Chapter 18
Leticia had lost her mind long before Benjamin did. She was always fragile–her sanity built on the illusion that she was untouchable, that she was different from all the other women Benjamin had used and discarded.
But now? Now, she was just a bitter, discarded toy, fighting for scraps of a kingdom that no longer existed.
I imagined the scene easily:
Leticia, pacing in frustration, clutching a drink she didn’t even want.
Benjamin, seated in the shadows, unshaven and unhinged.
“You let her take everything from you,” Leticia would spit, her voice laced with venom. “You’re Benjamin fucking Willoughby. And you’re telling me you’re just going to let her win?*
His grip on his glass would tighten, his jaw clenched so hard it ached.
“She’s Nevaeh,” he’d murmur, as if saying it out loud confirmed his worst nightmare. “I know it.”
Letícia would laugh–a bitter, cruel sound. “No shit, genius. Took you long enough.” A heavy silence.
Then, Letícia would lean in, eyes dark with rage. “We end her.” And for once, Benjamin wouldn’t argue. Because if he couldn’t have me, no one could.
I knew it was coming before they even made their first move. Evander and Donovan had been on high alert for weeks, tracking every whisper, every suspicious movement in Benjamin’s dwindling empire. When Donovan burst into my that afternoon, I barely looked up from my laptop.
“They’re coming for you,” he said, throwing a file onto my desk.
I glanced at the documents–bank transfers, phone records, a hitman’s contract.
“So dramatic,” I mused, sipping my coffee.
office
Donovan wasn’t amused. “Valeria, this isn’t a fucking joke. They’re going to try and take you,”
I finally met his gaze, smirking. “Let them try.”
He ran a frustrated hand through his hair, muttering curses under his breath. “Evander’s going to fucking kill me if something happens to you.”
“Then I suggest you make sure nothing happens to me,” I said sweetly.
He glared. “I should have let Evander choke you in the gym that day.”
I laughed.
Donovan sighed, rubbing his temples. “Look, we can tighten security, move you somewhere safer-”
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“No.”
His jaw tensed. “Valeria.”
I stood, walking around my desk to stand in front of him. “I am not running, Donovan. I am not hiding. This ends here. They want a war?” I leaned in, voice dropping to a whisper. “I’I give them hell.”
His eyes darkened, his grip tightening on the chair he was leaning against.
“Fucking hell,” he muttered. “You’re really going to make my life shorter, aren’t you?”
I smiled. “Oh, absolutely.”
**
I had been expecting their move. I didn’t expect to fall for it. The call came just past midnight. I was sitting in my office, going through some final reports when my phone rang.
Unknown number. I answered out of instinct.
“Miss Lancaster?” The voice was urgent, frantic. “You need to come to St. Jude’s Hospital immediately!”
My spine straightened. “Who is this?”
“This is Dr. Reyes. Evander Romano and Donovan Cross were brought in half an hour ago. Gunshot wounds. One of them… he didn’t make it.”
Everything inside me turned ice cold.
I stood so fast my chair scraped against the floor. “Which one?” My voice came out sharp,
controlled.
A pause.
“Donovan Cross is dead. Evander is in critical condition.”
Donovan. Dead? No. No! That wasn’t possible. He was too stubborn to die. I grabbed my coat and rushed out, barely aware of my surroundings. I should have stopped to think. But all I could hear was that voice on the phone. Evander, fighting for his life.
Donovan, gone.
I reached the parking lot, my heart pounding. Something gnawed at the back of something wasn’t right. Then I saw the black van.
my mind-
Too late. A cloth was pressed against my face, the sickly scent of chloroform overwhelming me. My body went limp before I could even fight back.
**
I woke up with a pounding headache and the taste of blood in my mouth. My arms were pulled behind me, wrists tied to the back of a steel chair. My ankles were secured to the legs. A single dim light flickered above, casting eerie shadows against the cold concrete walls.
Warehouse. Classic. Predictable. A slow clap echoed through the room. Leticia.
She stepped out of the darkness, her heels clicking against the cement floor, her red lips curled into a smirk. She looked manic–her eyes wild, her makeup slightly smudged. She
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Warehouse, Classic. Predictable. A slow clap echoed through the room. Leticia.
She stepped out of the darkness, her heels clicking against the cement floor, her red lips curled into a smirk. She looked manic–her eyes wild, her makeup slightly smudged. She
was unraveling.
“You ruined my life,” she hissed, circling me like a predator. “You took everything from me.”
I smiled, slow and lazy, despite the ache in my ribs, “Funny. I was thinking the same thing about you,”
Her smirk faltered.
I tilted my head, eyes locked on her. “I mean, let’s be honest, Leticia. You were always disposable. You just didn’t realize it until now.”
Her nostrils flared. “Shut up.”
I chuckled, “Oh? Did that sting?”
She pulled out a knife and pressed the tip against my throat. “You think you’re so fucking untouchable, don’t you?”
I met her gaze, unfazed. “Compared to you? Absolutely.” Her hand trembled. I laughed again. “You don’t even want to kill me. You just want me to be afraid. That’s the difference between you and me, Leticia.” I leaned forward slightly, just enough for the blade to nick my skin. “I don’t fear death. But you? You fear being forgotten.”
Her lips parted, her confidence cracking. Good. A slow clap echoed from the darkness. Benjamin.
***
He stepped into the dim light, his gaze burning into mine. God, he looked awful. Hollow. Haunted. Weak. He hadn’t shaved in days. His once–pristine suits now slightly wrinkled. But his eyes–those cold, obsessive eyes–were the same.
I forced a smirk. “Benjamin. You look like shit.”
He didn’t react. He just stared at me, as if trying to convince himself that I was real.
“You really are her,” he muttered. “Nevaeh.”
I sighed. “For the hundredth time, Benjamin–Nevaeh is dead. You killed her.”
He exhaled sharply, shaking his head. “No. No, I didn’t. You’re right here.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re delusional.”
His expression darkened, jaw clenching. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done to me?”
I arched a brow. “Oh, please enlighten me.”
“You took everything.” His voice was low, dangerous. “My company. My power. Me.”
I barked out a laugh. “You were never mine to take, Benjamin. You were just a pathetic excuse of a man who thought he owned me.”
His hand snapped forward, grabbing my chin roughly. “You don’t get to talk to me like that.” I smirked. “Or what? You’ll hit me? Kill me?” I leaned in closer, my voice a whisper. “Do it,
alf that cau’en till in mantral”
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I smirked. “She’s not wrong.”
