Lahat ng Kabanata ng REVENGE IN RED HEELS: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 10

I didn't even make it upstairs when I got home.I turned into the private drive and found it blocked by two black SUVs I didn't recognize. A man in a dark suit stepped forward before I'd put the car in park."Mrs. Cole. I'm going to need you to come with me, please.""This is my home.""Mr. Cole's legal team requested that any personal items be collected under supervision, effective tonight. I have a list of what's been approved for you to take."A list. Of my own life, approved for removal.I sat there for one long moment and let myself feel the shape of it. Hours ago I had been his wife. Now I was a line item on somebody's clipboard."Fine," I said, and got out before my voice could do anything else without my permission.The house looked exactly the same as it always had, warm light behind tall windows, the fountain still running because no one had thought to turn it off. It hadn't noticed anything had happened. Only I had.A woman with a tablet met me inside, another man statione

"What exactly is in that box you've been carrying since you walked in here."Marcus's question sat in the kitchen between us, and I found I couldn't answer it yet. Not because I didn't trust him. Because some part of me needed him to understand who Damian had been before I could explain what he'd become, and I didn't think I could do that with the box open on the counter between us, staring back at me like a verdict."Not yet," I said. "I need to tell you something first. About how this started. Not just tonight,all of it."Marcus studied me for a long moment, then exhaled and reached for the kettle instead of pushing. "Then talk. I'm not going anywhere."I was twenty four, three years into volunteering at St. Agatha's, standing at a charity gala in a borrowed dress that didn't quite fit, watching a room full of people whose net worth I couldn't have guessed within several zeros. Priya had needed a plus one. I'd gone because saying no to Priya was harder than saying yes to a room full

Elena's pov I didn't sleep that night, I don't think I'd expected to.Marcus was still watching me from across the kitchen island, waiting for an answer about the box, and I realized I owed him the truth even if it was smaller than whatever he'd built up in his head."It's not what you think," I said, working the flaps open where they'd been taped shut for who knows how long. "It's not evidence of anything. It's just old things. From St. Agatha's."Marcus's shoulders dropped half an inch, some private relief passing over his face before he caught himself and tried to look merely curious instead. "The hospice.""I grabbed it from the estate tonight, when they gave me thirty minutes. I didn't even think about it consciously. My hands just reached for it, the way you reach for the thing that actually matters when everything else in a room has stopped meaning anything."I lifted the lid, and the smell hit me first, that specific mixture of old paper and the lavender lotion Agnes always k

Elena's pov Marcus called before I'd even finished my coffee."I have it," he said, no greeting, straight into it the way he always did when a case broke open. "Ezra Reyes. Security officer, Cole Enterprises, eight years on staff. Started in the mailroom at twenty two, worked his way into the security division within two years. Spotless record. Twice recommended for promotion to head of building security. Twice passed over."My stomach tightened. "Passed over for what reason?""No reason on paper. Just, someone else got the job both times. I can guess why, and so can you." A pause, papers shuffling on his end. "There's more. His father. Samuel Reyes. Employed at Cole Enterprises for twenty six years.""As what?""Janitorial staff," Marcus said. "Night shift, mostly. Building maintenance."I set my coffee down slowly, my hand not quite steady. "Marcus. Damian walks past that man in the hallway. Probably every week. Speaks to him the way he speaks to everyone he considers beneath him."

Elena's pov Grant was already in the parking lot when we arrived, leaning against his car with his phone pressed to his ear, and the sight of him there, unannounced, stopped me halfway across the asphalt."You called him?" I asked Marcus."I didn't have to." Marcus nodded toward Grant, who was ending his call now, straightening his jacket with the particular formality of a man bracing himself for something. "He called me an hour ago. Said if we were going back in today, he was coming with us, whether we wanted him there or not."Grant crossed the lot to meet us, his expression graver than I'd seen it since the gala."I spoke with Damian this morning," he said, without preamble. "He's accelerating the handover timeline. Alistair's health took a turn overnight, nothing catastrophic, but enough that the board is pushing to finalize the ceremony within the month instead of the quarter."The ground tilted slightly under that news, urgency compounding urgency."A month," I repeated."Possib