Chapter 6 - The Viper's Last Bite
Vanessa Sterling sat in a dingy airport hotel room, shivering in her designer coat. Her bank accounts were frozen. Her credit cards were declined. Julian had systematically dismantled her life in less than twelve hours. She was ruined.
She stared at her reflection in the dirty mirror, her heart burning with a toxic, consuming hatred.
Julian had chosen a pathetic, dirty nanny over her. He had humiliated her. She knew she couldn't touch Julian—he was untouchable. But she could destroy the thing he seemed to care about. She could destroy Clara.
Vanessa pulled a burner phone from her purse. Before Julian’s men had confiscated her electronics, she had memorized the name she found on Clara’s old ID. She opened a dark web browser and wired the last of her hidden emergency cryptocurrency to a private investigator in Chicago.
Two hours later, the phone buzzed.
Target located. Marcus Thorne. Number attached.
Vanessa smiled, a wicked, venomous expression. She dialed the number. It rang three times before a gruff, dangerous voice answered.
"Who is this?" Marcus demanded.
"A friend," Vanessa purred, sipping a lukewarm glass of cheap wine. "I believe you lost something a few years ago. A pretty little thing named Clara. Dark hair, easily frightened?"
There was a heavy silence on the line. Then, the sound of glass shattering. "Where is she?" Marcus growled, his voice vibrating with violent obsession.
"She's in New York," Vanessa said smoothly. "Playing playing house at the Romano Estate. I can give you the security codes for the outer gates. But you have to promise me one thing, Marcus."
"What?"
May you like
"Make it hurt."
Vanessa hung up the phone, feeling a twisted sense of victory. She packed her single duffel bag and headed for the airport. She was leaving the country, but she had ensured that the nightmare she left behind would burn Clara to ashes.
