Chapter 18 - Heart of the Storm

Orion's POV

I barely glanced in Ava’s direction as my mother tore into her, her sharp voice filling the room with pointed insults. Ava stood there, taking it, her face set in a rigid mask, but I didn’t care. She’d chosen this. She’d married my father, knowing what it would mean. When things hadn’t worked out between us, she’d gone for the next best thing—the man with the wealth and power to keep her comfortably in our family.

To think she’d wormed her way into this life by wedding him…

A sick feeling settled in my stomach. Ava had seen how vulnerable Rmy father was, how his health was failing. Was it possible she’d even had a hand in his death? The idea crossed my mind, but I shook it off.

Ava was a lot of things—opportunistic, manipulative—but a killer? No, that seemed a stretch. Still, the bitterness lingered, an icy thorn in my side.

Once Ava stormed out, I turned to my mother, keeping my expression neutral. “So, what is this ‘glitch’ you mentioned?”