Chapter 43 Revenge kicking
Chapter 043
RAVENNA
Once we were settled in our room, Samantha turned to me with an excited gleam in her eyes. "So, have you thought about how to get revenge on Darius?"
I had been thinking about little else, honestly. Every time I looked at my cast, every time I felt the ache in my ankle, I was reminded of what he had done. Of how he had tried to kill me and then mocked me for surviving.
"He needs to pay for humiliating me on the ice," I confirmed, settling onto my bed carefully. "He needs to understand that he cannot just do whatever he wants without consequences."
"He is a pompous, spoilt child," Samantha agreed vehemently. "And he needs to be taught a proper lesson. One he will not forget."
I thought for a moment, turning over different ideas in my mind. Then something occurred to me. "His family hosts a business gala every year, right? Some big fancy event where all the important people come?"
"The Pike Annual Gala," Samantha nodded. "It is massive. Everyone who is anyone attends. Why?"
A slow smile spread across my face. "Because that would be the perfect stage for revenge. It'd be public, important to them and with witnesses who matter."
Samantha's eyes widened with understanding. "Oh, that is brilliant. What are you thinking?"
"What if we publicly exposed Richard Pike's dealings during the gala? All those questionable business practices and secrets they have been hiding."
"That would destroy them," Samantha breathed. "Not just Darius. The entire Pike family."
"Exactly."
She was quiet for a moment, processing. Then she grinned. "I love it. But how do we get that kind of information?"
"We research, dig and find every piece of dirt we can on Richard Pike and his company." I reached for my laptop. "We start with the news, learn about their rivals and find the loopholes we can exploit."
"When is the gala?"
"In two weeks, according to the academy calendar."
"Then we have two weeks to prepare." Samantha pulled out her own laptop. "Let us get started."
The following days were intense. Our room became a complete mess. Papers scattered everywhere. Newspapers stacked on every available surface. A CD player with recordings of business dealings that I had managed to obtain through some creative searching.
We dug through everything we could find. Financial reports, news articles, court documents, interviews and anything that mentioned PikeCorp or Richard Pike.
And we found plenty: questionable land deals, suspicious acquisitions, contracts that seemed designed to circumvent regulations and relationships with companies that had their own shady histories.
None of it was explicitly illegal. Richard Pike was too smart for that. But it was all ethically questionable. All the kind of thing that would make investors nervous and shareholders angry.
"Look at this," Samantha pointed at her screen. "PikeCorp bought out three competing companies in the same quarter. But the prices they paid were all significantly below market value."
"How did they manage that?"
"That is the question, is it not? There is no explanation in any of the public documents. Which means something happened behind closed doors."
I added it to our growing list of suspicious activities.
Late one evening, as we were going through another stack of papers, I leaned back and smiled. "I am going to wipe the smug look off Darius's face at that gala."
Samantha grinned back at me. "I cannot wait to see the expressions on both Junior Pike and Senior Pike. It is going to be glorious."
"Assuming we can actually get into the gala," I pointed out. "It is not exactly open to the public."
"We will find a way," Samantha assured me. "We have two weeks to figure it out."
A few days before the gala, the academy announced a school-wide party.
A celebration before everyone left for the weekend to attend various family events.
The party was held in one of the large common areas. Music blasted from speakers. Drinks flowed freely. Some of the wolves were half-shifting for fun, showing off their enhanced strength or speed, creating sparks of mischief everywhere.
Dorian found me early in the evening. "Hey, Raven. Want to hang out? I promise to keep you entertained."
Before I could answer, Samantha pulled me aside. "Do not trust him. He is Darius's best friend. Whatever you do with him will get back to Darius."
"I know what I am doing, Sam."
"Do you? Because it looks like you are walking straight into a trap."
"Maybe. Or maybe I am setting one." I squeezed her hand. "Trust me, okay?"
She did not look happy, but she nodded.
I turned back to Dorian. "Sure. Let us hang out."
His face lit up. "Brilliant. Come on, I know where they are serving good drinks."
I stuck close to Dorian for the rest of the evening laughing at his jokes, even when they were not that funny, dancing with him when the music got louder and even feeding him snacks from the table when he complained he was hungry.
Samantha stayed with us, but she spent most of the time glaring at Dorian. He seemed to find her hostility amusing, which only made her glare harder.
"Come on, Samantha," Dorian teased at one point. "Try this. It is really good."
He held out a piece of cake, trying to feed it to her.
She looked at him like he had just offered her poison. "I am not eating anything from your hand."
"Why not? It is just cake."
"Because I do not trust you."
"You wound me," Dorian clutched his chest dramatically. "I am completely trustworthy."
I burst out laughing at that. Even Samantha's lips twitched, though she tried to hide it.
"You are ridiculous," she muttered.
"And you are adorable when you are annoyed," Dorian shot back with a grin.
"I am not adorable."
"Agree to disagree."
All the while, I was aware of Darius watching us. He was sitting alone at a table across the room, his attention fixed on our group….specifically on Dorian. His expression was dark, his jaw tight with tension.
He was jealous. And I was enjoying every second of it.
After about an hour of this, Darius finally stood up and walked over to us. His movements were stiff, controlled, like he was holding himself back from doing something violent.
"Dorian," he barked. "Come sit with me."
Dorian looked up at him, his expression innocent. "I am busy."
"I do not care. Come, now."
"Actually, I am having a good time here." Dorian draped an arm casually over my shoulders. "Raven is excellent company."
Darius's eyes flashed with something dangerous. "Choose her and her friend, or me."
Dorian sighed. "I am sorry, mate. But I am enjoying my time here. If you want to join us, you are welcome to. But I am not leaving."
"That is your choice?" Darius's voice was deadly quiet.
"That is my choice."
For a moment, I thought Darius might actually attack Dorian. His hands were clenched into fists, his entire body tense with barely contained rage.
Then he glared at all of us—at Dorian, at me, at Samantha—with pure fury burning in his mismatched eyes.
And stormed out of the party.