Chapter 57: Velvet Shadows 1
Micah’s POV
In exactly twenty minutes, the low rumble of an engine echoed from the dark street outside the house.
My heart instantly leaped into my throat.. Sitting right at the edge of our long driveway, its headlights turned off to keep from alerting anyone inside the house, was Raven’s sleek black sedan.
This was it. There was no turning back now.
I took a deep, shaky breath, smoothing down the lapels of the crisp dark suit I was wearing. My knees were trembling so violently I could barely stand straight. Father had taken his heavy sleep medication less than twenty minutes ago, but the sheer, agonizing terror of him waking up and catching me sneaking out of the house made my blood run ice-cold. If he caught me, he wouldn’t just disown me—he would beat me until I couldn’t walk.
I tiptoed out of my room, barefoot, carrying my dress shoes in one hand while my phone was clutched tightly in the other. Every single floorboard beneath my feet sounded like a bomb going off in the dead silence of the hallway. I paused outside father’s bedroom door, holding my breath until my lungs burned. Nothing. Just deep snoring from inside.
I practically floated down the staircase, slipped my shoes on at the front door, unlocked the heavy deadbolt slowly, and stepped out into the biting night air.
I didn’t stop to look back. I sprinted across the dark lawn, threw open the passenger door of Raven’s idling car, and slid into the leather seat, slamming the door shut behind me.
"Hey," I gasped out, letting out a wild, breathless wave as I tried to pull air back into my starved lungs.
Raven didn’t even flinch at my dramatic entry. She was leaning back against her headrest, resting one arm casually on the steering wheel while her dark eyes slowly scanned me from head to toe. A small, approving thumbs-up lifted from her hand.
"You look absolutely perfect, Micah," she said, her voice smooth and unbothered. "That suit fits you like a glove."
I lifted my shoulders slightly, a tiny flare of pride cutting through the paralyzing anxiety in my chest. I smoothed down the front of the tailored jacket—the very same suit the Silver family had gifted me. It made me look like I belonged to the upper crust of society, even if my bank account was completely empty. I needed this job so badly my soul ached for it. Since Raven was personally introducing me to her brother, I was definitely going to get hired... right?
"Thanks," I muttered, pressing my palms together and rubbing them back and forth nervously to stop the shaking. "I just... I really hope he hires me tonight."
Raven didn’t answer. She threw the car into drive, stomped on the gas pedal, and peeled away from the curb, steering us toward the bright, glowing skyline of the downtown district.
Throughout the ride, the silence inside the cabin was filled by the heavy, distorted guitar ruffs of heavy rock music blasting from her stereo. I stared out the passenger window, watching the streetlights stretch into long lines of yellow light as my stomach churned in anxious knots.
"Were you at the burial ceremony at the church today?" Raven asked suddenly, reaching over to turn down the volume knob on the dashboard just enough so we could hear each other.
"Yeah," I replied softly, my throat tightening at the memory of the suffocating crowd and father’s booming, hypocritical sermon. "I was there the whole morning."
Raven shrugged her shoulders, her dark makeup making her sharp features look almost villainous under the passing streetlights.
"Of course you were," she muttered casually. "It was your father’s church, after all. Honestly, I couldn’t believe how fucking massive that place was. It looked more like a private cathedral than a neighborhood church."
I pressed my lips together into a tight, silent line, staring down at my lap. I didn’t have anything to say to that. How could I explain to her that the towering stone walls and stained-glass windows of father’s precious church felt less like a sanctuary and more like a gilded cage? How could I tell her that the man standing behind the altar preaching about love, salvation, and godliness was the exact same monster who threatened to erase my existence the second I stepped out of line?
Seeing that I wasn’t in the mood to talk about my father’s holy empire, Raven reached out and cranked the volume back up, letting the aggressive rock music drown out the oppressive silence between us until we reached the heart of the city.
As we pulled onto the main boulevard downtown, my eyes widened in complete disbelief.
I vividly remembered Raven telling me over text that her brother owned a ’small bar’ downtown. But as she slowed the car down near the corner, what stood before us wasn’t a small bar at all.
It was a towering, opulent three-story complex made of sleek black glass and glowing gold steel. Glowing neon purple lights snaked along the architectural edges of the building, casting an intoxicating, dangerous glow over the entire street. Standing outside the heavy double glass doors was a line of massive, muscular bouncers built like brick walls, dressed in sharp black tactical suits. A long, gleaming queue of high-end luxury sports cars—Maybachs, Lamborghinis, and custom Porsches—stretched down the entire block, waiting to drop off high-profile guests.
My jaw practically hit my lap. A sudden wave of intense panic washed right over me.
"Raven..." I stammered, pointing a shaking finger out the window. "How in the world are we going to enter this place? This... this doesn’t look like a small bar! It looks like an ultra-exclusive, high-end VIP club!"
Raven let out a soft, amused laugh, steering the car around the long line of waiting luxury vehicles.
"I told you it was nice," she said smoothly. She reached into her dark leather purse, her manicured fingers pulling out a sleek, unbranded matte-black metal card. She held it up between her fingers, flashing it at me with a smirk. "My older brother owns the whole building, Micah. And I hold a family VIP card. We don’t do waiting in lines."
A strange, bitter pang of jealousy flared up in my chest, making my throat feel tight.
Once again, I was hit with a brutal, unapologetic reminder of the world I lived in. Everyone around me—Damon Silver, Raven, Sunny—they all belonged to this absurd, untouchable class of wealthy elites. They moved through life with effortless confidence, opening doors with black cards and family names, while I was sitting here in a borrowed suit, praying for a minimum-wage job just so I wouldn’t starve on the street if my father threw me out.
As Raven pulled our car up to the front gate, two of the massive bouncers immediately stepped forward, their sharp eyes scanning the vehicle. Raven rolled down her driver’s window and casually flashed the matte-black metal card in their faces.
The moment the bouncers saw the card, their cold, intimidating expressions instantly vanished. They stood at rigid attention, bowing their heads respectfully before stepping back and waving her straight through toward the subterranean private parking garage.
Raven rolled her window back up and drove down the dark, carpeted ramp into the underground sanctuary.
I swallowed hard, keeping my mouth shut. I desperately wanted to comment on how insane and cool that entire interaction was, but I forced myself to stay quiet, not wanting to come across like a pathetic, broke country bumpkin who had never seen money before.
We pulled into the subterranean parking lot, which was packed with row after row of hypercars, and found an empty private stall near the VIP elevator.
"Shall we?" Raven asked, turning off the ignition and turning her head to look at me.