Chapter 4 The Gala of Ghosts

The red carpet of the Starlight Lounge was a sea of flashing lights and expensive perfume. This wasn't just a party; it was a coronation. Melanie Thorne had invited every major journalist in the city to witness her "official" debut as the future Mrs. Lucca Valentine.

Inside the ballroom, crystal chandeliers dripped like frozen rain from the vaulted ceilings. Melanie stood at the center of a circle of socialites, wearing a shimmering white gown that screamed "innocent bride-to-be." She clutched a glass of champagne, her eyes sparking with the triumph of a scavenger who had finally stolen the lion's kill.

"Poor Avery," Melanie sighed, her voice loud enough for the nearby reporters to catch. "She was always so... fragile. Silence is a heavy burden, you know? Lucca tried to help her, but some souls are just meant to stay in the shadows."

A ripple of sympathetic murmurs went through the crowd. Melanie's smile widened. She was winning. She had rewritten history in a single evening.

Then, the heavy brass doors at the back of the hall didn't just open-they were flung wide by two men in suits who looked more like special forces than security.

The music didn't stop, but the air in the room suddenly felt thin.

Avery Woods didn't walk into the room; she invaded it.

The crowd parted like the Red Sea. Avery was no longer the girl in the faded cotton dress who smelled of floor wax and lemon oil. She wore a gown of midnight-blue silk that clung to her curves like liquid starlight, trailing behind her in a train that seemed to swallow the light of the room.

But it was her neck that drew every eye. The Blue Heart of the Ocean pulsed against her collarbone, its deep, impossible azure glow making every other piece of jewelry in the room look like costume glass.

The silence that followed was absolute.

Melanie's glass slipped from her hand, shattering on the marble floor. The sound of the breaking crystal was the only thing that broke the spell.

"A-Avery?" Melanie stammered, her face turning a sickly shade of gray. "What are you doing here? And that... that necklace... where did you steal that?"

Avery stopped three feet from Melanie. She didn't look at the cameras. She didn't look at the whispering elites. She looked only at the woman who had spent years pretending to be her friend while whispering poison into Lucca's ear.

"Steal?" Avery's voice rang out, clear and melodic, vibrating with a cold power that made people in the back of the room shiver. "Melanie, you of all people should know that the Woods family doesn't steal. We own."

A gasp erupted. The Woods family? The rumors began to fly instantly. Is she related to the late Patriarch? Is she the hidden daughter?

"You can talk..." Melanie whispered, backing away. "You've been lying to everyone! Lucca! Lucca, look at her!"

Lucca Valentine had just entered the ballroom, having raced from the villa. He stood at the edge of the circle, breathless and disheveled. Seeing Avery standing there, radiant and untouchable, he felt a surge of something he hadn't felt in years: Terror.

"Avery, enough," Lucca said, trying to regain his dignity. He stepped toward her, reaching out to grab her arm. "This is a private event. You're making a scene. Give me the necklace, and I'll make sure the police are lenient."

Avery didn't even flinch. Before Lucca's hand could touch her, Marcus Thorne stepped between them, his presence like a stone wall.

"Mr. Valentine," Marcus said with a thin, dangerous smile. "You are currently trespassing on a private event hosted by the Woods Group. This lounge was rented out by us an hour ago. Technically, you and Miss Thorne are the ones who need to leave."

"What?" Lucca roared. "I have a contract with this venue!"

"A contract that was just bought out for triple the price," Avery said, stepping around Marcus. She leaned in toward Lucca, her eyes like icy depths. "I told you, Lucca. I'm trimming the fat. And that includes your social life."

She turned her gaze to Melanie, who was trembling so hard her silk dress was fluttering.

"I heard you were celebrating a 'New Beginning,' Melanie," Avery said, her voice dropping to a predatory whisper. "So I brought you a gift. Marcus?"

Marcus stepped forward and handed Melanie a legal-sized envelope.

"What is this?" Melanie hissed, tearing it open. Her eyes darted over the lines, and she suddenly gasped, clutching her stomach. "This... this is a lawsuit! For defamation and theft of intellectual property?"

"Specifically," Avery added, turning to the crowd of reporters, "the design for the 'Valentine Heart' jewelry line that Melanie claimed to have created. The original sketches were drawn by me, three years ago, and kept in a private vault. A vault that Melanie broke into while I was 'fragile' and 'silent' in the hospital after my father's funeral."

The camera shutters began to fire like a volley of muskets. Melanie's "innocent" image was disintegrating in real-time.

While the chaos erupted around the Valentine couple, Avery felt a familiar, electric chill on the back of her neck.

She turned her head slightly. Standing by the bar, swirling a glass of amber scotch, was Julian Vane. He was watching her with the intensity of a scientist watching a volatile chemical reaction. He looked exactly as he did in the message-piercing grey eyes, a jawline that could cut glass, and a presence that made even Avery's heartbeat stutter.

He raised his glass to her. A silent toast.

Avery felt a pang of unease. Julian Vane was the man who had almost bankrupted her father ten years ago. He was a shark who didn't care about "face-slapping" or social drama-he only cared about power.

As the security guards began to escort a screaming Melanie and a stunned Lucca out of the hall, Julian put down his glass and began to walk toward Avery.

The crowd, sensing a new titan in the room, moved out of his way instinctively.

He stopped inches from her, ignoring Marcus's defensive posture. He leaned down, his scent of sandalwood and expensive tobacco filling Avery's senses.

"That was a beautiful performance, Avery," Julian whispered, his voice a deep, vibrating hum. "But you forgot one thing."

Avery tilted her chin up, refusing to be intimidated. "And what's that, Mr. Vane?"

"When you burn down a man's house," Julian said, his eyes dropping to the Blue Heart of the Ocean on her neck, "you have to make sure he's not still inside. Or he might just decide to take you down with the flames."

He reached out, his thumb grazing the sapphire on her throat. The touch was brief, but it felt like a brand.

"Your father owed me a debt, Avery," Julian continued, his voice so low only she could hear. "A debt that passed to his heir. And tonight, I've decided how I want you to pay it."

Before Avery could respond, the lights in the ballroom flickered and died.

A high-pitched scream pierced the darkness. A heavy thud followed-the sound of something, or someone, hitting the floor.

When the emergency lights kicked on five seconds later, the room was in a panic. Avery looked around, her hand flying to her throat.

The Blue Heart of the Ocean was gone.

And so was Julian Vane.

But that wasn't the worst part.

At Avery's feet lay a small, white envelope, identical to the ones she had used to serve Melanie. She picked it up with trembling fingers and opened it.

Inside was a single polaroid photo. It was a picture of her father, taken in what looked like a hospital room-a photo taken only yesterday.

On the back, in elegant, terrifying script, were the words:

"He didn't die in the crash, Avery. But he will if you don't follow my lead. See you at the stroke of midnight."

Avery's world spun. Her father was alive? And Julian Vane was the one holding the leash?