All Chapters of Ruthless Hearts: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

I was still sore from yesterday’s training when Evelyn’s assistant knocked on my door at 7:15 a.m. sharp.“You’re expected at brunch,” she said. “Be dressed and in the driveway in fifteen minutes.”“Brunch with who?” I asked, but she was already gone.I got dressed anyway.“Oh geez,” I muttered to myself at 7:40 when I opened the back door of a black SUV and found Lynette already sitting there. She was wearing a crisp white blazer and matching heels that probably cost more than my first year of rent back home. She didn’t look at me, didn’t speak, just scrolled on her phone like she was born ignoring people.Good. I was prepared to mindlessly scroll through my phone, when I heard her annoying voice.She glanced at me once. “Please try not to embarass me today.”Charming.We pulled up to a café that was some exclusive garden-style place tucked into a side street in the city. It was definitely the kind of place with a waitlist three months long and a $40 fruit plate.Lynette led me to a

When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was that I was still wearing Dean’s jacket.The second thing I noticed was how heavy my tongue felt and how my mouth tasted like salt and smoke and regret.I sat up slowly. The curtains were drawn, but a slice of morning light cut through the seam and hit the edge of the bed. My heels were on the floor, one tipped over. My dress was wrinkled from sleep and cold across my skin. My head ached. Whatever Lynette and her friends had given me last night was really strong.I rubbed my face and swung my legs over the bed. My body felt slow, like I’d been unplugged from reality and hadn’t quite reconnected yet.There was a glass of water on the nightstand.Next to it, neatly placed like it belonged there, was a manila envelope.I stared at it.It hadn’t been there when I fell asleep.It hadn’t been there when Dean helped me into bed.I looked at the door. It was still locked. There was no sign of anything out of place. The envelope was clean, the edges

By morning, I already had a plan.Not a good one. Not even a complete one. But it was something.The Crimson Circle’s words from last night sat heavy in my chest: You’re engaged to a Caldwell. Use it.Fine. I would.I spent the morning walking the estate like I had every right to be there. I smiled at staff, asked harmless questions, let them get used to seeing me in hallways I didn’t usually pass through.“Good morning, Miss Vale,” one of the older maids greeted me when she found me near the north wing staircase.“Good morning.” I smiled, trying not to wince. A few weeks ago, I was a maid just like her. “Finally getting to know the grounds?” She timidly asked, looking around like she was scared she would be caught and punished for talking to me.“I’ll be living here for a while, so I should know where I’m going.” I took the opportunity to innocently ask about all the doorways and everything else.She laughed and pointed out which doorways led to the kitchens, where deliveries came

I waited three hours before I dared to breathe properly.The ledger was heavy in my robe, the leather warmed by my body. In the darkness of my room it felt less like a book and more like a loaded thing, something that could change the angle of my entire life in a second if I even got caught. I locked my door and slid the ledger under my mattress, beneath the fold of yesterday’s sheet. The mattress creaked when I sat, and I imagined, absurdly, that the bed knew what I’d put there.I did not sleep. I lay on my back and let my mind sort through names and numbers until the ledger started to make shapes. The paper felt old and deliberate and entirely intimate. Whoever had kept it had done so with care.When the house began to wake, I pushed myself up and opened the pages for the first time in daylight. I read only the top of a page. It was a ledger entry with dates and shorthand and a list of transfers between numbered accounts. Then another name. Then another. My hand went cold on the pa

Despite his assuring words, he didn’t smile. His hand was twitching at his side like he was nervous. Raye scared him.And I could see why.She stepped toward us, gun in hand. But she was just as nervous as he was. Still, her voice did not shake. “I want to hear it from your lips, little prince. Tell me what you told him,” she said, tipping her head toward Jules.Mason scowled at “little prince”, his lips curled in distaste, but he didn’t snap at her like I expected. “I want to join the Circle,” he said, full of conviction.Raye moved quickly, cocking the pistol and taking aim in the same motion. My heart stopped when she pressed the barrel to his forehead, but Mason didn’t flinch. “Why?” She hissed.“Because this world is all wrong. What my parents have done… what my brother will do, is wrong.”Even with a gun to his head, he still managed to speak calmly, but a bead of sweat trickled down his neck. Raye didn’t pull away, waiting for a better answer, and I found myself doing the same.