CHAPTER 209 An Ortiz
*Joy*
The garden swelled with the wild poetry of spring. Peonies, the color of bruised dusk, spilled from old stone urns, their petals trembling in the breeze like secrets waiting to be spilled. Tulips nodded in elegant clusters, their hues singing in the sunlight—blood red, bone white, sunshine yellow—while jasmine threaded its scent through the air like a spell. The lawn was aglow, bathed in sunlight thick as honey, golden and blinding, casting long shadows from rows of ivory chairs dressed in satin bows. Guests whispered, decked out in muted luxury—pale silks, tailored suits, vintage pearls—while a string quartet conjured melodies that floated like sugar through the heat.
And I stood at the edge of it all. Gilded, veiled, and vindictive.
“Virtue!” Cristos’s voice cut through the music like a firework—too loud, too familiar, and exactly what I needed. He strode toward Liam and me, tuxedo immaculate, white rose on his lapel, his eyes glittering with mischief and conspiracies. “You are positively *radiant*, darling,” he exclaimed, stealing me from Liam’s side with theatrical flair. “It is an honor to walk you down the aisle. I *am* your bestest friend, after all.”
My lips curved into a practiced smile, but my heart plummeted. I had always pictured my father beside me on this day, his steady hand guiding me down the aisle, blessing the union between me and the man I chose to marry. But I reminded myself... Today wasn’t about love. It wasn’t even about the lie of marriage. It was about vengeance, carefully disguised as vows.
“Who else would I choose?” I teased, giggling. My eyes scanned the guests. I noticed Xavier and Sebastian sitting with Link, talking quietly, their faces serious. "Is everyone here?"
"Mmm-hm. All are present and pretty," Cristos nodded before gesturing to Liam and Jack. “Liam, Jack—off to the altar, you two. Let’s get this show on the road.” Jack and Liam quickly obeyed, moving to the altar.
Cristos linked my arm through his like a proud escort, but his grin faded to a razor’s edge as Liam drifted toward the altar, his voice slipping beneath the music like a serpent. “Lorenzo wants Link dead. As for Liam, he wants both of them six feet under.”
I stiffened slightly and felt my pulse quicken, but I kept my voice steady, a whisper cloaked in silk. “But Liam asked Link to prepare his legal documents. Why kill someone useful?”
Cristos’s eyes flicked through the crowd. “That’s where Lisa comes in.” He nodded toward her, where she stood in a pool of sunlight, cloaked in soft yellow silk, her eyes trailing after Link like a starving woman at a feast. “She’s in love with him. Link is going to keep her glued to his side, and she’ll shield him without knowing it.”
My brow furrowed in confusion. "And what use will that be to Lorenzo when he doesn't even know her—"
"She’s an Ortiz, Virtue."
The words struck me like a slap on the face. My vision blurred, the world tilting as her lies unraveled—every smile, every shared secret, a blade she’d twisted deep into my back.
I spun toward him, whisper-shouting: “She’s a what?!”
But the string quartet struck up the bridal march, silencing all else. Guests rose like waves, their heads turning toward me, smiling, weeping, basking in the fairy-tale glow of it all.
Under my veil, my eyes blazed. Lisa was an *Ortiz*? That snake had slithered into my life long before I even knew there was a game being played. I had let her braid my hair. Share my secrets. Sleep in my room. She had smiled at my mother and laughed at our dinners and never once flinched at her own duplicity. I had loved her like a sister. And all along, she had been planted.
My body trembled, rage surging like a beast. My nails bit into Cristos’s arm as the gym flashed in my mind—Lisa’s syrupy voice luring me to the doors of the boys' gym, the boys’ sneers, the way they violated my body and broke my spirit. I almost died that night, and Lisa had lit the match.
Bile rose in my throat, my mind replaying the trap—her laughter echoing, urging me toward the boys’ gym that night our junior year. “There’s a surprise for you inside, Joy!” she had trilled, her smile a lie. Once inside, the doors had slammed shut behind me, trapping me with four boys whose laughter was a prelude to my ruin.
I wanted to storm across the lawn, seize Lisa by her hair, and strangle her with my veil.
“You’re hurting me,” Cristos hissed through his teeth, sensing the fire inside me.
I inhaled, slow and sharp. “You should’ve told me sooner."
"I just found out, okay," Cristos reasoned, his tone low. "I figured it was better you heard it from me than Lorenzo. No surprises."
I laughed, sharp and bitter. "This isn't a surprise. It's a nightmare."
“Virtue, I need you to focus," Cristos's tone was harsh, a warning, despite the smile plastered on his face. "Our original plan has gone to shit. Right now, we take Pete down first. Then we move on and deal with the others.” He guided me onto the yellow carpet covered with rose petals. “But if it's any consolation, Cris Murdock is gone. *You killed Lisa's husband.* *You*." He nudged me on my side. "Now, *smile*, sweetheart. You're getting married today."
My body moved like clockwork, but my mind was still on Lisa and this revelation. I tilted my head, my smile blade-sharp. “Only for her to fall into another man’s arms. Some consolation."
“But Link’s ours,” Cristos countered, his smirk a shared weapon. “He’ll break her heart and twist the knife for good measure.”
It wasn’t enough. As we glided down the aisle, the memory of that night in the gym clawed at me—Lisa’s laughter echoing as the doors locked, the boys’ eyes glinting like monsters. Tears pricked my eyes, but I swallowed them, refusing to let her betrayal break me again.
Instead, I focused on the guests. Strangely, their faces, a blur of feigned joy, offered me some comfort.
"Break her heart? That's not good enough," I scoffed, my lips curving into a beaming smile as the altar loomed ahead. "I'm going to rip her heart out from her chest."
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