The Joy of Revenge

CHAPTER 103 Ribbon Cutting Xavier Pink was definitely not my color. | was silently praying all of this would be over soon so | could change.

“And here he comes now... with his entourage,” Norma said, pointing at the black BMW that had entered the parking lot. | coughed, quickly moving away from Joy and the irritating group of privileged older women. | headed to the juice dispensers at the end of the long table to grab a drink to ease my sham of a scratchy throat, “Sam, | need you to keep watch,” | mumbled as | raised the glass of watermelon juice to my lips.

“Copy, X, Sam replied. “I'm shadowing Noah. Right now, he’s standing behind his car at the complex parking lot.

He's on his phone arguing with one of his girlfriends.” | smirked.

Which one? Well, it didn’t matter.

“Make sure no one makes trouble... especially him,” | said, after taking a sip of my juice. “This is already stressful for all of us. | don’t want to deal with anymore problems.” None of us liked the idea of Joy eventually marrying Liam, but it was a means to an end.

“You can count on me, X.” He paused. “I gotta go. Noah is on the move,” Sam whispered.

“Find out what he’s up to, Sam. The rest of you, blend in and keep watch. If you see anyone. suspicious, grab ‘em and make them talk. But if you see Pete, kill him,” | instructed my team.

“Over and out.” There was news Pete was in the Caribbean, unfortunately, we were still waiting for confirmation. After | argued that it would be better if Sam was here just in case Pete never left, Sebastian sent one of his men to track him down in the Bahamas. If that person was indeed Pete, Sebastian gave explicit instructions to kill him. | know Joy wanted to kill Pete McDowell herself, but we couldn’t take anymore risks.

We all made the mistake of underestimating Pete McDowell. We weren't going to do that again. The faster we get rid of him, the better.

| placed my glass on a glass rack atop a small table designated for used glasses and turned around to see Liam and Dan making their way to Joy. The both of them seemed to be 1/5 15.03: Sat Mbl.30 CHAPTER 103 Ribbon Cutting He and Dan suddenly stopped just before they reached the noisy crowd of well-wishers. | raised my hand to cover my eyes from the glare of the late morning sun and squinted to see the expressions on their faces. | noticed the panic and dread in Liam's usually calm gray eyes while Dan’s face was apologetic. | had an inkling Dan had finally told Liam that their dinner in Chicago last night didn’t go so well.

Judging by the petrified look on his face, | quickly assumed Liam was going to back out or agree to either postpone his proposal knowing there was a high possibility Joy would not marry him. If Virtue were to refuse, Liam would becthe laughingstock of New Salem. Just the mere thought of Liam backing out made the corners of my lips curve upward into a small smile.

But Liam has to propose and Joy has to accept. She needs to destroy the Cohens from within.

| know it was wrong forto feel this way, but there was a huge part ofthat didn’t want this wedding to happen. Sure, | was the one who talked her into accepting Liam's proposal, but deep down, it was difficult to accept that a simple plan for vengeance had cto this.

Admit it, Xavier.

| sighed. Fine, | should be the one asking her to marryand not that ba stard.

| should have to my mother. My mom toldwhen you love someone with all your heart it. | should've asked Joy to marryyears ago when my mother gave to propose with. Go d, I'm such a f ucking idiot.

shoulda...

and applause suddenly erupted from the townsfolk, as Liam walked through the d, interruptingfrom my thoughts. Even in his somewhat flustered state, the show Must go on.

However, as Liam greeted us, | could tell by the uneasiness in his eyes and the sweat dripping from his face that he was determined to go through with the proposal. | had to hand it to this guy... he had balls.

While Joy prepared herself to make a short speech before the ceremonial cutting of the ribbon, Sebastian glanced atand Cristos, tapping on his watch with two fingers. We needed to speed things up.

The nurse was on her way to Theodore.

2/5 CHAPTER 103 Ribbon Cutting “Hey, Virtue... honey... Let's start, Cristos said nudging her elbow to move things along. Joy nodded her head and raised the microphone to her lips, but she paused noticing how anxious Liam looked.

“He looks as if he’s going to faint,” | whispered to Cristos as he took the spot beside me, pushing Norma Martin aside. Sebastian quickly maneuvered himself in between Norma and Chip, casting her even further away from me. While Norma gave Sebastian a dirty look which he ignored, Linda grabbed Norma's hand and pulled her away to sit on schairs Sebastian had pulled out from his office.

Ugh... Norma was becoming obsessed.

“D amn it. Well, we can’t have anymore interruptions or distractions. When Virtue’s done, Bo, | need you to hand her the scissors and grab the mic,” Cristos mumbled his instructions. | gave him the thumbs up sign.

“Chip, offer Liam sreassurance,” Sebastian murmured to Cristos. “We need this done now. Cristos nodded his head.

“Just keep those meddling ol’ biddies away and I'll handle the rest,” he said before positioning whis side Dan who was standing behind Liam. Cristos bowed his head and in Dan’s ear that made Dan grin from ear to ear. Good. Now that’s ist Virtue. Get the bottles of champagne ready. | placed a small cooler under just in case we got that permit.” Sebastian nodded his head and walked behind the able to take out the bottles.

grabbed the scissors from the coupon and leaflet stand and walked to Joy, positioning myself behind her as she welcomed everyone to her new store.

| looked out towards the parking lot and saw Jack and Noah, standing beside one another, both looking angry and irritated. Noah was shaking his head while | could clearly see the betrayal written on Jack's face.

Liam didn’t tell him, so Noah did.

| heard Joy cough through the speaker. Gtime.

“Welceveryone! Today, we celebrate the grand opening of my humble boutique. | am so grateful to all of you who have cto celebrate with me, especially the people who have been withevery single step of the way, helpingachieve my dreams,” she said, pausing CHAPTER 103 Ribbon Cutting to smile at Liam while placing a gentle hand on his arm. “To those who don’t knowyet, my nis Virtue Sulliven and | am the very proud owner of Simply Virtue. Withon this most auspicious occasion are Mayor Liam Cohen, New Salem Auditor Daniel Williams, Bo Xavier of Bo’s Supermarket, Dominic Samuels of Dom's HFurnishings, Chad Hendrix Palmer of Buzzed Pub and, of course, our hardworking undersheriff, Jackson Emery. Now, let’s cut that ribbon!” The crowd broke into an applause. | stepped forward handing her a pair of gold scissors while taking the microphone from her.

“Mayor Cohen, would you please dothe honor of cutting the ribbon with me?” she asked. He nodded his head, placing her hand on his arm and escorting her behind the long pink ribbon.

Joy glance down at the sharp gold plated scissors in her hand and | saw that familiar stone cold look in her eyes.

Whenever she thought of Liam or any of his friends and how they hurt her her beautiful aquamarine eyes would turn cruel and heartless.

| knew what was going through that mind of hers. She was picturing herself stabbing Liam in the heart with those sharp scissors in front of the crowd. | imagined a triumphant Joy laughing sinisterly as Liam's blood spewed all over the horrified people including the four middle aged women who were desperate to get my attention.

Sadly, | also imagined Jack intercepting her before she could even make a run for it. Eventually, they would discover she was Joy Taylor and lock her up in an institution for the criminally insane for all eternity.

Joy's eyes suddenly met mine and she smiled. She knew that | knew what she was thinking.

Not today, Joy.

| scanned the crowd and noticed the hopeful faces of the people as they recorded Joy and Liam's every move with their smartphones. They wanted to be the first ones to tell their friends that Liam and Virtue were seeing each other.

| had a feeling all of them will be having the shock of their lives when Liam proposes.

Joy handed the scissors to Liam before positioning themselves behind the pink ribbon with Joy’s hand atop Liam's.

Suddenly, Cristos shoved a bottle of champagne in front of me, obstructing my view. | quickly placed the microphone back on the small ‘welcome’ table and began shaking the 4/5 CHAPTER 103 Ribbon Cutting champagne bottle.

Joy and Liam’s hands moved in unison and together, they cut the massive pink ribbon. While the crowd erupted in applause, Cristos, Sebastian and | sprung into action, popping the corks from each of our bottles. The crowd shrieked excitedly as bubbles of champagne cbursting out.

From the corner of my eye, | saw Dan whisper something in Liam's ear. Liam immediately relaxed and an ecstatic grin erupted on his face.

We began pouring the champagne in the glasses, eager to get the party started but before we had the chance to serve sof the champagne, Liam cleared his throat and loudly said, “Virtue, there’s something I have to say.” My heart began to beat loudly in my chest.

Even though this was all planned, Joy was the love of my life... and here | was going to watch the most precious thing on this earth becengaged to another man.

I did to be this painful: mments J000 ave to wait for another update to find out! EW 1 COMMENT > 4 POST COMMENT 8