I’ll Marry His Rival and Burn His Empire to Ash Chapter 04

I’ll Marry His Rival and Burn His Empire to Ash Chapter 04

“Fine. I’ll drink.”

Savannah-Claire’s voice was soft, but it cut through the noisy music like a gunshot.

She snatched up a glass and poured it down her throat, her movements fast and desperate.

One.

Two.

Three.

The friends watching gradually fell silent. Even the mockery on Chloe’s face froze.

“She’s really drinking? For that little money?” someone whispered.

No one answered.

An unnatural flush crept up Savannah-Claire’s cheeks. The hand she used to grab the glasses was trembling, but she didn’t stop. When the twelfth empty shot glass landed heavily on the tray, the entire bar seemed to fall silent for a second.

She had just opened her mouth to speak when a violent cough seized her.

The next second, a spray of blood burst from her lips. Several dark red droplets landed on the hem of my ivory dress.

I frowned and was about to stand when the door to our private section was shoved open.

“Savannah-Claire!”

Jackson rushed in and pulled her swaying body into his arms. His gaze swept over the row of empty glasses, then fell on the shocking smear of blood at the corner of her mouth. His face went livid.

“You made her drink?”

He looked up, his gaze a cold blade aimed straight at me.

“Do you know she has a stomach ulcer? She can’t touch alcohol. Ava, are you insane?”

But Savannah-Claire clung to his arm, refusing to leave. She reached a trembling hand toward Chloe, her breath faint.

“That lady… you promised me… I finished them… the ten thousand dollars…”

Chloe froze. She hadn’t expected that even now, Savannah-Claire would still be thinking about the money.

Savannah-Claire turned her gaze to me, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“I just… I didn’t want to spend his money anymore. I wanted to earn my own, to support our son… This ten thousand dollars is mine, not from the Devereaux family…”

“Stop talking!” Jackson cut her off, unable to hide the fury and heartache in his voice.

He swept her into his arms and, before turning to leave, shot a cold glare at me, then at Chloe.

“Ava. And your friend. You’ve both certainly opened my eyes today.”

He carried her away in long strides.

Just before Jackson’s body blocked her from view, Savannah-Claire leaned against his chest, lifted her eyes toward me, and revealed a smug smile so faint it was almost invisible.

“I’m sorry, Ava,” Chloe said, turning to me at once. “Did I just make things worse? Jackson is definitely going to misunderstand you again.”

I shook my head and picked up a napkin, trying to wipe the blood from my dress. It only spread the stain.

“This isn’t your fault.”

But the look Jackson gave me before he left had chilled me to the bone.

In my vision of the future, that was the look he wore just before he decided to impose some cruel “discipline” on me or the people around me. Calm and resolute, the way one might look at an object in need of repair, not a person.

For the next two days, Jackson didn’t return to the estate.

My lawyer informed me that he had signed the divorce agreement. Once the final legal proceedings were completed tomorrow, we would have no relationship left.

I thought everything was moving in the right direction.

Until the day before the divorce was finalized.

Chloe disappeared.

The staff at her bar called. Chloe hadn’t shown up for two days. Her phone was going straight to voicemail. That had never happened before.

In that instant, all the blood in my body froze.

I immediately remembered Jackson’s cold stare.

I didn’t hesitate. I grabbed my car keys and ran out the door. My destination wasn’t the police station, but the Devereaux family’s hunting lodge outside the city.

The car jolted along the gravel road, my foot pressing the accelerator to the floor.

When I kicked open the lodge door, the fire in the hearth was burning brightly.

Jackson sat on the sofa, holding a bowl of soup and feeding Savannah-Claire, who was nestled against him, one small spoonful at a time.

The tender domesticity of the scene was a sharper blow than any insult.

“Jackson.”

I stepped inside, my voice trembling from my ragged breathing, but I went straight to the point.

“Where is Chloe?”

Jackson didn’t even turn around. He just kept feeding her soup.

“Why did you touch her? You know she’s my best friend!”

In the nightmare, I hadn’t cried when I learned of his betrayal. I hadn’t cried when I found out about his child with Savannah-Claire.

But at that moment, thinking that Chloe might be in danger because of me, I couldn’t hold back my tears. She was the only person in the world, besides my own family, who loved me without reservation.

Nothing could happen to her.

Jackson finally set down the bowl and slowly wiped the corner of his mouth with a silk handkerchief.

He spoke coldly. “She humiliated Savannah-Claire in public and forced a mother to harm her own body for money. Why can’t I teach her a small lesson?”

“Everything she did was for me! If you have a problem, take it up with me!” I bit my lip, my voice trembling. “I’m begging you, Jackson. Let her go.”

I even walked over to Savannah-Claire and, for the first time, bowed my head.

“Savannah-Claire, please. Tell him to let Chloe go.”

She glanced timidly at Jackson and said softly, “Let it go, Jack. I don’t think Miss Chloe meant any harm. Don’t make things hard for Ava.”

Only then did Jackson stand and walk over to me, looking down at me from his superior height.

“Fine. For you.”

He took a cold brass key from his pocket and tossed it casually at my feet. It struck the floor with a sharp clink.

“The abandoned kennel on the west side of the estate.”

There was no warmth in his voice.

“Go find her there.”