“Argh!” Ava screamed in frustration before storming out of the car.

Her eyes landed on one of her little cousin’s bicycles. Without a second thought—completely ignoring its tiny size and bright pink color—she hopped on. Helmet? Who cares?

She pedaled furiously, speeding out of her family’s estate like a bat out of the darkest cave one had ever seen.

Meanwhile, back at the breakfast table, Layla sat, sipping her coffee, suddenly realizing Ava still hadn’t come back.

When Ava finally reached Ace’s family’s new estate, she froze. The entire property was barricaded. And not by the local cops. These were her mom’s guys—dark suits, stoic expressions, the type that followed her mother around, ready to snap to attention at a moment’s notice.

Ava planned to just charge through, but as soon as she neared the barricade, the suits reacted with an inhumane reflex. Before she knew it, she was face down in the dirt, arms pinned behind her back, tasting mud.

“Let go of me, asshole!” she snarled, struggling. But her gifted strength was no match for the agent’s supernatural grip.

“Easy, Agent. She’s the acting EAD’s sole daughter,” the Senior Agent on site called out.

Listening to the Senior Agent, the agent immediately released Ava, letting her get to her feet who dusted herself off slowly, dragging it out as she locked eyes with the agent who had just pinned her. Then, with an exaggerated huff, she trudged planning to cross the barricade, but the senior agent blocked her path, politely adding, “Miss, this place is off limits. Please return otherwise I will be forced to detain you for obstruction.”

Ava locked eyes with the Senior Agent and sneered, “I’m going in. None of you are gonna stop me. Not even you.”

She took a step closer, her voice dripping with threat, “Go ahead. Do your worst. But I promise you—my mother is gonna love hearing how you not only attacked her daughter but detained her like some low-life criminal.”

“How about I ask her right now?” The Senior Agent didn’t waste time arguing with Ava. Instead, he immediately contacted the EAD through the comm earpiece, reporting the situation and requesting permission to detain her daughter.

Experience had taught him that, in situations like this, it was always better to go straight to the source. Still, he wasn’t expecting the following response from EAD Matthews, “Don’t just detain her—throw her in the county holding cell. Let her see the real world. But if anything happens to her, I will have your entire family’s heads. Can I count on you, Agent Moonshade?”

Moonshade had been on protective detail for plenty of high-profile kids before, but hearing such a request from the parents was a first for him.

He didn’t question it. If anything, it just confirmed what he already suspected—this girl wasn’t just EAD’s daughter. She was probably her heir.

“Yes, ma’am. Rest assured,” getting off the comm, Moonshade turned back to Ava, flashing a grin, he informed, “Tough luck, kid. You’re going to prison. Hope you had your breakfast, prison food sucks.”

With a simple hand signal, one of his agents moved in, yanking Ava’s arms behind her and snapping cuffs around her wrists before shoving her toward the backseat of a black SUV.

“What?” Ava gawked, still in shock as she was manhandled into the car.

The door slammed shut, and within seconds, the vehicle pulled away, heading straight for the county sheriff’s office.

Meanwhile, after issuing that order, Matthews wasted no time turning back to Ace. Without warning, she grabbed him by the throat—one-handed—and lifted him clean off the ground.

Ace didn’t struggle nor panicked, he didn’t even flinch. He remained indifferent and simply locked eyes with her, waiting for her to come to her senses. For her to realize the point he was trying to make here. However, staring into that unreadable gaze, Matthews’ jaw clenched.

“It was you, wasn’t it?” she demanded. “You’re the one who called her here.”

“Yes, I did,” Ace admitted without hesitation. His tone was calm, and measured. “I didn’t want things to escalate any further than necessary. I was hoping for a peaceful resolution, nothing more. No offense, no disrespect. I just thought that if Ava got involved, maybe—just maybe—you’d see where I’m coming from.”

He held Matthews’ gaze, trying to get through to her. But it was obvious—she wasn’t seeing reason. First, it was her ambition. Now, it was her anger. Both had blinded her to what she was actually doing.

Did she not realize? His entire family was just a few hectares away. If the C.I.B. and the MacSuile family clashed here, they’d be right in the middle of it.

This whole thing could’ve been resolved over a drink, maybe a couple of drinks. But Matthews? She was hell-bent on escalating it into battle just to satisfy her ego.

That’s why he called Ava—to put Matthews in his shoes and force her to see what he was going through. However, it seems he failed.

“Guess what, genius? Your little stunt did the exact opposite of what you intended.” Matthews’ voice dripped with malice. “You never should’ve dragged my daughter into this. Congratulations—you just pissed off the one person who holds your fate in her hands.”

What really burned her wasn’t just that Ava had come running here for him. It was that her daughter was willing to break the law—to throw away her future—for this asshole… yet she wouldn’t even spare her mother two kind words.

And the worst part? Ace didn’t even see Ava the way she saw him. Not even as a friend. And definitely not whatever illusions Ava had built up in her head.

That’s right—she knew everything. Layla had done a damn good job keeping her updated on her daughter’s life. And Matthews could not believe that Ava had grown into one of those girls—girls who threw away their entire future over some boy.

It was pathetic and unacceptable to her. She refused to let her daughter turn into that. That’s why she asked Agent Moonshade to show her the harsh reality of the world before she could begin shaping her into her rightful heir.

Shaking her head in disappointment, she turned her gaze back to the Apaches and sadistically barked, “Fire!”—all while swinging Ace around by the neck like a ragdoll as she turned to eye the house about to be blown sky-high by the Apaches, getting the full worth out of the tax payers dollars.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep