ALEX POVಡ⁠ ͜⁠ ⁠ʖ⁠ ⁠ಡ

“IT’LL BE OVER IN A FEW MONTHS.” I LEANED BACK IN MY CHAIR AND ROLLEDmy whiskey glass in my hands, watching dust mites dance in the air beforeme.“Hmmm.” My uncle rubbed his jaw, his eyes sharp as he examined methrough the screen. I’d turned the guest room into my home office, as Ipreferred to work from home on the days I didn’t have to be in the office.Fewer tiresome interactions that way. “You don’t seem excited for someonewho’s been working toward this since you were ten.”“Excitement is overrated. All I care about is that it’ll be done.”Despite my words, my chest pinched, because my uncle was right. Ishould feel excited. Vengeance was so close I could taste it, but instead ofsweet relief, it coated my tongue with bitterness and turned my stomach sour.What came after vengeance?Every other purpose I could have paled in comparison to the force thathad driven me all these years. It’d held me together while I shattered on theinside. It’d revived me as I lay bleeding, comatose in a pool of guilt andhorror. It’d created the chessboard on which I’d painstakingly lined up all thepieces one by one, year over year until the moment came for me to topple theking.I didn’t fear much, but I feared what would happen after I lost mypurpose.“Speaking of done…” I set my glass on the table. “I assume you signedthe papers for the Gruppmann deal today.”Ivan smiled. “Congratulations. You’re one step closer to worlddomination.Me. Because Archer Group had always been mine.I’d funded its inception with my money, and the company had flourishedunder my guidance over the years. My father had started his own successfulconstruction company after immigrating to the U.S., and it’d been his dreamto see me take it over one day. The company had collapsed in the wake of hisdeath—I’d been too young to prevent its demise—but I’d built upon hislegacy and created something new. Something bigger.All my parents had wanted was for me to grow up happy and successful.While the “happy” part may be a reach, I could damn well work on the“successful” part.After my uncle and I wrapped up our weekly check-in, I opened myburner laptop and pulled up the encrypted folder where I kept all thedocuments detailing my enemy’s finances, business dealings—both legal andillegal—and upcoming contracts. I’d chipped away at his empire over theyears, slow enough that he thought he was just going through a long string ofshitty luck. Now I needed just one more piece of evidence before I felled himfor good.I stared at the screen, the numbers blurring before my eyes as Ienvisioned my endgame. The prospect didn’t excite me as much as it used to.At least I’d taken satisfaction in the fall of Liam Brooks. A few wellplaced calls, and he’d been fired and blacklisted from every company thatmattered in the northeastern United States. A few whispers in the right ears,and he’d landed on D.C. society’s blacklist. Honestly, I’d just sped up hisinevitable fall from grace—according to the information my people dug up,Liam had picked up a nasty drug habit and several DUIs since graduating. Itwas only a matter of time before he fucked up at his job or pissed off thewrong people on his own.He was a man who’d had everything handed to him on a silver platter,and he threw it away for a temporary high. Excuse me while I cry anonexistent river.Then again, he’d cheated on Ava, so he clearly lacked the good-judgmentgene.My phone pinged with a social media notification. I despised socialmedia, but it was the world’s biggest goldmine of information. It wasamazing how much personal information people shared online with little tono regard for who might be watching.I tapped on the notification so it would go away and accidentally clickedinto the app, where a shaky video of two people arguing auto-played. I wasabout to exit when I paused. Looked closer.****!The video was still playing when I left and sped toward Madeline’shouse.

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