When Snow and Flames Collide

Chapter 9: Tangled Loyalties & Burning Resolve

✧˖°⋆｡˚ First impressions are often the most misleading

𐙚ྀ˙✧ There are certain encounters that seem fated to take place

- Jane Austen

𐙚ྀ˙✧˖°⋆｡˚───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────˚｡⋆✧જ⁀➴ᡣ𐭩

Amber's POV

Flashback~

The air crackled with frenetic energy, a chaotic symphony of laughter, music, and the excited babble of a hundred voices. I slipped through all of them, my crimson masquerade mask a flimsy shield for my eyes so that no one can recognize me.

My hand instinctively closed around the shard clutched in my palm, a jagged piece of obsidian that gleamed with a dark promise.

Tonight, the elaborate masquerade served as more than a social gathering. It was a dance with danger, a meticulously choreographed play with high stakes. Every step, every calculated interaction, was a calculated move towards my ultimate goal: Stawarski.

A wave of nausea washed over me as I spotted him across the room, his arrogant smirk amplified by the jeweled mask he wore. The memory of his smug laughter, the way he'd manipulated the situation to his advantage, fueled a cold rage in my gut. But tonight, the tables will be turned.

Heather, my partner in crime, materialized beside me, "Spotted our target," she murmured, a mischievous glint in her hazel eyes. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," I replied, my voice a low growl. My gaze darted around the room as I was cutting that rope when my eyes met Daniel's.

Our carefully orchestrated plan, months in the making, seemed to be spoiling as it began.

End of flashback~

The door creaked open a little, and I slipped inside. I heard Dennis' voice, praising Eric, and it grated on my nerves. "You really are amazing," he said, a touch of awe in his tone. "Even better than Ray, right Amy?." He glanced back, with his playful mood.

I know their dynamics better to know how much Dennis loves Ray. They enjoy bickering as a facade to mask their affection.

Boys.

Daniel trailed me like a shadow – I knew he'd caught a glimpse of the shard clutched in my hand that night. I had looked around carefully to make sure that no one was around.

Heather, perched discreetly on the second floor, who had kept watch, her sharp eyes, were our early warning system. Downstairs, Ray's hired hands had seamlessly integrated themselves into the festivities, leading a boisterous conga line that snaked its way through the throng. Their task was – to subtly steer the crowd away when the moment arrived, leaving Stawarski alone, our target. I'd been sure that the future MD of Cole'n Groups wouldn't join a "Peasant Dance".

Had Daniel seen too much? The weight of his unspoken question and our eye contact with the shard in my hand at the masquerade hung heavy between us, a silent threat to my plan.

Panic clawed at my throat but I didn't let it show on my face. Everything had been meticulously planned – a perfectly orchestrated play. 

Yet, as fate would have it, the curtain had risen on utter chaos.

Kevin and Ray, who weren't included in the plan, were now thick in the throng. To make matters worse, one child shrieked, got hurt and the other was lost and scared, and worst of all, Daniel.