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The Grand Mansion
The Grand Mansion stood like a silent, formidable king against the twilight sky. Its windows, hundreds of eyes reflecting the dying orange sun, promised a world of velvet secrets and diamond-hard ambition.
Inside, where Italian marble shone like black ice, Gabriella stepped in. She was the ghost of a challenge, a whisper of old fire wrapped in new elegance.
Her dress was a statement: a breathtaking, floor-length gown the color of cooling ashes, glittering with tiny, embedded crystals that caught the light like scattered stardust. She carried a sleek Chanel sling bag, a dark comma of luxury, and her feet, encased in towering Christian Louboutin heels, clicked a precise, rhythmic beat on the stone floor—each step a calculated move on a hidden chessboard.
Beside her, Frederick, her father, walked with the effortless authority of a man who owned the air they breathed. He was the tycoon behind Gabriella Group, an empire spanning everything from high fashion to private jets. To his daughter, he was warm, a protective shield. To the world of business, he was a glacier: top-tier, untouchable, and lethal.
As they entered, a collective hush fell over the room. Teenagers, celebrities, and titan entrepreneurs—the entire elite assembly—froze. Every single eye was drawn to Gabriella. Jaws dropped. They saw not just a stunning girl, but an heiress, a weapon polished to lethal perfection.
Frederick led them through the opulence, past dazzling displays of wealth, until they reached the Terraces. The party was here, overflowing onto the expansive deck overlooking the city lights. It was a birthday celebration, vibrant and loud.
"Gabriella!"
The voice was a familiar, welcoming melody. Gabriella spun around, a flash of ash-gray satin. Her eyes widened in genuine surprise.
It was Dona. She looked ethereal, dressed in a sweeping, sky-blue gown, radiating an easy, genuine elegance.
Dona's eyes darted from Gabriella to Frederick. She gave a polite, practiced greeting. "Mr. Frederick, it's lovely to see you."
"Dona, you look beautiful," Frederick returned, his tone friendly but crisp. "Where is your father? I must speak to him."
"He's over there, Uncle," Dona replied, pointing.
"Good. Then you two enjoy yourselves." Frederick gave his daughter a brief, affectionate nod, a friendly smile, before his face hardened into his elite, cold mask as he went to meet his business peers.
Dona immediately leaned in, her brown eyes filled with worry. "You told me you wouldn't come! I mean, it's Raina's birthday party."
Gabriella's perfect composure cracked. "Wait. This is… Raina's party?" Her own eyes, usually warm for her friend, turned cold, the color of winter rain.
A voice, slick and venomous, cut through the noise, coming from directly behind Gabriella. "I didn't expect you to show up, either."
Dona gasped. Both girls turned.
As Gabriella pivoted, her elbow clipped a passing waitress. The girl, overloaded with a tray of glasses, stumbled. The tray clattered, shattering porcelain and scattering ice. In the chaos, Gabriella instinctively held her Chanel bag tight to her side.
"Oh, I am so sorry," Gabriella said, her voice genuine as she helped the waitress gather the largest pieces. "Please, let me make up for this."
The waitress, her face flushed with panic, mumbled a quick dismissal and hurried away.
Dona stood perfectly still, her face pale as a sheet—she looked like she had seen a ghost, or worse, a tragic memory.
When Gabriella turned back, she saw her. Raina.
Raina was a vision of lethal beauty, dressed in a long gown the color of deadly blood red. The vibrant crimson was a lure, a warning, and a declaration of war. Her black hair was iron-straight, a cascade of ink, pinned precisely at the side with a single, creamy pearl clip—an emblem of pure, innocent malice. She curved a slow, cold smile.
"An uninvited guest has arrived," Raina purred, her eyes fixed on Gabriella.
Gabriella didn't flinch. Her composure was back, colder and harder than before. "If I had known this was your party, I wouldn't have come. Who knew you owned this place?"
Dona's face was a study in awkward terror. She was already signaling with frantic little hand motions for Gabriella to back down, to stop. Gabriella ignored her.
Raina let out a soft, mocking laugh. "You're right. You wouldn't know. I have a couple of these mansions in the city. You need a map to keep up." She stared into Gabriella's eyes, her smile tight.
Gabriella scoffed—a tiny, dismissive sound.
Raina leaned in, her perfume a heavy, suffocating cloud. Her lips were just inches from Gabriella's ear.
"Why are you still here, Gabrie....No Andria...?" she whispered, the name a chilling endearment. "Don't you know I would kill you again?"
Gabriella's eyes were instantly frozen, turned to chip-cold diamond. Raina straightened, her face innocent as she asked, "Don't you?"
A smooth, matriarchal voice interrupted the standoff. "Honey, what are you doing there?"
All three girls turned.
It was Bianca, Raina's mother, an exquisite predator in human form. She was looking elite, every stitch of her designer suit screaming authority, yet she radiated a cold, subtle poison. She was known as the 'Iron Lady,' a ruthless powerhouse in her own right.
Standing right beside her, like a trusted colleague, was Frederick.
"Gabriella," Frederick said, surprised. "Do you girls know each other?"
Before Gabriella could form a syllable, Raina answered. "Yes, we do."
Bianca's sharp, analytical eyes noticed the subtle shift in the air. "How?" she asked, a slight hesitation in her voice. Then she smiled again. "Oh, I forgot. You both are in same school, right? Frederick told me." She turned to Frederick. "Frederick, this is your beautiful daughter, right? What was her name again?"
"Me, Gabriella," she stated clearly, looking Bianca directly in the eye, her face a mask of polite indifference.
Raina's smile widened with pure satisfaction. She glided over and stood beside her mother, a perfect, blood-red echo.
Frederick stepped next to Gabriella, placing a protective hand on her shoulder. "And Gabriella, this is my new business partner, Mrs. Bianca, the one I mentioned."
Bianca gestured to her daughter. "And Raina, this is Mr. Frederick."
Raina looked at Frederick, then back at Gabriella. She smiled a tight, venomous promise of vengeance. Gabriella returned it with a small, brittle smile of her own.
Frederick excused himself to greet another acquaintance. Dona, relieved, answered a sudden phone call and retreated to a quiet corner.
Bianca was about to say something sharp and proprietary to Raina, but Raina smoothly slipped away, blending into the crowd. Bianca's sweet smile disappeared, replaced by an expression of cold calculation as she watched Gabriella.
"Come with me," Bianca commanded.
Gabriella couldn't refuse a simple request from her father's new partner. As she followed, Bianca's eyes scanned her hands. Nothing. No rings, no jewelry, just perfect, unadorned skin.
Throughout the walk to Bianca's private suite, Bianca spoke in a smooth, sweet tone, the total opposite of her reputation as a cunning and ruthless iron lady. Gabriella was baffled by the performance.
"What is your hobby, Gabriella?" Bianca asked, pushing open a massive, dark wood door.
"Fighting," Gabriella replied instantly, her voice flat.
Bianca froze. "What?"
"I mean," Gabriella quickly corrected, her lips barely moving, "I'm a black belt in karate. I love to fight."
Bianca chuckled, an icy sound. "You are interesting." She walked to an ornate jewelry box, pulling out a heavy, brand-new gold ring. She took Gabriella's hand and, before Gabriella could object, slipped the ring onto her middle finger.
"No, Mrs. Bianca, I can't accept this."
Bianca pressed her fingers over the ring, forcing Gabriella's acceptance. "Fingers are the most stupendous part of you. They are what others admire, and they show your leadership. They must be beautiful."
"I believe true beauty isn't what you wear," Gabriella said, her voice clear and measured. "It's about how you behave to others. Respect and admiration come from character."
Bianca was stunned into silence. "You speak like a poet." She turned, and the last vestiges of warmth vanished from her eyes, turning them cold as a serpent. "But you don't know the real world. The people here will only admire you, they will only be devoted to you, if you have authority and the power of money. This appearance," she tapped the ring, "helps you build your dignity and authority to the world."
No difference between mother and daughter, Gabriella thought coldly. Raina inherited everything.
"I have to go," Gabriella said, her voice clipped, and she walked out.
Two minutes later, Gabriella reached the party area on the Terraces. She looked at the heavy gold ring on her finger. A subtle knot of unease tightened in her stomach.
She turned and saw Selina, her brother's fiancée. Selina was frantic, pale, and desperate, her eyes darting nervously as she searched for someone.
Gabriella was about to follow her when Dona grabbed her arm, her grip tight.
"Gabriella! Urgent!"
"What?" Gabriella snapped, trying to look past her. "Later, Dona, I have to go—"
She turned back. Selina was gone.
Dona dragged Gabriella into a less crowded corner. Her face was frantic.
"Gabriella, are you insane? Why did you drop this there?"
Gabriella frowned, confused. "What?"
Dona opened her palm. Resting on the velvet skin was a small, black pendrive.
Gabriella's heart hammered a frantic drumbeat against her ribs. "Yeah, mine."
"Is that… the pendrive? Kevin's?" Dona's voice was a frantic whisper.
Gabriella clapped a hand over Dona's mouth, silencing the name, but Dona quickly pulled away.
"How could you be so careless? It was right where you were talking to Raina!"
"Nothing happened. I'm glad it got to you and not to others," Gabriella said, regaining her cool.
"Why did you get this back from me two weeks ago? It was safe with me, wasn't it?" Dona demanded.
"No," Gabriella said.
"What?"
"I mean… I wanted to terrify Raina, so I took it back."
Dona's eyes were wide circles of shock. "What? Gabriella, you showed it to her?"
"Don't worry," Gabriella said, the coldness in her voice absolute. "I used a sham pendrive then. Not the original."
Dona swallowed hard. "I think that's why she tried to kill you, to silence you… But if this pendrive was with me, you'd be safe. It's the evidence. If she tried to harm you, I could blackmail her with this before she could touch you."
If this pendrive is with you, you aren't safe anymore, Gabriella thought, her mind racing.
"Are you listening?" Dona urged.
"Don't worry, I'll handle it," Gabriella promised.
"But…" Dona protested.
"Dona, don't worry."
In the far corner, swallowed by the deep shadows of the evening, a pair of eyes, cold and calculating, watched the entire exchange—the desperation, the hand-off, and the look of ice-hard determination on Gabriella's face.
Then, the eyes blinked, and disappeared into the dark.
who was watching Gabriella and Dona?
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TO be Continued....
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