Chapter 74
Victoria’s POV
I lifted the glass to my lips and took a slow sip, not tasting the champagne.
My eyes didn’t leave her.
Aria Montel.
The little toy Dominic had decided to show off tonight like some diamond he found in the dirt.
She was pretty, I’d give her that. Poised, too. I’d expected nerves, a slip–up. Something.
Instead, she surprised me.
Twice.
The first when she held her own against Falco.
The second when she met my gaze.
Not with fear.
But with that quiet, fiery defiance that made my teeth grind.
I lowered the glass and turned away from the crowd, heading toward the hallway that led to the private lounge area. Every step of my heels echoed against the marble floor, sharp and controlled, like a countdown in my head.
1…2…3…
That girl had no idea what world she was stepping into. She thought she was special. Different. But I’d been where she stood now. I knew the rules.
And I knew how quickly the men who claimed you could break you.
I opened the balcony door, letting the cool night air kiss my skin as I stepped outside. The city stretched below in all its glittering deceit. Beautiful on the surface, rotten beneath.
Just like him.
Just like Dominic.
I pulled my phone from my clutch and dialed.
The line rang once.
Twice.
Then a voice answered.
“Victoria.”
“Come to the balcony.”
A pause. “Are you sure?”
I turned my head slightly, eyes narrowing toward the ballroom. I could still see them through the glass. Dominic’s hand on
her waist. The way she looked up at him. Like she hadn’t seen what I had. Like she didn’t know what he was.
“I said what I said,” I replied coldly. “Now.”
I hung up.
The phone trembled slightly in my hand. Not from nerves. From something uglier. Older.
Memories I didn’t ask for came rushing in–Dominic’s cold voice when he ended things. The way he looked at me after Mikael. As if I was the one who had betrayed him.
As if he hadn’t already broken me first.
They thought I was cruel.
They didn’t know I had to be.
What do you expect from a woman who’s been tossed aside by every man she’s ever needed? You smile. You wear red lipstick. You dress like sin itself and make them regret not worshipping you the first time.
That’s how you survive in this world.
By never letting them see the parts of you that still hurt.
I leaned on the railing, watching the traffic blur below, listening to the faint clink of champagne glasses and laughter drifting through the glass doors.
She was going to learn the hard way.
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Chapter 74
Dominic didn’t love.
Dominic owned.
And I wouldn’t let her forget it.
Not tonight.
Not ever.
I would make her regret being a fool. Smiling at my Dominic. Laughing with him. Being claimed.
It pissed me off so bad.
I couldn’t handle it.
The sliding door creaked open behind me.
He stepped onto the balcony with the kind of nervous energy that made me bite back a smile. Men like him always thought they were in control until they stood next to someone who actually was.
“You called,” he said, smoothing his jacket. “What’s going on?”
I turned to face him, arms crossed loosely under my chest. “You’ve been looking for a way into Dominic’s world for years, haven’t you?”
He froze. “You know that.”
“Good.” I stepped closer, letting my heels click slowly across the stone. “Because I’m offering you that chance.”
“Victoria-”
I raised a hand. “Listen. There’s a girl. Aria Montel. She’s… complicated. And she’s getting in the way of a lot of things. You don’t need to know the whole story. Just know she needs to be… compromised.”
He raised a brow. “Compromised how?”
“She has a past,” I said, tilting my head. “Stripper. Ex–fiancé. Medical history. Find a weak point and press on it. Make it public. Ruin her image just enough to make Dominic second–guess how valuable she is. Tonight.”
“Why not do it yourself?”
I smiled. “Because I have to appear clean in this. You? You’re forgettable. And that’s what makes you perfect.”
He shifted, hesitant. “And what do I get in return?”
I leaned in, my voice lowering. “If this works, I’ll make sure Dominic puts your name at the top of his next security expansion contract. That’s seven figures, easily.”
His lips parted.
I let the offer sink in before adding one more nail in the coffin. “Or,” I said sweetly, “you can go back to licking the boots of men who’ll never respect you.”
His eyes darkened. “Fine. What do you want me to do?”
I slid a small envelope into his hand. “Everything you need is inside. Use it. Subtly. Create a scandal. Make them doubt her. Make him doubt her.”
He looked down at the envelope, then back up. “You want her gone’that badly?”
I stared past him, toward the ballroom again.
The laughter.
The lights.
The false sense of safety.
“She’s standing where I used to stand,” I said quietly. “But unlike me? She doesn’t deserve it.”
He tucked the envelope inside his coat. “It’ll be done.”
I touched his shoulder, then leaned in until my lips brushed the shell of his ear. “Good.”
He gulped bowed and walked away.
The night air was cool against my skin, a light breeze sweeping in from the terrace where I stood, a champagne glass poised delicately between my fingers. Below, the ballroom glittered with opulence music, fake laughter, clinking glasses and there, in the center of it all, was her.
Aria.
In my dress. Wearing his name like it belonged to her.
I watched her with practiced calm, the kind only years of playing the long game could teach you. She looked stunning–I’ll give her that–but all I saw was a girl playing a role she didn’t understand. A moth dancing far too close to a flame she
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Chapter 74
couldn’t control.
“Everything’s in place,” a voice said from behind me.
I didn’t turn around. Just took another sip and asked, “And she won’t seg it coming?”
“She’s alone now. We just need a moment. Ten minutes, max.”
A smile tugged at my lips. “Good. Make it quick. Make it messy.”
The man hesitated. “And if Dominic finds out?”
I turned slightly, my smile cold and sharp. “Then I’ll make sure he blames her for being careless. He always hated that.”
He nodded and slipped away, disappearing into the shadows like the rat he was.
Back in the ballroom, Aria laughed at something Julian said. She looked… relaxed. Comfortable.
Foolish.
She had no idea what was coming.
My gaze shifted to the far end of the room, where the servers had begun moving toward the reserved wine station–the perfect spot, just out of view of the cameras. Just exposed enough to be humiliating. And she was heading there.
Right on cue.
“Any second now…” I whispered to myself, the ice in my glass clinking as I swirled the drink lazily.
From where I stood, I had the perfect vantage point.
And just as Aria took another step-
A shadow peeled off from the edge of the crowd.
Moving too fast.
Too direct.
I frowned.
That wasn’t part of the plan.
I leaned forward, heart skipping once.
“What the-”
My phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
Change of plans. Your little setup may not go as smooth as you thought. Hope you’re watching.
I blinked.
Who the hell-‘
Down below, something shifted. Julian turned. Dominic stood taller, sensing something.
And Aria?
Aria had stopped walking.
A man brushed too close to her.
Then suddenly-
Dominic’s voice cut through the air, sharp and deadly.
“ARIA!”
I straightened up at the railing, eyes wide.
No.
No, no, no.
She turned toward him, confusion on her face.
And before I could even blink-
It happened.
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