Chapter 5

Ava.

Suddenly, Elizabeth swung her hand, trying to slap me. I blocked it easily, grabbing the pressure point between her thumb and pointer finger, twisting her arm downward. The stupid bitch tried to yank her arm back, but I just squeezed harder, savouring the pain on her face and refusing to let go.

Her face turned red—from pain, from anger, from sheer frustration—before she finally shouted, “Let go of me! I’m warning you!”

I smiled, satisfied. “Well, well, well…”

I thought about it for a moment, only a moment, then decided, why not? I twisted her arm a bit more, then gave her a sharp backhand across the face with my free hand. As I let go, I gave her a little push. She was already off balance and went stumbling to the ground.

Elizabeth twisted awkwardly, trying to catch herself on anything nearby. Unfortunately for her, and very fortunately for me, she bumped her freshly done nose on the hallway table, dragging the whole thing down with her.

The large vase on it? Smashed.

Even better? Her new, expensive, very-not-natural nose… no longer straight.

The look of murder on her face was chef’s kiss. She roared my name in rage, which only made me laugh. “Wow! Talk about a facelift gone wrong. Please tell me you didn’t pay your hard earned money for that!”

The look of murder switched to horror. Apparently, she hadn’t realized she'd smashed her face on the table. She touched her nose gently and, the moment she felt it, let out another banshee screech. Honestly, if she couldn’t feel her nose break in real time, it really told you how much feeling she had left in that face.

Shannon, who’d been upstairs with Montgomery, came running down at the sound of Elizabeth’s wail. I was still standing near Elizabeth, laughing, when she made it into the room.

“Ava, what on earth are you doing?!” she shrieked. She didn’t wait for an answer—just rushed to her precious daughter and helped her up.

That’s when she saw Elizabeth’s face. “Oh… oh shit. Are you okay?” Her hand hovered awkwardly, not daring to touch the mess.

Elizabeth whimpered, “Mom… my face! Save my beautiful new nose!”

“Honey, it’s okay,” Shannon cooed. “Mommy will take you to the hospital right now. Your nose will be fine. You’ll see—it’s easy to fix.”

Shannon held her like she was some tragic heroine and then turned her glare on me. “Ava, I can’t believe you did this. What a horrible child. Aren’t you afraid your dad will disown you when he hears about this?”

I grinned wider. “Disown me? Please. I thought he did that when he married you.”

Each word dripped with venom. “Let’s not forget who the real monster is. You moved my bedroom as far away as possible so he couldn’t hear me screaming while you beat me. You were always so careful never to hit my face—worried he’d actually notice something.”

I tapped my chin mockingly. “But now? Since I’ve been away, I’ve learned to enjoy a bit of violence myself. Especially when it’s personal. I love feeling bones crack and cartilage shift. It’s so satisfying when a face is no longer recognizable. Honestly, I barely touched Elizabeth. That table did the hard part. And let’s be real—she’s always been ugly and you know that for a fact. Tell her the truth!”

Their stunned silence? Beautiful. The way their rage bubbled under their skin as I threw their past in their faces? Perfection.

“I’ll ruin you!” Elizabeth shrieked.

“Cool,” I shrugged. “Come at me, big sister. You know where to find me.”

With that, I turned and walked out, feeling lighter than I had in years. I barely even heard Elizabeth shout to her mother that they had to destroy me, and Shannon’s promise to do whatever it took.

Didn’t see that coming. Bring it on.

Outside, the night breeze cooled my skin. I had just gotten into my car when my new found best friend Lucy called.

“Hey, Lucy. What’s up?”

“Ava, I’m so sorry. You need to get here—now! I just saw your sister’s husband with his little whore.”

Crap. “Where?”

“Presidential Bar!” she half-yelled over loud music.

“Okay. Wait for me.”

I drove like hell, arriving in about twenty minutes. I slipped the bouncer a nice tip to get in fast and found Lucy inside.

“Don’t worry,” she said, “they’re still in the private room. They’re not going anywhere.”

“Can we get a photo?”

“Not unless you’ve got X-ray vision. No windows in there.”

Damn it. We ordered a bottle of white wine to wait it out. I needed it—after tonight’s family reunion from hell, I deserved at least that much.

An hour later, the private room door opened. Viktor Thorne stepped out with some girl glued to his side. Lucy whipped out her phone and snapped several photos. I caught a few from my angle too, but hers were way better.

“You think it’s enough?” she asked.

“It’s perfect,” I said. “I knew he was cheating on her.”

Lucy sent the photos to me instantly. “There. Good luck.”

We went back to the bar and sat then for a while. I didn’t speak much—just drank. She kept me company, no questions asked. She had been helping me for all these while without asking any question.

Suddenly a drunk moron walked up to us from behind “Can I buy the two most beautiful ladies a drink?”

Lucy told him to fuck off. He didn’t listen.

She stood up, got in his face, and tried to push him. He grabbed her wrist.

“I just wanna buy you both a drink.”

“Let go,” she hissed. “You’re hurting me!”

“What’re you gonna do if I don’t?”

I didn’t hesitate. I smashed my wine glass on his head and kicked him square in the balls. He dropped like a sack of trash.

“When a woman says no, she means no,” I said sweetly.

But before I could celebrate, Lucy screamed, “Look out!”

A beer bottle flew past my head. Another creep lunged.

Then he stepped in. Fists flew. The second guy went down hard.

It was Malcolm Thorne, Viktor’s father. He glanced at us with that smug grin. Oh no.

I stumbled toward him—thanks, heels—and he caught me.

“You okay?” he chuckled.

Goddess, he smelled good. Marble chest. Damn. This was the first time ever I've been this close to him, I looked up gradually and then I stared.

He stared back.

My breath caught. I hadn't heard him approaching, and now I was in his arms. I could see for the first time his face beneath the hat that he always wore. His skin was dark bronze, and his eyes were so light that they seemed silver. The contrast was stunning. I was ensnared in the hot light of his eyes for a long moment.

I didn't move. I couldn't. Lucy was stock-still, too. But he never spared her a glance. His gaze released my eyes and slid down my face to my lips. There it paused, and my heart began slamming wildly in my chest.

His gaze slid lower lazily. No man had ever looked at me the way he was looking at me. He eyes my full breasts, straining against the confines of my corset. His eyes slipped quickly down me to my black heels, then back up. 

I blushed and tried to pull away. “Thanks. I think.”

He held me steady, smirking. “You really need to be careful around here.”

“Thanks for helping me.”

He leaned in. “Always happy to help a beautiful damsel in distress.”

I mumbled, “Yeah, yeah. You’re kind of handsome yourself" My hands instantly went to my mouth as my eyes went wide. I didn't just say that, fuck I did.