Men filed in carrying items. Within minutes, the conference room transformed into a makeshift shrine.
My father’s photo hung in the center. Beside it, a blank frame. Two urns sat below.
Lily Ann shrieked as she was dragged to the altar and forced to her knees.

I walked over, grabbed her hair again, forcing her head up.
“Lily Ann. Remind me. What was it you bragged about?”
“You said… just a word from you, and Vincent dug up my father’s grave? My baby’s grave?”
“You know, dragging the dead into the living’s mess… it’s bad luck. They worry.”
“So… to put their minds at ease… I need your blood. To reconsecrate this shrine. Let them know their girl is doing just fine.”
I pressed the knife tip against Lily’s throat. She trembled violently.

Lily Ann, pinned to the floor, her pretty face contorted in terror.
She sobbed, begging, snot and tears mixing. “Miss! I’m sorry! I apologize! Please! Don’t kill me!”
“Vincent! Help me! I don’t want to die!”
Vincent, already pale from blood loss, went sheet-white. He struggled forward.

“Serena! Let Lily go! She’s carrying my child! Whatever you want, take it out on me!”
“She’s pregnant! Just like you were! Are you really going to make another woman lose her baby?!”
Xavier Ho stepped up, knocked Vincent down with two efficient blows.
He planted a boot on Vincent’s back, pistol aimed at his skull.
“Watch your tone with Miss, Shaw.”
“That whore’s bastard spawn isn’t fit to lick Miss’s boots.”
I crouched in front of Vincent, twirling the knife. “Impressive, Vincent. Knocked her up again already?”
“But… problem. Today’s the day Dad and my baby get reburied.”
“You know the rules, Vincent. Disturbed graves? Require blood sacrifice. The blood of the one who disturbed them.”
Vincent closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were cold, resigned.
“I dug the graves. My blood. But you let Lily go. Promise me. Never touch her again.”
“Serena… you know this isn’t all I have.”
I smirked, nodding slowly. “Deal. Your blood.”
I grabbed his hand, slammed the knife down, pinning it to the floor.
Vincent screamed.
The blade sawed upwards, following the artery, flesh tearing open.
The shrine reeked of blood. Lily Ann retched, vomiting on the floor.
When I stopped, Vincent was ashen, barely conscious. “Enough? Can I… go?”
I smiled sweetly. “Sure. If you can walk.”
Sirens wailed, growing louder.
Vincent stared at me, like he was seeing me for the first time. “Serena… you called the cops?”
“You’d burn everything down? Just to hurt me?”
I shook my head, still smiling. “Nope. Just you burning. I’m walking away clean.”
“The hotels? The import/export firm? The hedge fund? The factories? All those ‘boring’ assets I swapped for your flashy casinos? Think I did it for love?”
“No, Vincent. I was cleaning house. Getting ready to go legit.”
I tilted my head, pity in my eyes.
“Vincent Shaw… how could you be so naive? Think I didn’t understand the game?”
“Carlo ‘The King’ had only one heir. If I hadn’t insisted on marrying you, propping you up… who do you think would have inherited his empire?”
Vincent looked like he’d been struck by lightning.
Disbelief warred with dawning horror. “Serena… you were playing me? The whole time?”
“You planned to take me down? From the start?”
I raised an eyebrow, a cold laugh escaping. “Vincent Shaw, youstarted it.”
“I just returned the favor.”
I took a thick document from Xavier Ho and dropped it at Vincent’s feet.
“Sign over what’s left of your clean assets.”
“Do that… and Lily Ann and her bastard get to live.”
Vincent stared at the papers, his face muscles twitching uncontrollably.
Finally, he looked up. His eyes were those of a cornered animal. “Serena… can I trust you?”
Lily Ann screamed, “She’s a viper! Vincent, don’t trust her!”
I ignored her, my gaze locked on Vincent, cold and steady. “Do you have another choice?”
Vincent froze. Slowly, trembling, he picked up a pen and signed.
Police officers pushed through the doors, badges flashing. They headed straight for Vincent.
“Vincent Shaw. Port City PD. You’re coming with us.”
Vincent looked at me one last time before they led him away. “Serena… remember your promise.”
I watched him go, a crushing weariness settling over me.
Xavier Ho draped his jacket over my shoulders, his voice unusually gentle. “Miss. It’s late. Time to go home.”
While others had gone legit years ago, Vincent, greedy, clung to the dark side.
I handed the cops years’ worth of meticulously gathered evidence. The case was ironclad. The verdict came fast.
Death penalty. No surprise.
The precinct called. Vincent wanted to see me.
He sat behind the glass, looking hollowed out.
I’d wondered what he’d say.
His first question was about Lily Ann.
I laughed. I couldn’t help it.
Vincent flinched. “What did you do to Lily? Serena, you promised! You promised to take care of them!”
I wiped tears of mirth from my eyes, my gaze mocking.
“Vincent Shaw… you didn’t actually think that baby was yours, did you?”
He stared blankly.
I pulled a medical report from my pocket, slid it under the glass. My look was pure pity.
“Remember that hit three years ago? The bullet that went through your lower abdomen? It damaged things. Permanently.”
“Maybe you could have had kids before. But Lily Ann’s baby? No chance in hell.”
Vincent stared at the report, disbelief warring with horror. “You’re lying?”
“Why would I lie? Now?”
Vincent’s eyes burned red. He stared. Then, suddenly, he laughed. A bitter, broken sound.
“She… she dared? To cheat on me?”
“Serena… I hurt you… for her?”
I looked at him, my own smile bitter.
“Vincent Shaw. You know, I thought… no kids, but growing old together? Maybe that was enough.”
“Turns out, even that was too much to ask. Next life? Let’s skip it.”
I stood and walked out.
The next day, news came. Lily Ann, dead in her apartment. Killer unknown.
A few days later, Vincent faced the sentence.
After he was gone, a package arrived. An overseas bank account number and password.
Xavier Ho lounged on my sofa, curiosity getting the better of him. “So? Was the kid Vincent’s?”
I looked at the slip of paper, arched an eyebrow. “What do you think?”
Xavier chuckled. “Cold, Miss. Stone cold.”
“One more thing… do you regret it? Meeting Vincent Shaw?”
Sunlight streamed through the window.
For a moment, I saw him. Eighteen-year-old Vincent Shaw.
Carrying sixteen-year-old Serena, telling her not to be afraid.
Sixteen-year-old Serena hadn’t been afraid.
Thirty-one-year-old Serena didn’t regret meeting him either.