Todos os capítulos de VENGEANCE AS CRUEL AS HIS LOVE: Capítulo 1 - Capítulo 10

~ Jennifer POV ~ A positive pregnancy test is meant to be a blessing in a childless marriage, a moment of celebration. For me, it was a trap. The white plastic stick I had begged to show a single line stared back at me with two bright red ones, confirming that I was pregnant and that my life had just become far more dangerous. I stared at my reflection in the gold-rimmed mirror, the pregnancy test trembling in my grip like a live wire. My skin was ashen from weeks of silent sickness, my eyes hollow with dread. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not with Stanley. Stanley had warned me never to get pregnant; he didn’t want children. Still, I couldn’t understand how it had happened. A hard knock on the door made me jump, my heart slamming against my ribs. It was Stanley. I glanced at the wall clock, and it was 8pm. He was home too early. This is unlike him. He doesn't even come home most times, and when he eventually does, it was by 12 midnight, he was always drunk, reeking of alcohol

~ Jennifer ~The day Stanley left for Singapore was a day of terrifying opportunity. He stood outside his mansion, well-dressed and presentable, ready for his usual business trip. Every one of his travel suits was well arranged in his luggage and carried out by his driver.“Behave,” he said, his kiss a dry, threatening touch on my cheek.“Of course, Stanley. Have a successful trip,” I murmured, my eyes downcast, pretending to care for my lovely husband.The moment his car disappeared down the long driveway, I moved fast in the house . My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird. I slipped into his study, the room that was the inner sanctum of his power.Using the code I’d memorized, I disabled the alarm. My hands trembled as I booted up his computer. The password was his mother’s maiden name and his birth year a sentimental weakness he’d have denied possessing.I found what I was looking for: the encrypted files for the Singapore deal. I copied them onto a small, unassuming

~ Croft ~The news alert chimed on my phone, a soft, expensive sound in the silence of my study. I read the headline, and a laugh, cold and sharp as shattered crystal, escaped me: Stanley Morgan, Titan of Industry, Arrested on Multiple Counts of Fraud and Corruption.Fool. Arrogant, blustering fool.He actually thought he’d won. He’d stood in my office six months ago, promising to snatch the Liang-Po deal from under me, his chest puffed out like a prize peacock. “It’s just business, Croft,” he’d sneered, his voice dripping with condescension. “Don’t take it personally. Some of us are just built for this. Others… Well, you had a good run.”I’d said nothing then. Just watched him, this boy playing at being a king. But I’d made a promise to myself, one I’d whispered to him as he left: You are a gnat, Stanley. And I will show you how a giant swats a gnat. You are too small to contend with me.And now, the swat had landed. Perfectly.My part had been clean and surgical, providing the chan

Jennifer’s POV The Texas sun felt different this morning. It wasn't the oppressive, glaring eye that had judged me for months; it was warm, almost forgiving. I walked into the Jenny Gallery” the heels Croft had gifted me, clicking a confident, decisive rhythm on the polished concrete floor. The sound was a declaration.“Good morning, Mirabel! That color is stunning on you,” I said to the intern at the front desk, my voice bright and clear.Mirabel looked at me with shock, her eyes wide. “Oh! Thank you, Mrs. Morgan. Good morning!”I moved through the main space, my new silk dress swaying as I walked. “Michael, the lighting on the Pollock-esque piece is perfect. You’ve outdone yourself.” The head of installation, a usually grumpy man in his fifties, looked up, startled. A slow, hesitant smile broke through his beard. “Thanks, boss. Just doing my job.”The energy was shifting. I could feel it. The usual hushed, somber atmosphere was being pierced by something unfamiliar: my own joy. It

Croft POVThe Bentley Mulsanne pulled to a silent curb outside Jennifer’s modest apartment building; a flaw in the landscape. Soon, I would rectify that. In my hand, I held a small, black folder. Inside was not a piece of jewelry, but a deed to a house in the new "Austerlitz Tower" overlooking Lady Bird Lake. A more practical gift, I thought. A step toward the life she was meant to inhabit.This was my style: unannounced, unpredictable. It kept the world off-balance, and I preferred it that way. I dismissed my driver with a nod and took the stairs, finding a certain satisfaction in the cheap paint and worn carpet. This was the before; I was the after.I rang the bell. A moment of silence, then the soft shuffle of feet. The door opened, and there she was: Jennifer. Her hair was tied back, and she wore simple jeans and a t-shirt. In this plain setting, her beauty was almost startling in its purity.“Croft,” she said, a flicker of surprise in her eyes that she quickly mastered. Good. I a