7. Serena
Serena
A FEW HOURS EARLIER…
The bartender handed Jenese her French Blonde, and she took a sip. “Perfect.” She smirked at me.
“Why are you here?” I forced my fingers to loosen their grip around my glass, but my heart was another story. It hammered against my ribs, panic coiling tight beneath my skin.
“Don’t be like that, sugar. It’s me.”
I hadn’t seen her in years.
I made sure of that.
Yet here she was.
The woman who pulled me out of my shell and shoved me into fire. The one who taught me how to read a room—and how to tear it apart if it didn’t bend for me. The first person who ever saw past the nervousness and timidness and told me, You could be more.
“I don’t do ghosts,” I said, taking a sip of a whiskey that scorched all the way down.
We’d met at a party years ago. Mama had just torn me down in front of two board members. Said I wasn’t ready. Said I needed polish. Said I was “too emotional.”
That same night, Jenese put a glass in my hand and said, “Fuck what they think. Wanna know how to run shit?”
I did.
Jenese tapped her long acrylic nails on the table. “I missed you. And I think you missed me too. We’re just two friends having drinks?—”
“We’re not anything. ”
Jenese thrived on the chase. If I let her know I was nervous, she would be on me like a fly on shit.
“You used to consider me the mother you never had.” Jenese pouted.
“You were never that to me.”
“Don’t tell me you and Mommy Dearest are on good terms now? You showing her all the tricks I taught you?”
The truth was, she lived in every sharp line I drew, every choice I made to finally get Mama’s attention. Every time I cut someone off at the knees in a boardroom, it was her voice in my head whispering, Faster next time, sugar.
That version of me—the one Mama finally approved of—was Jenese’s blueprint.
I frowned, gathering my bag to stand. “Goodbye.”
“Don’t rush out of this conversation, Serena . We got shit to discuss. I like the new confidence, but pipe down.”
Confidence.
I was twenty-three. Miles was gone. Laurene’s engagement party had ended in disaster, and Mama and Daddy were scrambling to get things in order. The whole town was freaking out over Conrad Ashbourne’s accident, then Lu’s disappearance.
I think Mama threw King Developments at me just to get me out her face.
I was so hyped, but clueless. Then I met Jenese.
I couldn’t make Mama see me beyond her backup plan. Jenese knew all the ways women like us were dismissed. She promised to teach me a different approach. She gave me shortcuts. Secrets. Power.
She taught me how to carry myself. How to command attention. She gave me armor.
And then I walked from her before she could pin our last disagreement on me. And we never spoke again.
Until now.
“Didn’t you just spend sixty million dollars on a property? That’s more money than I recall you having six years ago.” Jenese tapped her chin.
“And?”
“I did my homework. It’s a good property. So fascinating. Old money. Pool. I bet the walk-in closet is amazing.”
I stared at her.
“Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m saying.” She leaned in, her voice low and smooth. “You owe me. I think this is a good makeup for what happened between us before.”
“You mean the time you tried to sell me to a married man in exchange for shares in a company?” I was still angry. I felt so stupid walking into that meeting, only to realize I was just a pawn.
Her lashes fluttered. “Don’t be dramatic.”
“I said no then, and I’m saying no now.”
“Oh, honey.” Jenese tsked like I was a child. “I don’t like to hear that answer.”
She slipped her phone from her clutch and slid it across the table. A photo glowed on the screen.
Me, six years younger. In a black dress I hadn’t worn since. Sitting too close to an old man who wasn’t my type.
“Where did you get this?” I asked, though I already knew.
“Oh, sugar,” she said, voice like satin over a knife. “If I send this to the right people with just a hint of context, you might just have a scandal on your hands.”
My nails dug into my palm, sharp enough to draw blood, but I didn’t let her see me flinch.
“You need more convincing? Fine.” Jenese sniffed, and she sat up in her seat. I noticed the concealer not quite covering the puff beneath her eyes. The faint stiffness in the way she held her jaw.
“I’m writing a tell-all book. And guess what? You’re my main character.”
My heart stopped. “What?”
“It’s all about me , of course.” She swirled her drink like she had all the time in the world.
“My life. My journey. My regrets. And of course, the people who fucked me over.” She shot me a look that made my skin crawl.
“It’s a beautiful piece, really. Raw. Honest. I couldn’t write it and not have you in it, obviously. You’re one of my masterpieces.”
I calmly exhaled. “You’re lying. Half the shit you’ve done, you’d go to jail.”
“Don’t worry, I talked to a lawyer. Just changed some name, dates, details.
It won’t come back on me. But we need action in this book, or it’ll just be some boring-ass diary.
I added it all!” She grinned at me, giddy like a kid.
“I…exaggerated on some details, but who cares? People like the messiness. Espionage! Embezzlement! And oooh—the thefts .”
I must have died. Died at my desk in the office, and now I was in hell.
“That’s not what we did,” I protested weakly.
“Oh, please,” Jenese said. “I covered your ass more times than I can count. Who do you think made those permits go through when you couldn’t because they wanted your brother instead?”
“You’re lying.”
Jenese shrugged. “Your word against mine.”
Breathe, breathe.
“This is our story, Serena.” Her voice sharpened. “Yet you cut me out like I was trash. But when you needed leverage back then, help, compassion, was I not there? I kept your hands clean. Now I’m telling my side.”
I couldn’t lose my temper. I should have expected this.
King Developments was climbing, and nothing—nothing—could slow us down. This was just a curve in the road. A deer in the headlights. You swerved in time…or you hit it head-on and keep driving.
From her bag, she retrieved a black flash drive, idly twirling it.
“A little draft. The early stuff. You wouldn’t believe the reception it’s gotten in certain circles already.”
My pulse knocked against my ribs. I didn’t let it show.
“I’m hoping now you’ll take me seriously. I want that Harrington estate.”
“You should know me too,” I said slowly, trying to work moisture back into my mouth. “You think you’re going to paint me as some kind of villain? I’ll sue you, your publisher, and anyone involved for defamation.”
“Now, I’m not a callous woman. I know you’ve made a life without me,” Jenese continued as if I hadn’t spoken at all, “and I wouldn’t want to mess with that. Truly. I’m rooting for you. I’ve come to make a deal.”
“You’re offering a lot of deals today.”
“You’re not someone I can easily intimidate.
” Jenese grinned. “So, let’s keep it simple: you give me the estate.
I don’t release the photo. And if you’re cooperative, I’ll give you a chapter of the manuscript.
You do a few small things for me, I might even give you editorial input. How’s that for generosity?”
I glared at her. “You’re blackmailing me with a book and want to collaborate on it?”
“Beta reading,” she said, amused. “Very modern.”
Jenese stood up, her chair scraping loudly against the floor. I watched as she slid her sunglasses on and tossed me the flash drive.
“A sample chapter from my book. I think you’ll find it… enlightening . Do give me critique, okay?”
Before I could say anything, Jenese turned to leave, pausing just long enough to glance over her shoulder.
“The estate. Or the photo is going out right now.”
“Fine,” I said. “You’ll get the estate. Two weeks.”
Her eyes gleamed.
“But it won’t be in your name—not directly,” I added coolly. “I’ll move it through a holding company. Clean. Quiet. You’ll get full control, just not…ownership. Not yet.”
She studied me, narrowing her eyes.
“Just a formality,” I said. “You taught me to cover every angle. Can’t have people at my company flagging it, right?” I was already spinning with a thousand ideas on how to delay the transfer. Every day I delayed would give me more space to work.
Jenese smiled, satisfied. “There’s my girl.
“Don’t take too long, Serena, to tell me what you think. I’m not one for waiting—and oh, is that your company on the news?”
I glanced at the TV behind me.
People protesting at King Developments.
Jenese let out a loud laugh, heading for the door, as my phone began to ring and Mama’s name flashed across my screen.
Fuck.