Chapter 5
Lennox watched her mother’s bracelet explode across the floor, the cord snapping like a broken promise. Wooden beads scattered in every direction.
In the scramble, someone’s designer boot came down hard. Several beads cracked into dust.
She stared at the wreckage in shock, barely registering Hayes pulling Raina to her feet.
The noise around her faded to static, the room tilting like she was on a sinking ship.
Hayes had Raina pressed against his chest, voice tender. “Baby, you okay?”
When she nodded weakly, he wheeled on Lennox with ice in his eyes. “Jesus Christ, Len. She was giving it back. Did you really have to shove her?”
The accusation hit like a physical blow.
Lennox’s gaze dropped to his feet. One of the crushed beads was ground into his sole like roadkill.
Something inside her detonated.
She grabbed the nearest bottle and cracked it across Raina’s skull before anyone could move.
The scream that followed could’ve shattered glass.
Blood poured down Raina’s face, turning her angel white dress into a crime scene. Through the chaos, Lennox was already reaching for bottle number
two.
Hayes caught her wrist in a grip that could snap bone, his face murderous.
“Are you fucking insane? You could’ve killed her!”
Lennox’s smile was radioactive. “She destroyed my mom’s bracelet. Killing her would be a mercy.”
Hayes glanced at the scattered remains, his voice sharp enough to cut glass. “It broke because you lost your shit! This whole mess is on you.”
“I’ve spoiled you rotten, and this is what I get. You’re completely out of control.”
Each word was a dagger to the heart.
Back in the day, whenever she’d gone toe to toe with Raina, Hayes would just laugh it off. “Go wild, babe. I’ll handle the fallout.”
Now she was a psychopath.
Lennox’s laugh cracked like breaking glass. “You made me this way. Having second thoughts?”
Hayes’s face went darker. “If I’d known you’d turn into this, I would’ve reined you in years ago.”
Behind him, Raina swayed and crumpled.
Hayes caught her instantly, throwing Lennox one last disgusted look. “We’re not done here.”
He scooped Raina up bridal style and bulldozed past Lennox without a backward glance.
The impact sent her sprawling into the table edge, pain exploding through her spine. But Hayes was already gone, carrying his precious cargo toward the exit.
The room spun. Her vision went dark around the edges as the last of her strength drained away.
15:16 at
A Billion Dollar Goodbye: Too Late for Second Chances, Mr. Ex
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Chapter 5
The party scattered like roaches when the lights came on.
Alone in the ruins, Lennox crawled across broken glass until she found two surviving beads. She clutched them like lifelines, the pain in her chest threatening to split her open.
But she wouldn’t cry. Tears w
