Chapter 513: Velvet Masks, Forbidden Vows, and the Girl Who Swallowed Secrets

The Aurum Moon Masquerade was the most exclusive event of the year — held once every seven years by the Obsidian Syndicate, a trillionaire family so powerful they didn't even appear on Forbes. Invitations were hand-delivered by doves dipped in sapphire dust.

Ochieng arrived late. Dressed in a tailored obsidian suit, custom boots stitched with ancient symbols, and a silver mask that curved like a crescent moon, he moved like a prince, but with the eyes of a ghost.

He didn't come for champagne.

He came for answers.

Across the hall floated Avielle Delacroix — 23, a journalist turned secret informant. Tall, caramel skin, wild curly hair pinned under a mask of velvet and gold, her voice was soft but cut like glass. She approached Ochieng without a word and dropped a note into his pocket.

> "Meet me in the greenhouse before midnight. Not everyone here is human."

---

In the greenhouse, past blooms that glowed in the dark and vines that whispered if you listened close, Ochieng met Avielle.

And her secret.

Behind her stood Lazarus Quinn, 28, Ochieng's half-brother — thought dead.

But Lazarus wasn't alone.

He was marrying Nyra Sade, heiress of the family that ordered Ochieng's mother's death.

It wasn't just betrayal.

It was personal.

"You can't marry her," Ochieng said, eyes locked, rage trembling in his voice.

"I already did," Lazarus replied. "And she's carrying my child."

Thunder cracked.

The roses turned black.

---

Back at Velvet Heights University, a girl sat in the library's last row, typing faster than light. Her name was Kiara Belle — 21, blind in one eye, but with a photographic memory. Her past? Unknown. Her flaw? Compulsion for truth.

She had just uncovered 38 unsolved murders tied to the Drex family.

As she hit Enter, her computer fried itself.

Then her phone rang.

Unknown Number.

She answered.

A voice said: "Run. Now."

Then silence.

When she looked up, three masked men were already watching her from across the library.

And she recognized one by the way he tapped his fingers.

Nathaniel.

But he wasn't trying to stop her.

He was trying to protect her.

---

A limo pulled up.

Inside sat Gloria Rêve, 25 — the most feared seductress in the eastern quarter, exiled for stealing a Sultan's heart, and rumored to poison men through touch alone.

She wore a wedding dress made of pearl lace and carried a bouquet of dead orchids.

To no one in particular, she whispered:

> "Tonight, I take what belongs to me."

And the door slammed behind her.

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