Page 20 of The Ruthless Rivalry

A soft creak above me cut through the noise.

My head jerked upward.

The Legacies’ mezzanine loomed directly overhead, lined with rich wood and fancy-trimmed railings. It was supposed to be empty, same as the rest of this room.

But I swore I saw it—just for a second. A shift in the dark. Movement. A silhouette pulling back from the edge.

My heart leapt to my throat.

I was already on my feet before I registered it, charging toward the staircase without thinking. My bare feet slapped against the floor, echoing too loud in the silence. I took the stairs two at a time.

When I reached the top—nothing.

No one.

No sound, no presence. Just the hushed hush of an empty corridor, the faint scent of a lingering cigarette and leftover rain.

But he’d been here.He had to have been here.

Bishop.

My shadow, always just one step behind. Or in front. Or inside my head.

I scanned the stairway again. I’d come from the only entrance. The only exit. There was no other way out. So where had he gone?

Unless…

I leaned against the railing, my pulse still racing.

Was my mind really playing tricks on me?

The concussion. The exhaustion. The rain.

Maybe Iwantedto see him. Maybe I needed to see my target. Someone to throw all this chaos at and say,there. That’s who to blame.

But that didn’t explain the feeling still crawling up my spine. Or the way the scent of ash lingered—faint, just a whiff—butenough to make me wonder if I’d imagined it… or if he’d really been here.

I glanced back toward the Legacies’ private dining area—polished oak table gleaming like it had been waxed just for them. No, scratch that—itdefinitelyhad. The chairs were tucked in with eerie precision, not a scuff or smudge in sight. The whole space felt smug. Like it knew it belonged to the elite and didn’t care who noticed.

They thought they were untouchable. Unbothered. Above it all.

I let out a low breath—half groan, half laugh. Of course they did.

So I got to work.

I slid one of the chairs back and dropped into a crouch.

Then, with quick flicks of my wrist, I loosened the screws on each of the chairs—just enough that they wouldn’t fall apart, not right away. But the next time someone leaned back too far, they'd get a sharp reminder that the world didn’t always support them the way they expected it to.

It wasn’t chaos. It wasn’t vengeance.

It was discomfort, delivered quietly.

And for tonight, that was enough.

The rain still beat against my window, steady and unrelenting, but this time, it wasn’t just the sound of it that was keeping me up. My mind churned, a storm of thoughts swirling just beneath the surface. I hadn’t slept well, how could I, after everything that had happened? But something about the small, subtle act ofdiscomfort I’d left for the Legacies had settled a little weight off my shoulders. It was like slow payback, a simmering frustration finally finding its outlet. I wasn’t done with them—far from it—but for the first time in what felt like days, I could breathe a little easier.

It wasn’t victory. It wasn’t even close. But it was something. And that something, even as small as it was, let me sleep, if only for a few hours.

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