> "They smile in your face while sharpening the blade. But I smile back because mine is already drawn."
---
The next morning, the society pages were already buzzing.
"Mysterious Heiress Returns: Amaris Lane Spotted at Edenrose Tower."
"Zayden Kross's Former Flame Back from the Dead?"
"Celeste Harrington Seen Leaving Spa in a Rage—Coincidence?"
Amaris scrolled through the headlines with mild amusement. The media couldn't resist drama. She'd always been their favorite tragedy.
But now? She was going to be their favorite villain.
---
The Harrington estate looked like it had been ripped from the pages of a magazine—white columns, rose gardens, security at the gates. The kind of place where secrets didn't get buried. They were polished, perfumed, and hung like art.
Amaris walked through the open doors like she owned them. She didn't have an invitation. She didn't need one.
Celeste Harrington was pouring tea on the back patio, surrounded by orchids and fake laughter.
When she saw Amaris, her hand froze mid-pour.
"Well," Celeste said after a long beat. "I guess the rumors are true."
"I always did hate leaving things unfinished," Amaris replied, brushing invisible lint from her black silk blouse.
Celeste's smile was tight. "You have some nerve coming here."
"I have more than nerve," Amaris said. "I have receipts."
The other women at the table looked between them, unsure whether to run or start recording.
Celeste stood. Taller than she used to be. Leaner. Wearing power like perfume.
"What do you want?" she hissed once they were out of earshot.
Amaris leaned close, voice sweet as venom. "Just catching up with an old friend. Or should I say—traitor."
"You destroyed your own life."
"No, Celeste. You did that. You leaked the fake video. You stole the internship. You framed me to get what you wanted."
"You can't prove that."
Amaris's smile turned razor-sharp. "Can't I?"
She pulled a flash drive from her clutch and dropped it on the marble table.
Celeste stared at it like it was a live grenade.
"I haven't released it yet," Amaris said. "But I will. Unless you start talking."
Celeste's mask slipped for a split second—panic, shame, something raw and ugly flashing in her eyes. Then it was gone.
"You came back to blackmail me?"
"No," Amaris said, eyes dark. "I came back to bury you with your own lies."
---
FLASHBACK – Senior Year, Three Weeks Before the Scandal
Amaris and Celeste lay under the stars at a rooftop party, laughing into the sky.
"Promise me something," Celeste whispered. "No matter what happens—don't forget me."
Amaris turned her head, grinning. "Why would I forget my best friend?"
"I don't know," Celeste murmured. "Sometimes... it just feels like people leave when they start shining."
Amaris nudged her. "Then we'll shine together."
But Celeste had already decided.
There could only be one star.
---
Present Day – Zayden's Office
Zayden hadn't slept. The moment he saw her, the memories returned like ghosts—her laugh, her scent, the way she used to read poetry out loud in the back of the library.
And the guilt.
He stared at the security footage of her visit on loop. Her cold smile. Her composure. Her words.
> "I came to start a war."
She wasn't bluffing. Not this time.
His phone buzzed.
Celeste: She came to the house. She knows. She has something. Fix it. Or I will.
Zayden closed his eyes. The cracks were beginning to show.
He should have protected Amaris. Back then.
And maybe... even now.
---
Amaris's Penthouse – Nightfall
The city glittered beneath her windows.
She stood barefoot on the balcony, sipping bourbon.
Elliot's voice crackled through the speaker. "We got it."
"The file?"
"The original footage. The metadata matches your version. It's a confirmed fake. Celeste paid a hacker to splice it."
"Send me everything."
"Done. You want me to release it?"
"No," Amaris said, voice smooth. "Not yet."
"Why wait?"
"Because panic isn't enough. I want collapse."
---
She turned and walked inside.
Photos lined the wall. Each face marked. Colored pins connecting them like a web. Zayden. Celeste. The principal. The hacker. The media exec who ran the smear story.
She stopped at Zayden's photo.
Once upon a time, she loved him more than anything. Trusted him with the kind of devotion that could ruin a girl.
He didn't even defend her.
But his eyes that day—when she returned—held something she couldn't name. Was it regret? Shame? Hope?
It didn't matter.
She wasn't here for emotions.
She was here for destruction.
---
FLASHBACK – After the Scandal Broke
She had no home. Her mother changed the locks. Her father held a press conference to "distance the family from the shame."
She lived in a shelter for three weeks. Ate from vending machines. Walked streets with tear-stained cheeks and no direction.
Until Elliot found her.
He believed her. When no one else did.
He handed her a burner phone. A clean ID. A new last name.
He taught her how to dig, how to build firewalls, how to lie with a smile.
He helped her become someone who didn't need saving anymore.
---
Next Day – Edenrose Tower, Boardroom
Zayden's team sat around the table, murmuring about investors, stocks, mergers.
Amaris entered unannounced.
Zayden stood. "This is a private—"
"I know," she said. "But since my father was a major shareholder before you helped run me out of the family business, I figured I'd claim what's mine."
She tossed a stack of documents on the table.
Power of attorney. Proxy rights. Ownership transfer.
Zayden stared. "You... bought your father's shares?"
"More like he signed them over when I reminded him of all the things I could expose." Her smile widened. "Turns out, even politicians fear daughters with receipts."
The board murmured.
"I'm your new co-chair," she said. "Which means every decision now goes through me."
Zayden looked her in the eye. "Why are you really doing this?"
Amaris leaned forward.
"To remind you I didn't just survive. I thrived. And now I'm going to ruin you—one vote, one lie, one broken piece of your golden life at a time."
---
That Night – Rooftop Bar
Celeste threw her glass at the wall.
"She's back. She's winning. Fix it!"
Zayden stared at the broken glass. "Maybe we deserve this."
Celeste rounded on him. "You're still in love with her."
His silence was confirmation enough.
"You think she's going to love you back after what we did?" Celeste whispered. "You think this is a redemption story? No, Zay. She's not here to heal. She's here to kill."
Zayden looked out over the city, haunted.
And deep down, he knew Celeste was right.