All Chapters of THE VENGEFUL HEIR: Chapter 341
- Chapter 350
367 chapters
Unmasked
AriaAfter that call with Jack, I didn't waste any time getting ready. I quickly jumped out of my bed, hurried to my wardrobe, and threw on the quickest outfit I could put together, then jumped out of the room and made my way to meet Jack. At this point, I was more than anxious to find out who the mole in my company was, and I didn’t want to waste a chance to catch him or her… whoever they were.I'd called a cab to take me there. Luke had emphasized that I try to remain discreet, and showing up to my company in my five-hundred-thousand-dollar custom car was just going to give me away. I needed to keep my head low at least until we caught this culprit.The whole ride there, my mind was constantly filled with thoughts, and I just wanted this to be over. I wanted to be able to just enjoy the mundane things in life without looking over my shoulder or worrying too much about what my next move would be. That was a life I'd grown to now despise, but still, it wasn't so easy to just get out o
Pressure Point
AriaThe boardroom was nearly empty at that hour. The only sound at some point was just the hum of the air conditioning and the faint buzz of the fluorescent lights. I’d been waiting for this all day, and you could imagine, my anger simmered until it turned sharp. When I finally cornered Pete, there was no room left for polite smiles or fake warmth. The only thing on my mind was getting to the bottom of this and so I wasted no time.“Why did you do it, Pete? Why betray the company that gave you everything?”He froze halfway into setting down his briefcase like I’d said something bizarre, and then his eyes flickered to mine, wide at first, then narrowing as if he wanted to play offended. He dropped into the nearest chair and leaned back like he wasn’t rattled, like I was just being dramatic.“Aria,” he said slowly, almost sighing my name. “Is this really how you’re going to talk to me? After all the years I’ve been loyal?”That word, ‘loyal,’ set something off in me, and I snapped befo
Smoke and Mirrors
AriaThe alarm was deafening, and also at the worst possible time. The red emergency lights flashed down every hallway, with people pouring out of their offices in waves of panic. I hesitated for a moment, frustrated that my only possible lead had escaped, and then I shoved my way through the crowd, my eyes darting left and right, desperate to spot Pete. He couldn’t be far, I told myself. Not after slipping out of that boardroom seconds before me. If I could just grab him, just force him to finish what he was about to say, I could end this.As I hurried down the employees' lobby, I caught a glimpse of his gray suit disappearing into the rush of bodies and pushed harder, ignoring the sting of someone’s shoulder slamming into mine. My hand reached out, almost brushing against him, but that was when Jack’s grip clamped down on my arm.“Aria!” His voice cut through the noise, and he pulled me back sharply, making me lose sight of Pete.“Let go,” I snapped, twisting against him. “He’s rig
Sweet Pretenses
AriaThe last two days felt like a blur. My mind couldn’t stop circling back to that fire alarm, that casual way this mastermind laid out everything like I had no choice but to play along. It wasn’t just a threat; it was confidence. They knew she had reached. And the more I thought about it, the more it made sense that their reach wasn’t just out there in the city. It was inside my company.That thought alone burned me up. Someone close, someone who had access, had been feeding them information. At first, I thought it was only Pete, but after that day, I started to believe they could be more. That was the only way the identity theft went as far as it did. I knew I had to find out who. And if that meant pretending everything was normal until I could corner the right person, then fine. I could play the part.So I kept my cool. I showed up to meetings, took calls, and attended company events. I smiled when board members gave me sideways looks. Underneath the table, I was clenching my ha
Watching in Silence
AriaLuke’s words wouldn’t leave my head. The whole ride back home, they looped in my mind like a bad song. ‘Maybe the person you’re looking for has been standing right next to Zion the whole time.’There was only one name that rang in my mind when he said that. Ellen.I wanted to scoff, to roll my eyes, to brush it off as Luke trying to stir drama. Ellen may have been a pain in the ass, but she wouldn’t go so far as to tear down my reputation. But the more I thought about it, the more pieces started to shift into place. She was everywhere Zion was, at the office, at Zion’s gym, at his house, conveniently popping up whenever she thought I wasn’t around. And the thing that stung most was that Zion never questioned it. He never pushed her away, never asked why she was suddenly so present. Maybe he thought it was harmless. Maybe he trusted her too much.I decided right then that I wouldn’t storm in, point fingers, or demand answers. No. If Ellen really was playing me, I’d let her think
The Uninvited Guest
AriaI didn’t even know Ellen had it in her to pull something like this. That’s what made it sting the most. That’s why I still couldn’t believe it. Not without concrete evidence.When the invite for the charity event first crossed my desk, I brushed it off. Zion’s board had been scrambling to fix the bad press caused by me lately, so of course, there would be a glossy event to clean up the mess. Black ties, wine glasses, fake smiles, the usual. But what I didn’t expect was Ellen at the center of it all.By the time I heard whispers, it was already happening. She was hosting a charity gala for Zion’s foundation. I wasn’t supposed to go. But when I saw the photos flooding online, the flashing cameras, Zion arriving in his suit, and Ellen right beside him, her arm hooked through his like they were an item, I completely lost it. I didn’t even think. I decided there and then that I was going to crash this party, and so I grabbed my coat and headed straight there.The hotel ballroom was
Slinters in the Room
AriaThe second Zion stepped into that room, I felt the ground shift under me. He wasn’t yelling, he wasn’t angry. That was the worst part. He just stood there in his charcoal suit, hands in his pockets, calm as if he had walked into a business meeting instead of a trap. His eyes flicked from Ellen to me, steady but unreadable.“What’s going on here?” he asked again, voice even.I swallowed hard and forced myself to speak before Ellen could twist anything. “I came here because I needed to see you. To talk to you. But then I see her—” I jabbed a finger toward Ellen, “—parading around like she’s your date, like she suddenly owns this company’s reputation. And then she drags me back here like I’m some uninvited guest trying to ruin your night.”Ellen didn’t move. Didn’t even flinch. She just crossed her arms and tilted her head, calm as a saint.“Zion,” I pressed, taking a step closer, “she’s playing a game. Can’t you see that? She’s been inserting herself everywhere around you, around t
Fractured
AriaThose words burned like an itch in my throat that I couldn’t reach. I could feel the pride Ellen felt when Zion turned and walked away with her, never looking at me again. The door closed behind me with a dull thud that echoed in my chest louder than it did in the hallway.I stood there, frozen, staring at the polished wooden frame as if it would open again and Zion would come after me, call my name, tell me he hadn’t meant it. But with each second that passed, the silence pressed in heavier, and the truth cut deeper with every breath I took.“Some distance.”His words replayed in my head like a broken record, cruel and steady. He didn’t say it like a demand. No, he didn’t mean it like a punishment, but why did it still feel that way.I pressed a hand against the wall, trying to steady myself as the rush of humiliation hit me. I hadn’t just lost my argument. I hadn’t just been dismissed. She walked away with it. For a moment it almost seemed as if she won. I had walked right into
The Unwanted Ally
AriaI thought it would be Pete. When I first saw the car, every part of me was sure it was him even when I walked toward that parked car. The way it sat there in the dark, with its engine humming, and its headlights off, it reeked of Pete’s kind of cowardly theatrics. My pulse was hammering, my palms were damp, but I told myself I could handle him. Whatever this was about. But when the window rolled down, all that bravado died. It wasn’t Pete. It was a face I hadn’t seen in four years. A face I hoped I would never see again.The man leaned into the glow of the dashboard, with a smug half-smile cutting across his face like he’d been waiting for this exact moment. And just like that, my chest felt tight. I was slammed back into memories of alarms screaming, shadows running, the deafening crack of gunfire. These were memories from the Fabergé Egg job. The one that went sideways. The night we barely escaped.I recognize this man because he was the one whose wrath we escaped from that da
A Deal in Chains
EllenAfter that night at the charity ball, I couldn’t sleep a wink. I paced my penthouse more and more, the lights of the city glowing outside my window while my own mind replayed Aria’s face over and over. The way she looked at me, with that obvious suspicion in her eyes, like she was seconds away from ripping the truth out of me with her bare hands, made me realize she was too close.I’d been careful for so long. Subtle and precise. But maybe I had underestimated her. She wasn’t as clueless as I had hoped. I thought I could keep her in the dark, circle Zion, and take my time. But now she was digging, and if she kept digging, she’d find me. My slip-ups weren’t little anymore. They were cracks, and I had to be careful of that.I pressed my hand to the back of a chair and forced myself to breathe. No, I couldn’t let her get there first. Not now, not ever. I needed to tilt the game back in my favor, and that meant pulling in someone who could do what I couldn’t: scare her, shake her, d