Avery stormed into her penthouse, in a hurricane of rage and frustration. Her perfectly manicured hands grabbed the first thing she saw – a crystal vase – and hurled it against the wall. The satisfying crash did little to quell the storm inside her.
"You've driven Chris Eaton straight to our rivals." Her boss's voice echoed in her ears, each word a dagger to her pride. She snatched a framed photo from her desk, staring at her own smiling face before smashing it to the ground.
"Drove him away?!" she snarled to the empty room. "What did I do wrong?"
Avery paced, her high-heels leaving indents in the plush carpet. She'd done everything right, hadn't she? She'd approached Chris Eaton with the perfect blend of seduction and business mind. She looked flawlessly beautiful like a Barbie doll, and she was intelligent too.
What more could a billionaire businessman want?
With a choked sob of frustration, Avery sank to the floor, her designer dress pooling around her. Her cheeks burned red with anger and humiliation. She leaned against the bed, chest heaving as she fought to regain control.
The soft click of the door opening barely registered. "Avery? Darling, what's happened?"
Cassandra Sterling glided into the room, concern etched on her still-beautiful face. She knelt beside her daughter, careful not to wrinkle her own expensive outfit.
"It's all falling apart, Mother," Avery whispered, hating the weakness in her voice. "Chris Eaton... he married my target, Lily Smith." The name tasted like poison on her tongue.
Cassandra's perfectly arched eyebrows rose. "Oh, sweetheart. Don't fret over one man. There are plenty of other powerful fish in the sea."
Avery shook her head violently. "You don't understand. It's not just about Chris Eaton not marrying me. It's actually my mission... I was supposed to..." She trailed off, realizing she couldn't reveal the full extent of her plans, even to her mother. No… her boss forbade her from doing so.
"I failed," she finished lamely. "And I don't understand why. Why would Chris choose to marry Lily? How can he even love or marry someone like her?!"
Cassandra stroked her daughter's golden hair. "Patience, dear. The answers will come. Men like Chris Eaton always have their reasons. We just need to discover what they are."
As if on cue, Avery's phone buzzed. She snatched it up, recognizing her secretary's number. "What?" she snapped, partly angry that he disturbed her interesting talk with her mother.
"Ms. Sterling, I've uncovered some interesting information," Hodges' nervous voice came through. "Our family lawyer, Michael Thornton has been assisting Lilliana Smith. Through him, we've got to know that Ms. Smith is actually in a contract marriage with Chris Eaton."
Avery sat up straighter, her eyes narrowing. "Contract marriage?"
"Yes, ma'am. Apparently, Mr. Eaton blackmailed Ms. Smith into the arrangement. She's been looking for a way out of the marriage."
A slow, wicked smile spread across Avery's face. She ended the call without another word, turning to her mother with a gleam in her eye.
"It seems our little Lily isn't so happily married after all," Avery purred. "Chris Eaton forced her into it."
Cassandra matched her daughter's smile. "Well, well. That does change things, doesn't it?"
Avery stood, smoothing out her dress. The earlier despair had vanished from her wickedly beautiful face, replaced by a predatory excitement. "Oh, Lily.. Lily.. Lily..," she murmured, a cruel smile playing on her lips. "
Memories of their shared past flashed through Avery's mind.
Lily had always been her own worst enemy, so easily destroyed by her inferiority complex. Instead of doing something about it, she waited until Avery had insulted her at a party and made a viral video of her looks on social media to get plastic surgery.
"Pathetic," Avery scoffed. "She didn't even bother to check the surgeon's credentials. Her plastic surgeon was none other than my cousin."
It had been almost too easy to ensure Lily's heart would fail during the procedure. A few whispered words, a generous bribe, and the trap was set—cause after all Sterling family always helped each other in all kinds of deeds.
Now, in a delicious twist of irony, Lily was trying to escape the very man who had saved her life. Chris Eaton was actually her savior—but innocent Lily thinks that he is her enemy. And in her desperation, she'd turned to Michael Thornton – who was also the Sterling family's lawyer.
"Oh, Lily. You don't even care to do a background check on the people you hire?!," Avery sighed, shaking her head. "Still innocent and so painfully naive. Your innocence will be your downfall."
With a predatory gleam in her eye, Avery reached for her phone. Michael Thornton answered on the first ring.
"Avery," his voice was smooth, professional. "I trust you've heard the news?"
"Indeed," she purred. "You have Lily right where we want her?"
"Absolutely. She's a puppet in my hands. She is so innocent and trusts me completely. And also for the job I'm doing, I must insist on a generous payment. Say... 100 million for my services?"
Avery laughed, the sound sharp and cold. "Oh, Michael. Always so modest. I'll give you 500 million. Money is not a big deal to me. Just get the job done."
There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Consider it done," Michael finally replied, a hint of awe in his voice.
"Excellent. Don't disappoint me." Avery ended the call with a flick of her finger.
She turned to the window, gazing out at the cityscape below. The sun was setting over the city, painting the sky in shades of blood red. To Avery, it felt like a sign – the dawn of a new chapter in her war against Lily Smith.
"Soon, Lily," she whispered to her reflection. "Soon, I'll eliminate you and complete my mission. And this time, there won't be any last-minute miracles to save you."
As darkness fell over the city, Avery's laughter echoed through the penthouse – a chilling promise of the storm to come.