Chapter 211
Felix
I pulled her around to face me, holding her gaze even as she tried desperately to look anywhere else. "You've been cast out of the Holland family. You've lost your fortune, your status, your entire support system. I get all that."
I paused, letting the brutal reality of her situation hang in the air between us. "What I'm struggling to understand is why the Vanessa Holland I used to know—the woman who was too proud to back down, too fierce to ever show weakness—why she's apparently content to just... lie down and rot in whatever grave they've thrown her into."
Something shifted behind her eyes. The defeated slump of her shoulders straightened by a fraction. The dullness in her gaze suddenly ignited with something raw and primal and furious.
"The fuck are you getting at?" she hissed.
There it was. That fire.
I pulled her closer, close enough to see the tears of rage gathering at the corners of her eyes, close enough that my next words would hit like a blade between the ribs.
"What I'm getting at," I said quietly, dangerously, "is that if you don't crawl out of that hole they've buried you in, they're going to start piling dirt on top. They're going to bury you so deep that in six months, no one in this city will even remember you existed."
She was trembling now, but it wasn't fear making her shake. It was fury, barely leashed.
"Spell it out for me," she breathed.
"Christ, do I really need to?" I leaned in even closer, dropping my voice to barely above a whisper. "Lance orchestrated your disinheritance. Serena made sure you were publicly humiliated at every turn. Even Wesley—pathetic, spineless, desperate-for-approval Wesley—he threw you aside like garbage because of her. Don't you see the pattern? You're not just losing ground, Vanessa. You're being systematically dismantled, piece by piece, and you're just... letting it happen."
"Wesley—" Her voice cracked on his name, and I could see her hands starting to curl into fists. "Wait. Are you seriously telling me that Wesley dumped me because of Serena?"
I nodded slowly, watching the realization detonate behind her eyes. "That loyal little puppy who used to trail after you everywhere? Who would have lit himself on fire if you'd asked him nicely? He turned on you. Sank his teeth right into the hand that fed him." I paused for effect. "And why do you think that happened? Because Serena got inside his head. Twisted him up. Made him see you as the enemy. She's talented at that, you know. Manipulation. Making people believe whatever version of reality serves her best."
"That fucking bitch," Vanessa spat, her carefully maintained composure finally shattering. "I knew it. I knew she was pulling strings behind the scenes."
"Oh, sweetheart, you don't even know the half of it." I let my voice drop even lower, forcing her to lean in to hear me. "You think losing Wesley is the endgame? You think being cut off from family money is as bad as it gets?" I shook my head slowly. "Vanessa. Listen to me very carefully. Serena's hatred for you—it's not just personal grudge bullshit. It's not going to end with you being broke and powerless. She won't be satisfied until you're face-down in a gutter somewhere, unmourned and utterly forgotten."
Her entire body had gone rigid, every muscle coiled tight with rage. "What the hell are you saying?"
"I'm saying that even if you end up on the streets—even if you're sleeping under bridges and begging for change—she'll still come after you. She'll make damn sure you die alone, with no one left who gives a shit, with nothing and no one to your name." I let that image sink its hooks into her brain. "Because that's her actual goal here. Not just to defeat you. To completely and utterly erase you from existence."
Vanessa went very still. The kind of still that comes right before an explosion.
Her breathing changed first—rapid and shallow, like she'd just surfaced from deep water. Then her hands, which had been trembling with humiliation moments ago, slowly curled into fists. The shame in her eyes burned away, replaced by something colder. Sharper.
"That bitch." The words came out quiet. Too quiet.
I shrugged, deliberately casual. "Face it, Vanessa. You can't beat her. Cut your losses. Leave New York. Maybe try Miami. I hear the weather's nice."
Her head snapped up. "What did you just say?"
"I said run." I smiled, letting the condescension drip from every syllable. "Tuck your tail between your legs and get the hell out while you still can. It's what smart people do when they're outmatched."
Something detonated behind her eyes.
"That bitch." Louder now, and I could hear the shift—from victim to something far more dangerous. Her nails dug into my arm, hard enough to hurt through the jacket. "I told myself—" She stopped, swallowed hard, started again. "I swore—even if I burn, she burns with me."
She looked up at me then, and whatever I saw in her eyes made my pulse kick up a notch. Not fear. Not desperation anymore.
Pure, calculated fury.
"Felix." My name came out like a prayer and a threat all at once. "One more time. Help me one more time."