Chapter 2

I spent the night in the VIP lounge.

Early the next morning, a SnapChat from Blake appeared: a screenshot of a $5,000 transfer.

A voice message followed seconds later, his tone dripping with condescending reassurance.

"Last night was an emergency. Sorry for the inconvenience. Use this to book another first-class ticket, or buy yourself a bag to cheer up. Chloe's young and fragile. Don't pick fights with her."

I didn't reply. I just blocked him.

The house was silent when I returned. On the table sat a neatly wrapped gift bag-Blake's “apology,” delivered after he landed the night before.

I opened it.

Inside lay a bottle of perfume, a generic staple from the duty-free shop. The irony was almost physical: it was the exact "man-magnet" fragrance Chloe had raved about on her social media.

Before I could even move to throw it away, the front door slammed open. Blake was back. He still hadn't grasped the gravity of anything, walking in with a couple of his co-pilots, their laughter and casual banter filling the silent house.

Chloe followed close behind him, clinging to his arm like a trophy.

When he saw me on the sofa, Blake's smile wavered for a second. He walked over and gave my shoulder a patronizing pat. "Why are you ignoring my messages? Still in a mood?"

"My friends are here. Chloe even bought groceries to cook as her way of apologizing. Be the bigger person."

His co-pilots joined in, their voices a chorus of false diplomacy. "Blake does care, Ava. He bought you that perfume." "Come on, Chloe's not as strong as you. Just let it go."

I sat perfectly still, watching them. Watching them systematically dismantle my feelings and expect me to smile through it.

Then I rose slowly, my eyes locked on the hand he still had on my shoulder.

"Take it off."

Blake froze. "Ava, are you serious? I told you it was a special situation! Can you stop being so unreasonable?"

I picked up the freshly printed documents from the table and slapped them against his face.

"All I know is you abused your authority. You illegally kicked me out of first class and took my seat. That's a serious violation of passenger rights!"

One of the papers drifted to Chloe's feet. It was a high-resolution security footage screenshot of her entering the cockpit.

Blake's face instantly went ashen. He snapped his head towards me, his voice trembling. "You... you pulled the security footage? Are you crazy? That's classified company information!"

"Oh, so now it's classified?" I sneered, taking a step closer. "Furthermore, you brought an unauthorized person into the cockpit. You know the charges for that under aviation law, don't you?"