Chapter 10 GHOST'S WITH PERFUME AND POISON

The silence in the room was suffocating.

Adrian stared at the paused video on Leah's phone-at the frame where Victoria leaned close to Caleb, whispering into his ear like a familiar ghost. It didn't matter how pixelated the footage was. Adrian would recognize that delicate curve of her chin anywhere. Victoria Devereux. His aunt. His former mentor. His family's greatest shame.

And now, their worst enemy.

Leah's voice cracked the tension. "What was in the box?"

"I don't know," Adrian muttered. "But if she gave it to him, it's a message. Or a trap."

"Do you think she poisoned-?"

"No," Adrian cut her off, "Victoria doesn't kill children. She manipulates them."

-

At the safehouse, thirty minutes later...

Caleb sat quietly on the edge of the couch, fidgeting with the red box in his lap. He hadn't opened it. Not yet. His fingers traced the delicate gold clasp while his mind replayed the strange woman's voice.

"Tell your daddy this is my hello."

Adrian entered the room and knelt before him. "Hey, buddy."

Caleb blinked up at him, uncertain. "Is Mommy mad?"

"No, no, not at all. She's just worried. About you. About all of us."

He gently took the box from Caleb's hands, opening it slowly.

Inside was a silver necklace with a pendant shaped like a phoenix-Victoria's old emblem.

And beneath it... a folded note, inked in her elegant, curling script.

> The ashes of the Devereux empire belong to me.

You stole my birthright. Now I'll take your future.

– V

Adrian's hands trembled.

Leah appeared at the doorway, her voice a mix of fury and fear. "She's declaring war."

Adrian stood, tall and unreadable. "No. She already started it."

-

Meanwhile, across the city...

Victoria Devereux stood at the edge of the penthouse balcony, the wind tugging at her crimson silk robe. She sipped from a delicate porcelain teacup, eyes locked on the glittering skyline of Manhattan.

Behind her, a man in a tailored suit shifted nervously.

"Ma'am, they've gone dark. No signal from their burner phones."

Victoria smiled without turning around. "Of course they have. He's a Devereux, after all. Calculated. Predictable."

"But what if he doesn't respond the way we expect?"

"Oh, he will," she purred. "Adrian always played by the rules. It's why I lost everything. But this time..." She turned, her eyes gleaming. "This time I hold the pieces. The heir. The empire. The secrets. I'm not after vengeance, Mr. Haynes. I'm after restoration."

Her smile widened.

"Piece by bloody piece."

-

Back at the safehouse...

Leah held Caleb as he drifted off to sleep, unaware of the chaos his bloodline now carried. She looked up as Adrian re-entered the room, phone pressed to his ear.

"Marcus is tracking her financial movement," he said. "She's been funneling money into shell corporations across Geneva, Prague, and Morocco."

"Why all the buildup?" Leah asked. "Why not just come for you?"

Adrian hesitated. "Because she doesn't want just me."

Leah's breath caught.

"She wants you, too."

"She wants you, too."

Leah's heart skipped a beat. "Me? Why? I'm nobody to her."

"No," Adrian replied quietly, "you're everything to me. That's enough to make you a target. And... there's something else."

Leah narrowed her eyes. "Tell me."

Adrian hesitated. "My father... wasn't just disinherited. He left Victoria a letter before he died. A confession of sorts. He warned her about someone-a woman-who'd rise and take what she believed was hers."

Leah blinked. "Are you saying... he meant me?"

"Maybe not you by name. But someone connected to me. Someone I'd protect with my life. You. Caleb. Us."

Silence fell between them, thick and taut with unspoken truths.

Then Adrian whispered, "I think Victoria believes you are the one destined to destroy her."

-

Elsewhere, in a dim-lit room bathed in scarlet hues...

Victoria Devereux reclined in her velvet chair, a cigarillo between her fingers, staring at a wall of photographs. Leah. Adrian. Caleb. Even Marcus. Each photo meticulously annotated with red ink and arrows connecting them like a spider's web.

She tapped Caleb's image with her fingernail.

"Sweet boy," she murmured. "So much potential... and such a dangerous lineage."

A low knock interrupted her.

"Come."

Mr. Haynes entered, holding a slim silver case. "We found the necklace. It used to belong to your sister."

Victoria's hand froze mid-air.

"My sister?" she echoed, voice sharp.

"Yes," he replied. "The same pendant she wore the night she disappeared. We believe Adrian kept it hidden. It may hold encrypted files. We're decrypting them now."

Victoria stood slowly, a storm swirling in her expression.

"My sister betrayed me. My brother abandoned me. And now his son dares to love a woman bold enough to stand against me."

She stepped closer to the wall of photos.

"I will erase them. All of them. Until the name Devereux means only one thing."

She smiled darkly.

"Me."

-

Back at the safehouse...

Leah paced the room as Adrian sat motionless, staring at the phoenix pendant.

"She's going to use your family's secrets to destroy everything you've built," Leah said.

"I know."

"What are you going to do?"

He lifted his eyes to her. Cold. Focused. Sharp as glass.

"I'm going to stop hiding."

Adrian stood.

"I'm going to take back the Devereux name-and use it to end her."

Leah stepped closer. "You won't do it alone."

They shared a silent promise in that moment-an unbreakable bond forged by revenge, protection, and love.

Caleb stirred in his sleep, unaware of the war rising around him.

And far in the night, a storm rumbled.

The past was no longer in the past.

It had come home.

---