Chapter 5

• JENNA POV
• I leaned back against the headboard, legs stretched out on the ivory white bed, phone lying out on my stomach as I gazed at the screen with its lights on. The calendar lay open wide, and my eyes fell on the red circled date.
• Three days.
• Nathaniel's birthday in three days. It was not a party with flutes of bubbly champagne and bookworm friends. It was special to me. It would be a possibility, a silk-wrapped decision and deception.
• Davis Blackwood, the head of the Blackwood family, would be there. He never missed a family reunion, so there was a hundred percent chance that he would be there. If he had murdered my parents, I should be able to find something by building a close relationship with him as his daughter In-law.
• I sent a text to remind Sophie of the date.
• Nathaniel's birthday is in three days. Be prepared and make no mistakes.
• Her reply was swift, as if she had been waiting for my text.
• "Trust me, I'm more than ready."
• I stared at her text half a second too long, the words burning themselves into my brain. I put the phone down on the table, stood up, and moved across the room. It must be perfect. No errors. The whole plan will be ruined if we are not careful, and I didn't know how long we would have to wait for this opportunity to come again.
• I looked into the mirror and smiled at myself. I was another woman who was hosting a party for her lovely husband. But beneath the smile, beneath the daisies, and beneath the fingernails, was the burning desire for revenge, and it wouldn't stop burning until I made the Blackwood family pay.
• We were going to make it.
• ***
• It was finally the day of the party. The house started coming alive as the staff moved up and down the mansion, making sure the party went smoothly.
• Nathaniel had no idea what awaited him. He detested parties with too much crowd but made an exception for our wedding. So I only invited family and a few friends for his surprise party.
• They thought that I was throwing the party as a means of showing the world with my graciousness at dealing with Blackwood tradition. How well I had mastered being a submissive, obedient wife.
• They were half correct.
• Sophie came an hour ahead of time, no surprise since she is a number one stickler about form and punctuality. The razor-edged pant high shine creased trousers were crisp black, champagne-coloured blouse that hugged her back and flowed night light like liquid. Her raven-black hair was pulled up into an impossibly tight chignon, which would stay unflinchingly in a hurricane.
• She barged into my room and shut my door without even a "hello" much less asking anything.
• "Aight, Bella. Let's go over the plan again."
• I slammed my closet, and turned to her. "We do it plain. Senior Blackwood gets pushed into the pool. I jumped in to rescue him. I'm the dutiful daughter-in-law. He relaxes. He thaws. Next thing, I'm close enough to discover what actually occurred."
• Sophie placed the drawing on the table, smoothing out the crease with the tips of her fingers. "I already shut down the east camera. It'll be out of commission in the next thirty minutes, and we have one hour before it comes back on. That's our gap. Then it just comes back up like nothing has happened."
• I nodded, snatching a hair pin. "I can lure him to the pool when he's alone"
• Sophie's eyebrow shot up. "The old man might end up going near the pool himself, less trouble for us."
• I smiled faintly, the smile not reaching the eyes. "Prepare for both."
• There was a knock on the door and one of the maids said from outside. "Miss Jenna, the guests are starting to arrive."
• I took a deep breath, smoothed my hands against the front of my dress, and caught Sophie's eye in the mirror.
• "Let's party."
• ---
• The garden was a painting brought to life.
• There were fairy lights a-glint like winking stars above the trees. There was music, sweet jazz with great beat. There was a bar among the roses, and black-and-white waiters scurrying about, pouring cocktails into morning throngs.
• I battled through crowds of humans, smiling and nodding and hostessing with them. Nathaniel's board buddies clustered around fountains, laughing too loudly. The Blackwood family mingled in groups, taking pictures in their off-the-rack clothes and designer smiles.
• All playing the part and acting on autopilot—the part of wealthy, together, and intelligent.
• I was in the middle of a conversation with one of Nathaniel's aunts when I saw them.
• Nathaniel's ex-wife's family.
• I almost choked on air.
• What in the world are they doing here, for goodness' sake?
• Sophie glared at me out there on the patio. Her forehead furrowed for a moment before she smoothed it out with a sip of champagne.
• And then I saw him.
• Davis Blackwood walked closer to them to welcome his late daughter-in-law's mother.
• Of course, he invited them.
• I smiled on, the one I'd rehearsed for arch-nemesis and company picnic, and continued on to wish another party guest good luck. My stomach did flip-flops, but no one suspected. No one knew.
• A lighted-skinned woman in burgundy elbowed past me—the ex-wife's sister, I'd recently discovered. She stood me up with her shoulder in a sharp way.
• "Watch where you're going," she spat, and turned to give me a disgusting look.
• I was numb. "I was just standing."
• She smiled. "Then stand right," and melted into the crowd, her perfume a breathy goodbye.
• Let go, Jenna.
• Revenge was not on the agenda for the night. That could wait until later.
• I prowled the grounds, in caution, and spotted him again.
• Davis Blackwood.
• With phone in hand. Brushing off. Walking towards his pool.
• In time.
• I dug in my bag for my phone and sent Sophie: Pool. Now.
• She looked down at her phone over the patio railing, nodded abruptly, then pushed through a horde of meaty, muscle-bound males.
• I rolled over to do the same, swept up in it, playing my wide-eyed-innocence card. But before I'd even made a twitch of an inch, a warm, firm grip closed around my wrist.
• I looked around, wide-eyed.
• Nathaniel.
• His teeth grinding, his eyes into mine. "Come with me. Now."
• My heart was racing. "What? Wait, I—"
• I looked in the direction of the pool.
• Already too late. He'd pulled me down the hallway, away from the garden, away from the mission.
• My stomach dropped. "Nathaniel! What's wrong?"
• I attempted to pull him off, but he wasn't budging.
• He didn't say anything until we were in my bedroom and the door had been closed behind him. He released my wrist and took a few steps back from me before he glanced at me.
• His face was turbulent.
• "My ex-wife's mother is trying to sue for custody of the girls."
• I blinked.
• The world came to a standstill.
• "What?"
• He rubbed his face bright red with shame. "She's blaming me as a father. From rushing in too fast to remarrying and that you are not fit to take care of the girls. She thinks she can do something with the months she has left."
• I ran my fingers through my hair. "That's absurd. She hasn't got a leg to stand on."
• "She's got power, the money to do whatever she wants. And the fact that they're here tonight… wasn't sentiment, Jenna. It was scheming."