This is my very first try in writing out a short story based on the TV show, Revenge. When I first started watching it, I was immediately hooked; I knew I had to contribute my little story to the wonderful world of FanFiction.

I do not own anything from Revenge; make no money from the stories; the original characters belong to the creators, producers, and scriptwriters. Any events related to real life are purely coincidental.

I do hope you enjoy this one-shot.

Best Served Cold

The ones with the smallest of smiles and speaker of a few words are the ones who hold the biggest of secrets. You don't have to live a lavish lifestyle to hide a secret. You can be rich or poor, young or old, black or white, even Jew or Muslim, to keep a secret. It doesn't even matter, as long as you don't want anyone to find out what you're hiding from the world. One only simply have to have their guards up at all times when simply protecting a secret of their own.

It is, after all, up to the bearer to keep the secret, or to make a mountain of a hypothetical molehill.

As for me, Nolan Ross, great business entrepreneur, is like everyone else living in the Hamptons: fake, prejudiced, proud, and above all, cunning. With all these values comes manipulation, deceit, blackmail, scandals. Being rich obviously comes with a loaded price tag, and I'm not talking about selling and buying, no.

Ah, yes; living in the Hamptons isn't just living. You have to survive it.

When it comes to deception, one can definitely count on one Emily Thorne to come through with it. Her devious and cunning mind is like no other; it has a mind within a mind of its own. Her smooth and perfected expressions can hide the darkest of plans, her condescending smile can throw you off a million miles away, and her actions can make you believe that she was never involved in the first place. No one, and I do mean no one should under- nor overestimate this relentless prowess when she is going through with her plans.

Ever since her father had entrusted me with the task of taking care of her, I have been by her side ever since, both the good and the bad. Through every single scheme, every single plan, every single deception. Helping her take down each Hampton socialite that had ruined her father's life had also pretty much made me realize what Emily Thorne is capable of. Cross her, and boy, are you in for it.

Me, I jumped on her revenge bandwagon knowing what I was getting myself into. I might be collateral damage to her at some point, but I knew I was of some sort of importance to her whether she cared to admit or not. I also knew indefinitely that she needed my expertise in computer technology and connections besides hacking, altering, and sabotaging anything that was of value in order for her revenge to come through in the end.

What I hadn't taken into account from the beginning was that I'd fall in love with Emily Thorne.

Being so close, so familiar with her had my feelings warped. Never had I imagined that I would ever fall for her. But I knew -I knew- that I would somehow be involved with her- voluntarily, of course:

Watching go forth with her life, the plans that she had so elaborately strategized and laid out before her had been such a privilege. Who she really is in person was such a pleasure to watch, especially when things get beyond her control, and she goes absolutely batshit ballistic, even if it is with me she's angry at. I can only compare her frustration and anger as though a painter is uninspired or when a writer is suffering from writer's block; it's just absolutely beautiful to see those emotions that she kept behind metaphorical brick-and-iron walls just let slip, and she just goes into a frenzy of uncontrolled blind anger. Somehow or rather, she has kept her mind so composed and organized that she is able to refocus and recollect her emotions to make it seem like nothing has ever happened at all in a breath.

Sure, I may come of as a pretentious and pompous multibillionaire to many, but being rich isn't really everything, if you were me, I mean. To people like Ashley Davenport, I'm just another prat with stacks of cash to flaunt and throw around whenever I feel like it. To be perfectly honest, I'm just like any other guy with a nonexistent love life: a lonely and emotional wreck. The fact that I'm set for the rest of my life and to be able to provide for five future generations put aside, of course (not so much in the looks department, but I had my fair share of girls- and guys, ahem). As sure as I was, I wouldn't want to spend the rest of my life perpetually alone in a huge glass beachfront mansion with only a bodyguard or two as company. No, no pets; I can't stand dogs and their needy nature. And I definitely do not want to be the crazy rich cat man.

Truth be told, I just stick around Emily just so that I get whatever shred of radiance from her, greedy as I can be. No one can blame me for housing some hope that I might get into her good graces one day, no matter how long it took me. Attending each and every single of Queen Victoria's stifling charity events, balls, causes, or whatever parties she throws allows me to be closer to Emily. Just so I can watch whatever plan of hers unfurl and cause whatever pain and misery she intends to inflict on those socialites, and to be able to see the glint of accomplishment shining in her beautiful brown eyes, to feel her aura of achievement radiating from her strawberry blonde head to the tips of her pedicured toenails. The very hope that I want her to feel whenever I'm around her, just so that she can even remotely begin to feel for me like how I feel for her. It's just very disconcerting, to be completely blindsided by her thirst of revenge.

I was very used to being turned down on a daily basis- girls, business deals, and the like. Even being rejected by Jack Porter, and that was my only request to him to be friends. However, it somehow had hurt me tremendously each time she had turned down my offer to help her in whatever plan she had. It was only in my nature (and my promise to her father) to keep persisting and hound her until she gave in to me. As high as her guard was around people, I'd like to believe that I had somehow penetrated her, even just a little. Little Amanda Clarke isn't little anymore. Imagine my surprise (or lack thereof) when she called me to assist her with her plans. I had gladly jumped at the chance, knowing that she will need me, sooner rather than later, of course.

What had me thinking twice about Emily was her answer to Daniel's proposal to marry him; I simply refuse to believe that marrying him was part of her plan to take down Victoria Grayson. Sure, getting to Daniel was part of her plan to get to the Grayson matriarch, but the uneasy feeling that had begun to build up in the pit of my stomach since their first date made me think otherwise. I remember that hollow feeling in my chest the very first time I saw her look at him; I wasn't sure what it was, but the more I thought about it, the more unsure I felt. She was beginning to fall in love with Daniel Grayson.

The only setback to the plan was the fact that Jack Porter would somehow be caught in the crosshairs of our little schemes. Kill me in cold blood, but even the blind can see that the guy had feelings for Emily, no matter how stupid and oblivious he was to his feelings. I would keep this little piece of knowledge to myself for now, because I have had my eye on Emily, and I'm the only person who knows how she really is in reality.

And the reality is, Emily is just a loyal, determined and scared girl who was desperate to prove her father's innocence to the world, even if it meant destroying the lives of those aloof Hamptons socialites.

After all that is over and done with, I will be the only one to stand by her side, watching said socialites repair their lives piece by piece once David Clarke's innocence is restored. Only then, will she see where my loyalties lie, and that I have been with her in every step of the way while keeping my promise to her father at the same time. Except, I'm making this promise to myself to never allow my feelings for Emily Thorne to get in the way of her ongoing thirst for revenge.

Revenge, of course, is a dish best served cold.

I do certainly hope you have enjoyed this one-shot.

Let me know what you have thought about this. Click the cute little link that says 'Review This Story' to let me know what you think. (;

Thank you for reading!

Xx, Kayy.