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Nemesis

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Chapter 2: Nemesis (Kai's POV)

"What's wrong, Kai?" Nathan asked, a taunt hidden somewhere beneath his tone as he dodged another blow from me and shuffled back within the ring. "Talk to me, sweetheart, what's bothering you? Is it your mother again?" he snickered. 

"Funny," I replied sarcastically before delivering a hard punch to his stomach, knocking the air out of him. 

He wheezed, clutching his side as he hunched over before sinking to his knees altogether. "Give me a fucking second," he muttered, struggling to regain his composure. 

Catching my breath as my chest continued to heave, I lifted my gloved hand to my mouth and ripped off the strap, tugging the boxing gloves off. 

"Clearly," he said, his voice still strained as he looked up at me from the ground, "something's bothering my sweetheart." 

I stared down at him blankly as he knelt before me. "Sorry," I replied, "were you still talking?" 

Scoffing lightly, he fell back and lay on the ground, resting a hand on his stomach. "Fine," he conceded, "you win today." 

Lifting a hand, I wiped the sweat dripping off my temple. "I always do, Nathan. You seem to forget that." 

He scoffed lightly, rising to his feet as I walked past him and out of the ring, hopping onto the floor. "Always so arrogant, aren't you, Warner?" he asked, following me into the men's locker room. 

"Mistaking my confidence for arrogance?" I clicked my tongue. "You wound me," I added dryly, tossing my gloves aside before grabbing a towel. I draped it over my shoulder, my upper half still bare as I stood there, only clad in a pair of black sweats. 

"What is it? Seriously?" Nathan persisted, closing his locker and leaning against it. "Is it your mother again?" 

"She'll be glad you're so concerned for her." 

"Is it your father?" 

"No, Nathan," I huffed out. 

He paused for a second, his calculating eyes scanning me from head to toe. 

I stood in place with impatience etched all over me until his eyes came back to mine. I promptly arched a brow. "Checking me out?" 

"As attractive as you are, man, no. Is it work?" he asked knowingly. 

I rolled my eyes and brushed past him, heading to the showers. 

"Is it Rose Chen?" he called out after me. 

Stopping with a sigh, I spun around to face him. "You're not going to follow me into the shower, seeking an answer, are you?" 

"So it is," he smirked in confidence. "It always is... I should have known." 

My eyes narrowed on him. He was so smug, talking in that posh British accent, a know-it-all. It annoyed me to no extent that he was always so persistent. 

He held his hands up in surrender as I glared at him. "I'm backing off, Kai. Relax." 

Spinning back around as I raked a hand through my hair, I finally stepped in for a shower. 

Rose Chen. 

New York's everlasting, precious little diamond. Always the angel, never truly a saint. She had mastered the art of not only fooling the world around her but hiding who she truly was. Rose was wicked, cunning, and calculative. 

It irked me to no extent that the world around us failed to see who she truly was, yet I had the miserable pleasure of experiencing it first-hand. 

Not every word of hatred I spewed came from the source that was the Warner-Chen rivalry. She always proved them right. A Chen was never to be trusted and never dependable. She was as vicious as her bloodline had a history of being. 

No one had ever quite rubbed me the wrong way like Rose did. Her arrogance, her stubbornness; she was rigid in her ways just as I was in mine. 

Flashes of last night replayed in my mind as I stood beneath the shower, exhaling roughly as cold water washed over me from head to toe. 

She had no right to steal that case from me. I'd spent weeks on it, and it was the one night I couldn't get away from Warner & Co. and my responsibilities as a member of the board. Instead of waiting, Marshall saw it fit to give the case to the next best person. Someone I despised unlike any other. Rose. 

I was already expecting the earful Marshal would give me in return. A lesson I should remember for a lifetime. 

She made it look so easy, acting like it was child's play to kill a man. 

Nobody has ever had the pleasure of watching Rose Katrina Chen unravel, nobody had ever seen her lose at anything in this life. She wore her pride like a crown, living in a facade of always being right. 

Whether I was born into this enmity or not, I'd decided to be the first to show her what losing felt like, and I didn't care how long it took me. I would beat her at this game, no matter how many lifetimes it took. 

By the time I left The Veil and drove myself to my apartment, I had about a dozen missed calls from my mother that I had ignored. And fuck me, I should have known better. I slowed down to a stop as I parked my car and leaned back in my seat, resting a hand on the wheel. 

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," I whispered to myself, grabbing my belongings and exiting the car. "Ma," I breathed out, stopping where she stood, her arms crossed rigidly as she waited against her car. "What are you doing here?" 

"You're ignoring my calls," she said pointedly, "I thought you knew better than that, Kai." 

"And I thought you knew better than to show up at my apartment." 

Her eyes narrowed to slits. "Careful," she warned in Mandarin. 

"Now that you've welcomed yourself here," I continued anyway, "why don't you come upstairs? I'll make you some tea." 

"I'm busy," she said. 

Thank God. 

"I came to remind you of the annual Gilbert auction tonight." 

I bit down on an agitated groan and simply bowed my head in response. "Noted. Anything else, Mother?" 

"Your father wants you in the office tomorrow," she said, getting back in her car. "Don't be late tonight, Kai. It looks bad for the family." 

Just as everything I do, I suppose. 

My tongue prodded at the inside of my cheek as I watched her drive off, annoyance washing over me like ice-cold water. 

The perception this world had of the Warner family, of me as the family's only heir and son, and what my family was truly like were two very contradicting images. This city perceived me as just another rich kid who had everything handed to him his entire life, someone who had a CEO position at his disposal whenever he wanted it, and someone who was never told 'no.' 

In everybody's eyes, I was just another spoiled brat who never had to fight for anything he wanted yet always got it. 

Rose's words from last night echoed in my mind. 

"Being a Warner, you always assume everything you want will be handed to you." 

My jaw ticked as I entered the penthouse and shut the front door behind me, heading straight to my room to prepare for tonight's event. 

It was true, I always got what I wanted. That wasn't to say I didn't fight for it in my own ways but there was no point giving an argument that would fall on deaf ears. People only believed what they truly wanted to believe. So be it. I was a nepo-baby to my core. 

Stepping into my closet, I grabbed a navy blue suit for the night and added a soft white satin handkerchief in the pocket. 

The annual Gilbert auction was one of the year's biggest events. Undoubtedly, the Chens would be there. It was a constant battle between us and them. If I did anything to jeopardize the family name tonight, including wearing the wrong tie or having a crease somewhere in my suit, all hell would break loose. My mother would wreak havoc over me. 

Out of all events, it was an auction. That meant war in a world like ours. I couldn't remember one event in my entire life that didn't lead to a new corrupt deal, murder, or some other lethal crime. 

Every night in a city like ours, some lives were lost while others were bargained. Everything had a price. Everyone had a price. It simply had to be named, and someone would appear to buy it. 

Money was filthy, but everyone lusted after it with a craze. Some prolific families like my own had the privilege to spend it blindly. 

But money wasn't the only thing a man like me lusted after. The first thing on that list was always winning. 

Better yet, it was watching the unbreakable Rose Chen lose.   

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Chapter 2

I'M HERE. I'M ALIVE. I'VE SURVIVED AUSTRALIA AND ITS SPIDERS SO FAR.

I am SO sorry about the delays in updating, but it was my first week of uni, so cut me some slack pleaseee

I've finally settled in (for the most part), and I now have my schedule figured out, so I promise I'll try to update more regularly.

Otherwise, you will always get a weekly update from me, at the very least <3

PLEASE LEAVE LOTS OF COMMENTS TO KEEP ME MOTIVATED. FEEL FREE TO ATTACK ME IF YOU WANT AN UPDATE AND I'M NOT DELIVERING FAST ENOUGH, but be nice

Okay, love y'all bye! 

💋