CHAPTER 499: REVENGE SERVED COLD

"Are you okay, Doll?"

On the other end of the call, the young woman stared at the now-dark phone screen, her fingers trembling over the surreal nature of this new information and unfolding events. Her thumb hovered over the call button for a long second... but she didn’t press it again. What was there left to say?

Like her name, she was dressed like a little doll —satin ribbons in her hair, a laced bodice cinched too tightly, frills at her cuffs, and pearls around her neck. Pronounced eyes with makeup and two prominent circular red blushes on her cheeks. She was a picture of delicate beauty - fragile, perfect, controlled.

The only different thing about her was that her once vacant eyes now had a touch of liveliness in them. Doll wanted revenge, and what she had done to Brianna, though satisfying, had still felt lacking in a way.

Besides, with such a rich and powerful family, there had been that little notion at the back of her mind that Brianna’s family would have retaliated, but Doll never imagined what she was seeing or hearing. Indeed, revenge served cold was the best! or maybe the proper word was karma was a bitch! But one that Doll now adored.

Doll’s heart clenched. A single tear slipped down her cheek before she wiped it away roughly as she thought of the person who had just hung up the call.

The two had always been together ... from the day they’d first met in the dim dorm halls of the orphanage, scraping for food, dreaming of warmth. Sisters not by blood, but by something deeper.

And now... now she was alone. Doll understood what her sister had said: one was with the thugs and the other with the law enforcement. They were now like water and oil, destined never to co-exist. At least, Doll knew that her sister still had her in her heart. One thing that Doll would never do, is to jeapardize her sister’s hard-earned place at work. She understood the implications very well.

"Are you okay?" a gruff voice asked from behind her.

Doll didn’t turn immediately. She breathed in deep, forced a smile that barely reached her eyes, and finally turned to face the man—tall, rugged, with the weight of the ghetto on his shoulders. It was none other than Boss.

"Today is a good day," she said, her voice tight. "I shouldn’t be crying."

She gave a broken chuckle and blinked hard to chase the sting in her eyes.

"I got the revenge I wanted."

She turned her gaze toward the TV that had been playing on mute in the background, a smile brightening up her face and mesmerizing Boss in the process.

Then, with a deep breath, she looked at Boss beside her—the one who had given her shelter when no one else would, who had taken her in despite her wounds and what she had gone through. Doll was especially grateful as she saw Brianna and her parents caught in the hands of the law.

’Every dog had its day!’

"Yes," she nodded, adding and then walking over to the old TV and increasing the volume. The news caster’s voice blared loudly,

"I just got the best news ever." Doll walked up to him and gave him the biggest hug ever for the simple reason that he had promised and delivered.

Boss nodded at her, but he didn’t smile. His arms crossed as he leaned against the cracked wall, brow furrowed in thought. He wasn’t one for celebrations. His mind had already skipped ahead, calculating, planning.

The day had dealt a significant blow to their operations, but thankfully, this was not the only business he was involved in. They were crippled, but not dead yet. This world didn’t stop turning just because one client had fallen... even if it was their biggest client.

Boss also knew one thing: They needed to move .... and fast.

Soon, a few of his men came in, and a discussion ensued.

"Boss, we need new allies."

"A cleaner trade."

"Less heat."

They threw ideas at each other, while Doll remained glued to the TV, watching the headlines flash justice and a crowd cheer and curse in the background.

While the world buzzed over the high-profile drug bust, news channels were ablaze with headlines, people cheering the downfall of a powerful cartel and the surprising identity behind it all, Doll sat in the shadows of the room, her gaze fixed not on the screens, but on a different storm entirely.

The police may have taken down a drug syndicate, but Doll only heard one thing: the entire family of Mush had been arrested for one reason or another.

Because for Doll, the celebration wasn’t about the drugs off the streets, the thugs, or the scandal.

It was about them—that family cloaked in elegance and poison. The same family that had shattered her world over a moment so insignificant, she couldn’t even remember it. A broken glass, a missed curtsy, a word spoken out of turn? Doll had racked her mind for months, trying to find the crack that gave them permission to destroy her. But there was nothing. Nothing that justified the punishment received.

Except, maybe, the wrath of a spoiled brat who didn’t like the way she smiled too brightly one day. Or stood too straight. Or existed. Yes, that could have been it. Brianna had been so spoiled as to do anything.

And that had been enough.

Enough to drag her from a life of promise into a nightmare. Enough to strip her of her name, her rights, her dignity .... until Doll had been left with nothing more than a nobody dressed in doll’s clothing, shoved into silence, and living a life she had never ever imagined in her life.

Now, though... the tables were turning.

One by one, the untouchables were falling. Headlines were growing bolder. Whispers were turning into accusations and facts. And Doll sat, wrapped in the beautiful shawl that had seen her through her darkest nights with the thugs, eyes burning not with tears, but with clarity.

Doll had kept one single thought in mind throughout her ordeal. She was not and would never be mad at the world, or the thugs who had taken part in her initial punishment. No. Those were just following orders. It was them..... That family..... That girl... that spoilt brat... to be specific!

That brat who had whined, and pointed, and let her suffer without ever looking back.

And now?

Now justice had started its slow, delicious crawl toward them. Doll especially liked the close-up view of Brianna. The view that showed how vacant her eyes was. It could not hide the supposed terror that Brianna had suffered in the months that she had been taken onto that island.

Yes, that was precisely a thrill for Doll, and it was a sight that she would never forget. It would remain embedded in her memory forever, if she could help it.

Let the others rejoice for the drugs, the money, the power. She had her own kind of justice unfolding - and she’d watch every piece of it burn to ash with a calm smile on her face.

Occasionally, with one eye on the TV, she would throw glances at Boss, from time to time as if she wanted to say something.

Boss knew that she was listening in on their conversation, but he had gotten to the point where he sometimes took her advice in running things, so it wasn’t a big deal.

"We don’t get to rest, girl," Boss muttered under his breath. "We just get smarter."

The boss said to Doll, knowing that her line of thought was just from her facial expression.

"Why don’t you go legit, then?" she asked flippantly, throwing the whole room into an absolute silence.

"Legit? The fuck is you talking about?"

"Hahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaa .... Have you ever seen anyone in our trade do this? Boss, what kind of nonsense is this? ... and why is she even here? Isn’t she just supposed to be a fuck toy? I-"

"Pa!" A single shot and a gunshot wound to the head. The speaker dropped dead with his lifeless eyes staring up at the ceiling.

In some time past, Doll would have screamed and run for her life, but today, she only turned lazily to look at the man and went on with her TV.

She couldn’t care less if they killed themselves. That was their problem, not hers!

The other thugs in the room lowered their heads, not daring to say a single thing,

"She is my partner now! Whatever has happened in the past remains there! If I ever hear such disrespect against her again, you will follow this asshole here!"

None of them flinched. It looked like they had al received the memo, except this man.

"Get rid of this fool!"

"If I may?" Level-headed raised his hand,

"What is it?!"

"I think madam maybe onto something..."

He said, referring to Doll, respectively.

"... with this burst operation on the island and all others, we may be negatively impacted with our involvement. How about this?"

Level-headed paused, knowing that he had Boss’ attention.

"We’ll leave this body here and enough evidence to make him the mastermind of all our operations, and then go to start afresh as a legit team..."

Level-headed paused, gauging the response.

Boss nodded. Level-headed was not called as such for no reason. He had even gotten them a way out.

"How do we get a legit business to run?" Boss asked,

"How about we reach out to master Rocky for help with connections?"

".... "

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