Chapter 63 The Accident
The last few weeks had been pure bliss. Alyssa was radiant, blooming under my constant adoration.
Every fear, every doubt, every stray thought of Ken’s accusations had been meticulously smoothed away by an endless stream of affection, lavish gifts, and shared laughter.
She was mine. Completely.
One evening, I brushed a stray hair from her forehead, my touch light, gentle. Her eyes closed, kissing my hand.
"You look troubled, Alyssa. After everything I have done to ensure your peace?"
"It’s just…” She hesitated on how to share but trust me, she continued.
“Sometimes it feels like the rest of the world is fading, Vince.” She leaned into my palm, a small, shaky exhale escaping her.
“You are all I think about during work. My friends don't call anymore. Even Ken’s voice in my head is getting quiet. It’s like I’m losing my sight."
She looked up at me, a fragile clarity she was incapable of resisting. She saw it, but had sunken too much to save herself.
"Don't do this to me, Vince."
I tilted my head, brushing my nose on the side of her face, caressing her gently, "Do what?"
"Blind me in your world so that I won't be able to see the world anymore."
I didn't flinch. Instead, I pulled her closer, tucking her head under my chin so she could hear the steady beat of my heart and submerge in it only.
"So?" I murmured, inhaling her scent as my fingers traced along her curves and exposed skin with a perfect grace.
"This world has done nothing but cause you pain after all.” I smirked faintly, holding her chin to force to stare into my eyes and forget everything else which worked perfectly.
“It judged you, it doubted you, and people tried to tear us apart with lies."
My thumb traced a line on her jaw. Her gaze narrowed, breaths hastening with a sudden shiver of realization.
"At least in my blindness, there is no pain, or doubts, or insincerity. Out there, the light is harsh and deceptive. Here, with me, everything is clear."
To my seductive whisper, I pressed her down on the bed, getting on top of her. Her eyes were locked on me keenly, gripping the sheets with a helplessness she failed to eradicate.
I had become her oxygen, and one does not rebel against the air they breathe.
"Promise me, Vince," She choked out, nail digging onto my shoulder, accepting my proximity as her safe-shelter.
"Promise you will never abandon me."
I leaned down, pressing a lingering kiss to her temple, the seal on her soul before pinning her wrists beside her face.
"I swear on my life."
And I meant it. Because without her to worship me, who would I be? And without me to guide her, she was nothing at all.
And at this point, she was all I needed to exist.
Later, after engraving my name into Alyssa’s soul, I decided to go and meet Ken who was fuming with wrath. We were on the rooftop of his building.
"I’m done, Vince. I did everything you said now let me live my life with my Sadie." he started before I could even speak.
"Keep the rest of the money. Keep the house in the Hamptons. I can’t do it anymore. I’m out."
I adjusted my cufflinks, a cold smirk spreading on my lips because I couldn’t care less about it.
"The contract doesn't have an 'exit' clause, Ken. You stay until Arden arrives. You stay until I say the curtain falls."
"The curtain has already fallen!" Ken shouted, stepping toward me.
"She’s a shell! You’ve won! Just let me take what I have and go. I want to go back to Sadie. I want a life that isn't built on a foundation of rot."
At the mention of her name, I felt a slow, dark grin spread across my face, raising my brow challengingly.
"Sadie," I mused, staring dead into his eyes, "She still thinks you are forced into the relationship with Alyssa and chose her, no?"
I leaned dangerously closer, adjusting his tie, “What if she comes to know you ‘chose’ this and wanted money more than your lover?”
Ken froze. "Don’t you dare bring her into this."
"I don't have to bring her in, Ken. She’s already in," I whispered, closing the distance between us.
"If you walk away now, I’ll make sure Sadie doesn't just leave you. I’ll make sure she’s implicated. An accomplice to fraud. I’ll ruin her life just to watch you weep, Ken."
To my serious threat, the side of the ‘Cold Billionaire’ who used people’s lives to his advantage revealed that ran his blood cold.
"You... you monster!"
Ken lost it. The professional act, the fear, the greed- it all evaporated into a blind rage.
Without a warning, he attacked me, his fist catching me square in the jaw.
For a moment, the world tilted. I tasted blood in my mouth that only enhanced the thrill and made me let out a dark chuckle.
I grabbed him by the lapels, my own temper- the one I usually kept locked in a box- flaring. We collided against the decorative iron railing. The metal groaned, a high-pitched scream of protesting steel.
"You think you can hit me?" I growled, shoving him back, holding him by his throat as he struggled to leave.
"I made you. You’re nothing but a tool I bought, Ken."
"I am the man who’s going to end you!" Ken screamed, throwing another desperate punch but this time I dodged and twisted his elbow, earning a scream before throwing him back.
I shoved him with everything I had, intending to pin him against the rail to choke the defiance out of him.
But I forgot how high the wind was. I forgot how low the decorative railing sat. Amid the chaos and desperate to conceal the mess I created, the adrenaline worked as a poison in my veins.
Ken’s heels caught the edge. For a split second, time slowed to a crawl. His eyes went wide, reflecting the neon glow of the city below. His hands flailed, catching the air, catching nothing.
I reached out, my fingers grazing the fabric of his jacket.
"Ken!"
But gravity was faster.
He went over the side without a sound.
I stood there, my hand still outstretched, my chest heaving, eyes widened in appall when Ken slid right before my eyes.
The silence that followed was deafening. I leaned over the edge, my stomach dropping, my body froze with inexplicable horror when a loud ‘THUD’ sound reached me.
I gasped, recoiling from pure terror.
Far below, on the concrete of the alleyway, a dark shape lay motionless.
"....Fuck," I hissed, raking my hands through my hair.
My mind began to race, calculating the variables. The blackmailer was dead, but the evidence lived in the records. Arden was coming.
And Alyssa... Alyssa was waiting for her hero to come back to bed.
I wiped the blood from my lip. I had to move fast. This wasn't a tragedy- it was a complication.
And I had a month to turn a murder into a suicide.