Chapter 4: The Price of Revenge
That evening, Adrian found me in the estate greenhouse.
Rain tapped softly against the glass ceiling. White orchids surrounded me, expensive and beautiful, but trapped in perfect rows.
“Your family’s assets have been frozen,” he said.
I nodded.
“Good.”
He stepped closer.
“You’re free to leave.”
The words should have relieved me.
Instead, they hurt in a place I did not expect.
I looked at him.
“Is that all this was?”
His face changed slightly.
Adrian Cross was good at wearing masks, even without silicone.
“I used your family,” he said. “I tried not to use you.”
“But you did.”
“Yes.”
The honesty was sharper than any apology.
I turned away.
“My entire life, people made decisions for me. My parents. Marcus. You. Everyone thought I was quiet because I was empty.”
“You’re not empty,” Adrian said.
I looked back at him.
“No. I’m angry.”
He accepted that without flinching.
“You should be.”
For a long moment, neither of us spoke.
Then he handed me a document.
It was not another contract.
It was a deed.
The Carter estate had been transferred into my name.
Not his.
Mine.
“I don’t want your family’s house,” he said. “But you deserve to own the place where they made you feel powerless.”
My throat tightened.
“And what do you want?”
Adrian looked at me through the soft rain-streaked glass.
“For the first time in my life? I don’t know.”
I held the deed carefully.
Revenge had brought us together.
But revenge was not enough to keep anyone alive.
So I said the only honest thing left.
“Then don’t ask me to love you because of what you destroyed.”
His voice lowered.
“I won’t.”
May you like
I nodded.
“But maybe someday, I’ll trust you because of what you choose to build.”
