In a damp, dimly lit basement, the air was heavy with the scent of mildew and fear.
Slap! Slap!
The sounds echoed alongside a girl's desperate wailing. "Please... please forgive me! I'm sorry!"
The girl, her face bruised and swollen, collapsed to her knees, begging the man who sat leisurely before her. Javier Harris rested his cheek on one hand, his index finger rhythmically tapping the bridge of his nose. His expression was a mask of cold indifference.
"Do you know what you did wrong?" he asked quietly.
The girl nodded frantically, tears streaming down her face. "I was useless! I couldn't complete the mission! Please, have mercy!"
She was just a girl who sold her body to survive; she never imagined she would offend someone as powerful and ruthless as Javier Harris. She had been paid a fortune to spend the night with a man in Room 209, but when she arrived, the room numbers were a mess, and the door she tried to open was locked from the inside. She had failed to intercept Quentin.
Javier closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them, his gaze devoid of emotion. He stood up and adjusted his cuffs. "Take her away."
The girl screamed as men stepped out of the shadows to drag her into the darkness. Javier's personal secretary stepped forward. "President Harris, what are our next steps?"
Javier brushed an invisible speck of dust from his sleeve and smiled thinly. "Clean up the mess. Don't leave a single clue. I have to go now—I have a 'little aunt' to comfort."
The Solis Estate
After the elder Harrises departed, Kevin and Milena Solis finally had a private moment with their daughter.
"Mandy," Kevin asked, his voice heavy with concern. "Do you really want to marry Quentin?"
"If you're doing this because you feel forced, stop," Milena added fiercely. "Our family is strong enough to refuse them. You don't have to sacrifice yourself."
Amanda looked at her parents, touched by their protection. But she knew the truth. "Mom, Dad... someone tried to destroy Quentin's spotless reputation. Do you think a man like him will allow the world to see him as a predator? If I don't marry him, the Harris family will ensure the 'problem' disappears. If I were an ordinary girl, I'd be gone by now."
Her parents exchanged a grim look. They understood the cold logic of the elite world all too well.
"But what about Javier?" Milena asked. She had never liked the boy, but she knew how much Amanda had once doted on him. "Technically, you've both... been unfaithful now. Is it over?"
Amanda shrugged with a cold, hollow nonchalance. "If everyone is cheating, let's just call it even."
Before they could discuss it further, a servant entered. "Sir, Madam... Mr. Javier Harris is here to see the Young Lady."
Kevin looked at Amanda. "Tell him clearly. End it today."
Amanda found Javier waiting in the garden, framed by the poetic landscape he so loved to use as a backdrop for his lies.
"Mandy, I'm here."
The moment he saw her, he rushed forward and grabbed her hands, his face a picture of frantic hesitation. "You and... my youngest uncle... is it true?"
Amanda looked down at his large hands, then gently but firmly withdrew her own. "I am going to marry him, Javier."
Javier's expression shifted to one of wounded shock. He grabbed her shoulders. "But you said you loved me! How could you do this to me?"
Looking into his eyes, Amanda felt a surge of disgust. If she hadn't lived through his future cruelty, she might have believed the heartbreak in his voice. She pushed his hands away. "And what did you do to me, Javier?"
He flinched, his brow furrowing in a display of "sincere" sadness. He stepped closer, his voice dropping to a whisper near her ear. "I know the news about Elena was a shock, but we were set up, Mandy. Someone is trying to ruin all of us. If I didn't frame the story that way, your career—and hers—would be over."
He leaned in even closer, his nose almost brushing her earlobe, making her skin crawl. "Mandy, listen to me. Uncle Quentin is dangerous. He wants to harm you. He wants to take everything the Solis family owns."
He pulled back to look her in the eye. "Can you believe me? Do you still love me?"
Love?
Amanda looked at his chest, imagining the cold, black heart beating beneath his ribs. In her last life, she had given him everything. In return, he had murdered her family for power and spite.
"Mandy?" he prompted, sensing her silence.
Suddenly, Amanda's expression softened. She curled her lips into a small, vulnerable smile and reached up, wrapping her arms around his neck. "So... you still love me?" she whispered, her eyes wide and hopeful.
Javier felt a surge of triumph. She was still the same fool. He stroked her face tenderly. "I love you more than anything. But..."
"But what?" Amanda asked, her voice trembling as if she were on the verge of tears.
"But you're about to marry my uncle," he sighed, looking helpless. "He's going to use you to take everything I've worked for."
Amanda gripped his hand urgently. "What can I do? How can I help you?"
Javier's eyes flashed with a sinister light. He squeezed her hand back. "You're willing to help me?"
"Yes."
Javier let out a breath and hugged her tight. "Good girl. You don't need to do much. Just marry him. Stay by his side, watch his every move, and report everything back to me. Do you understand?"
Amanda blinked, nodding slowly against his shoulder. Javier kissed her cheek, a predatory satisfied look on his face. He didn't see the cold, calculating look in her eyes.
Let him believe I'm his spy, Amanda thought. Let him wait for the 'useful information' I'm going to feed him. I'll make sure it's exactly what he needs to destroy himself.
As Javier walked away, Amanda wiped her cheek where he had kissed her, her expression one of pure loathing. She had her role, and she would play it perfectly. The knife she was becoming wouldn't be for Quentin—it would be for the man who thought he was holding the handle.