the house right now. I need space. I don’t want to answer questions or pretend to be polite. Not today.But also, Sienna cannot be trusted and I don’t trust she hasn’t got someone on her payroll right here in this household.I text Zach:I sent staff away. Need privacy. Can you let me know how Kai is?He calls almost immediately.I answer. “Hey.”“He’s in an induced coma,

  • Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire   034 Flying Into a Storm

    (Zach)I wasn’t supposed to be home until tomorrow, but the Tokyo deal wrapped faster than expected. The jet dropped me on the tarmac in Vegas just after 7 p.m.My phone lights up as soon as I switch it off airplane mode.Missed calls. Two voicemails from Sienna.The first voicemail plays while I’m still halfway to the car.“Zach—it’s Kai. He collapsed. He’s in emergency. Ava was visiting when it happened. It was bad. Ava started going crazy at me.”What the hell?I call Sienna back immediately. She picks up on the first ring.“Is he okay?” I demand.“He’s still unconscious. I’ve never seen him like this, Zach. I’m scared.”“What happened with you and Ava?”“She showed up with Lila, didn’t wait for a response to the text she sent. I buzzed her in anyway. She verbally attacked me in front of the kids.”I’m already in the car, heading toward the hospital. “Sienna, you promised, no more arguing.”“I didn’t want to argue. Ava is paranoid. I’m telling you. I’m the villain, I’m manipulative

  • Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire   033 From Bad Day to Worse Day

    (Ava)I press the intercom at the front gate and wait, one hand on Lila’s back. She’s got her face buried in my neck, little fists clutching my shirt.“I know, baby. I don’t want to be here either, but we have to do this for Kai.” This is the last place I want to show up after the day I had but I promised Kai a visit with Lila.Sienna’s voice comes through the speaker, clipped and sugar-sweet. “Yes?”“It’s Ava. I’m here to visit Kai. Like we agreed.”Silence.Then the gate clicks open.Inside, Sienna Sinclair’s residence is spotless and cold. High ceilings, white marble, soft music drifting in from somewhere near the back. The kind of curated comfort that doesn’t come with warmth.A staff member nods me toward the family lounge and then vanishes like a ghost.Kai’s curled up on the couch with a blanket and his tablet. He looks way better than he did at the hospital. His face lights up when he sees us.“Lila! Ava!”“Ava,” Sienna says, tone clipped. “Wasn’t expecting you this early.”

  • Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire   032 Class Attack

    (Ava)Luca slides the pickle off his burger and drops it onto my take out box without looking up.I pluck it off and pop it on my burger without a word.We’re having a quick bite before class resumes. We’re also finishing off our design details to hand in to the professor today for final assessment.“Rounded edge or squared off for the central island?” I ask.“Rounded. The rest of the space is straight lines. Needs some sexiness and curve.”“Exactly what I was thinking.”“You’re overthinking it. Just sketch what feels like the solution, not what looks like one.”“I’m trying to make it clean,” I murmur, biting my lip.“It’s too clean. Mess it up a little. That’s where your magic is.” He grins at me sideways. “We’re design soulmates.”“Or no one else can put up with our off-the-wall ideas…”“Either way, we have an edge.”Professor Moran’s voice pulls us from our rhythm. “Before we begin this class, I have an announcement you’ve all been waiting for.”Luca grabs my arm, mouthing, “Drumro

  • Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire   031 Something I Can Build

    (Ava)Zach calls just after seven the next morning.I’m dressed, sipping my second coffee, Lila still asleep. I’ll take her to Paige in a couple of hours.I answer, keeping my voice casual. “Morning.”“Morning,” he says. “You’re looking gorgeous.”“Thanks. You look ready to smash some deals today. I’ve got a lunch meeting.”“With Luca?”“Yes.”Zach has that look on his face. The one that he always gets when Luca is mentioned. “Is that really necessary?”“Zach—”“I know what he’s up to, Ava. He’s still in love with you.”I sigh, setting my mug down harder than I mean to. “You’re not serious. You’re really going there? After you kept secrets from me with Sienna, you don’t trust me?”“I do trust you. It’s him I don’t trust.”I shake my head. “Unbelievable. Sienna drugged you for sex and I have to trust her.”“I’ve seen the way he looks at you. Everyone has.”“He’s my future business partner. He’s also a friend. We’ve worked damn hard on this.”“A friend who wanted to be more. Maybe still

  • Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire   030 Is It Me?

    (Ava)My phone buzzes just after I’ve cleared the kitchen bench. I’m still thinking about Kai, about how pale he looked earlier this morning.It’s eleven in the morning now. Have the doctors been to see him?Kai had Aplastic Anemia in the past time. Is it that again? Should I say something?Zach’s name flashes across the screen. Oh, at last. I answer.“Hey.”“Hey,” he says. It’s softer than I expect. “You home?”“Yeah. Lila’s with Paige. I’ve just been... regrouping. Going over my planner so I can fit in all my internships and classes. How’s Kai?”“The doctors did rounds. They’re sending Kai home.”My chest loosens a little. “That’s good.”“They’re still watching him, though. They said if anything else happens, they’ll start running tests—immune panels, marrow checks. I hate the thought of him having something serious.”My stomach turns. I sit down at the counter. “You must be so worried.”I know what it’s like to lose a child. But the marrow donation wasn’t the thing that killed Lil

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