VENGEANCE AND VELVET

Chapter One: Unveiling the Darkness

Grace sat at her husband’s desk, her fingers trembling as she rifled through his belongings. It had been months since his behavior shifted, subtle but disturbing. He had grown distant his once affectionate gestures had become mechanical, his words hollow. Something was wrong, but she couldn't place what it was. Her fingers brushed against a small object tucked away at the bottom of the drawer. A pendrive.

Curiosity bloomed within her, the unease building in her chest. She had never been the suspicious type, but the secrecy gnawed at her. Without thinking twice, Grace inserted the pendrive into her laptop and clicked open the only folder.

The loading screen flickered for a second before the image sharpened, and then screams. Horrible, blood-chilling screams. They weren’t just distant echoes they were raw, present, suffocating. The sound hit her like a tidal wave, and Grace froze in her seat. Her heart raced, every nerve in her body on edge. The video showed something… but her mind couldn't fully process it. The scene was too gruesome, too unimaginable.

Her breath quickened. The world seemed to blur, her vision darkening at the edges as she realized what she was seeing.

And then—blackness.

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Alice stood on the outskirts of the city where she and Grace had spent their youth. She stared at the cityscape with a heavy heart, unable to believe she was back under these circumstances. Resigning from her job had been the only way to cope with the unbearable grief after Grace’s death. Her best friend—her only family, really—was gone. The emptiness echoed in every step she took as she moved back to the city that had once been their sanctuary.

Today, she was visiting Grace’s grave for the first time since she found out about her death.

The cemetery was quiet, a haunting reminder of how alone Alice truly felt. She placed her hand on the cold stone that bore Grace’s name and whispered an apology. “I should’ve been there, Grace. I should’ve known something was wrong.” Tears welled up in her eyes as guilt swirled inside her. Grace had always been there for her, but Alice… she hadn’t even known her best friend was dead until four months after it had happened.

As she made her way back to the car, her eyes caught a familiar figure. It was Grace’s husband, standing with a woman beside him, laughing softly. Something inside Alice snapped. Without thinking, she stormed over to him, her emotions raw and untamed.

“You didn’t even have the decency to tell me she died?” Her voice was sharp, cutting through the air like a knife.

Grace’s husband turned, startled by her sudden appearance. His eyes darkened, and for a moment, Alice saw a flicker of something—guilt, perhaps. Or fear. “Alice, I—”

“Don’t you dare,” she interrupted, her voice rising. “Don’t you dare make excuses. I had to find out on my own that she was gone. Four months and you didn’t even have the courtesy to tell me? I had to find out on my own. Four long, painful months of reaching out, only to discover she was dead. You—” She stopped, her breath catching in her throat. The weight of her grief and guilt was too much.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “It all happened so fast. I wasn’t thinking straight. I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” Alice felt her anger boil, but it quickly gave way to a deep, overwhelming sadness. “I wasn’t there for her. She didn’t have anyone. And now she’s gone.” Her voice cracked, and she couldn’t hold back the tears any longer.

Without waiting for a response, Alice turned and walked away, her heart shattered.

Later that night, Alice found herself in a dimly lit bar, nursing a drink far stronger than anything she was used to. She didn’t care. The alcohol dulled the edges of her grief, but it couldn’t take away the guilt gnawing at her insides.

Grace had been more than a best friend. She had been her family, her other half. They had grown up together, survived together in a world that had offered them little. And yet, Alice had left. She had moved out of the city, chasing her own dreams while Grace had stayed behind, alone. They had shared everything, including the darkest moments of their lives. Alice remembered the last few months they had spent together vividly the terror, the near destruction of their lives.

Grace had nearly been sold to a brothel because of a debt they owed. They had been desperate, and the only way out had been a lie—a story about Grace having a terminal illness. The lie had worked, but it had cost them dearly. And in the end, Grace had married the man who Alice now blamed for her death.

The official report said it was suicide. The word was like a dagger to her heart every time she thought about it. Could she have stopped it? If she had been there, would Grace have found another way?

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she stared into her glass. “I should’ve been there,” she whispered to herself. “I should’ve been there, Grace.”

The memories overwhelmed her, suffocating in their intensity. Grace had been strong, but even the strongest people had their breaking points. Alice felt her chest tighten as she recalled the last time they had spoken, how Grace had seemed… distant. She had missed the signs. She had left her best friend alone in a world that had been nothing but cruel to them.

Alice blamed herself. She had been the one to leave, the one to abandon the only person who had ever truly mattered. Now, she was left with nothing but regret, a cold glass, and the haunting thought that she could have saved her.

Chapter Two: The First Step

Alice sat in her dimly lit room, staring at the file spread across her bed. Her fingers traced the edges of the documents—names, faces, people who had a hand in her best friend’s death. The pain in her chest was still raw, the void that Grace had left gnawing at her heart. But amid the sorrow, there was a cold determination.

*Thank God for the video Grace sent me.*

The email had arrived months ago Alice had discovered the video few weeks after she was told Grace was gone. She had almost missed it, buried beneath months of unopened messages. But when she finally clicked on it, her world shifted. The video was— Grace had known something was coming. She had uncovered something, a secret too dangerous to keep, and it had cost her life.

Tears welled up in Alice’s eyes as she skimmed through the list again. A part of her wondered if she would ever find happiness again now that her other half was gone. Could she ever laugh or love with th