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Once known as the naive and kind-hearted Ava Montague, she was betrayed, framed, and left to die by the very people she trusted most—her fiancé, best friend, and stepmother. But death did not claim her. Instead, a mysterious organization saved her and gave her a new identity: "The Vixen."
With a new face, a new name, and a burning desire for revenge, she returns as Celeste Vauxhall, a woman who plays by no rules but her own. She is no longer the weak, innocent girl she once was—she is now a master manipulator, using charm, intelligence, and deception to dismantle those who wronged her.
But revenge is a double-edged sword. As she gets closer to her targets, she finds herself entangled in a dangerous game of power, love, and deception. And when a mysterious billionaire with secrets of his own enters her life, the lines between vengeance and passion blur. Will she succeed in her mission, or will she lose herself in the very darkness she sought to control?

The Vixen

Liam worked fast—faster than I expected. He already had a burner phone, a fresh set of surveillance files on Vale's operations, and a safehouse two blocks away prepped like this kind of betrayal was his Tuesday hobby.

He really was built for chaos.

"You're scarily prepared for this," I muttered as I watched him pull up a blueprint of Vale's casino—one of his fronts.

Liam just grinned. "Sweetheart, I've had a contingency plan for backstabbing Vale since the moment I shook his hand."

"So what's the plan?" I asked.

He leaned over the blueprint, tapping the VIP access door with the tip of a pen. "You go to him. Tell him you're scared. Tell him someone tried to kill you—leave out the part where you won. Tell him you think I'm behind it."

I blinked. "You want me to throw you under the bus?"

"Absolutely," Liam said without hesitation. "Let him think I'm the threat. His attention on me gives you room to move. Then you get close, sweet-talk your way into his inner circle again… and plant this."

He pulled a small flash drive from his coat pocket. Sleek. Black. Sinister.

"It's a key," he said. "To every secret Vale's been hiding."

"Let me guess," I said, eyeing it. "It self-destructs if I sneeze on it wrong?"

"No," he grinned. "But it does carry enough dirt to ruin him. The second it connects to his main system, it'll download every shady transaction, hit order, and betrayal he's ever committed."

I stared at it. This little thing could bring Vale down.

"Then you better hope he kills you fast."

I pocketed the flash drive and took a steadying breath.

Liam stepped closer, brushing a strand of hair from my face. "You sure about this?"

"No," I said honestly. "But that never stopped me before."

He chuckled. "God, I love this version of you."

"Let's just hope she survives the week."

I left the safehouse with my heart hammering and the taste of adrenaline on my tongue.

Time to walk into the lion's den—with a smile on my face and a knife behind my back.

Chapter 46: The Trap Is Set