Page 49 of The Heart of a Villain

“Aileen, seriously. No—”

I’m already racing to Rush’s bedroom, easily entering inside as no one sees me, and close the door quietly while my pulse rings in my ears. Fear and adrenaline mix inside me, urging me on my quest.

His key must be here somewhere. Even if he catches me, it will be worth it.

I can always distract him.

Ignoring the shame spreading like a wildfire in my veins at the idea of using my body to cover my deceit with a man who basically called me a whore earlier, I think of where to search for the key.

If I were a villain who guarded some family secret, I wouldn’t put it in the most obvious place, which is a desk drawer. It would be somewhere no one would think about checking.

I go through his room, starting with the wardrobe but not finding anything there besides his clothes, bedsheets, and several loaded guns with bullets lying nearby.

Shuddering in disgust, I move to the bathroom and look through various cupboards, also ending up empty-handed.

Racing to the balcony and small bar, I don’t find anything there and groan in frustration at all this. “Where would you put it?”

What if he has it in his office? Certainly, no one goes in there. But I quickly decide against the idea.

Too obvious and easily accessible to everyone.

I focus my attention on his desk with several drawers right under it in the left corner and sit down on the chair, opening them up one by one and seeing folders and documents with deeds or business mergers.

My eyes widen when I realize these are the locations and deals my father lost over the years, and he rarely if ever loses anything. So Rush must have sabotaged those and acquired them under his wing. I gasp at the name of the company.

He owns it?

His fortune must be in the billions, but how in the hell does a man keep such a fortune while being a murderer on the hunt?

Still, among all this information, there is no keychain of any sort, and I huff in exasperation, pulling out the last drawer, and my brows furrow, seeing there is a huge envelope with my name on it.

Even though I know I shouldn’t because the seal isn’t broken and I won’t be able to cover up my intrusion in his room, I can’t resist.

My curiosity is too strong.

Ripping it open, I take out a flash drive along with a small note attached to it.

Sometimes, the people we love the most hurt us the most because they are not who we think they are.

If I were a better man, I’d never let you see it, so you could stay in your precious bubble, believing in brave knights with a high moral code.

So that a man you put on a pedestal would never fall from it, as it would shatter the innocent world you live in.

But my cruelty knows no bounds, as nothing but hatred fills my soul.

And this truth is my gift to you.

Even though to you it will be nothing but a curse.

After such an ambiguous message, everything inside me screams to run away from here and not see whatever he has prepared for me, as it will damage me beyond repair.

A villain doesn’t strike a princess unless his weapon aims at her heart.

But at the same time, I’m so done living with all the lies surrounding me that I have to face the truth.

Turning on his laptop, I insert the flash drive, and the window pops up with a folder that has my name.

I click on it and see several more folders popping up inside it with my father’s and all my uncles’ names on them.

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