Queen of Manipulation

Chapter 2: The Art of Deception

Vienna's charm was a weapon, her vulnerability a carefully crafted facade. She had perfected the art of deception, honed by years of observing her father, a man who had built his empire on manipulation and ruthlessness. 

Now, she was ready to deploy those same skills on Raven Winters Anderson, the man whose family had stolen everything from her father, leaving them with nothing but shattered dreams and a legacy of betrayal.

Vienna had made her first move, subtly planting seeds of doubt and discord within the Elite Investment Bank. It had just a month since she started working here and she already knew their vulnerabilities and their weaknesses, and she exploited them with precision. She had already gained Raven's trust, her captivating smile and tearful confessions masking the cold steel of her intentions. The truth was, she didn't care for Raven, not in the way that a normal woman might. He was simply a pawn in her game, a means to an end, a tool for vengeance.

This evening, Vienna had lured Raven to her apartment in the name of a birthday party (even when it wasn't her birthday at all) she invited Raven along with her other coworkers and insisted that she would be really hurt if he didn't attend. 

They had partied all the way along from afternoon to late hours of the evening and most of them were drunk enough now to pass out in her living room and the rest of them left for their homes after bidding her farewell. Except Raven who was still wide awake since he arrived in the very evening, late for the party.So much for being the hotshot Ceo of the country's biggest investment bank.

''Happy birthday, Miss Vespertine. And I hope that I will be forgiven for being this late to your party ''said the beautiful man standing at her doorstep with an apologetic smile.

 Raven's cobalt blue eyes gleamed as he smiled at her still waiting for her to let him inside her house. Vienna sucked in a sharp breath, he was so strikingly handsome that it almost hurt. His smile gnawed at the corners of her heart and her sanity.

No, he doesn't deserve to smile like that, not when his family destroyed mine. I am going to make sure he and his entire family will never smile again. Soon. 

She returned his smile with her own fake one, her full lips painted hot red with her favorite lipstick, curled upwards, making sure that her face showed a little hint of disappointment that he was late. She stepped aside to let him inside her house. Her enemy was finally in her den. She smirked at his back.

Once inside the huge living room, Raven turned towards her taking in her appearance from head to toe.

She was donning a white, sleeveless fishtail gown, which ran down her perfect hourglass body with a slit near the thighs, paired with pearl stud earrings and a pearl bracelet around her slender wrists. And her beautiful feet were clad in literal glass slippers from the newest collection of Bulgari. Raven's gaze lingered for a second at her collarbone, the sweetheart neck of her dress was accentuating her collarbone,but what caught his attention was mole right under her collarbone. He tore his gaze off her damn neck with quite an effort and looked at her face. ''Those brown eyes will be the death of me'' he sighed. 

Vienna almost wanted to smirk at him, she looked elegantly beautiful clad in all white yet dangerously hot at the same time, and she knew. She was aware of his heated gaze on her too, after all that's what she was playing at: Seduction.

''You look beautiful tonight, Miss Vespertine'' Raven smiled at her, handing her the bouquet of midnight lilies he got for her. He was late because of the same reason, these flowers were not in season so it took him a whole 3 hours to find them in this huge city. Of course, he could have gotten any other flower for her but she reminded him of Midnight Lilies so much that he went all the way around the streets of Paris to find them for her.