I took off my blazer, rolled my sleeves, and took the blade from the stand. It wasn’t just any knife; it was the ceremonial blade used for internal executions that only the Don or his heir could wield.
“You were the last obstacle,” I whispered. “The only other name they could’ve considered if I didn’t produce an heir. Too bad your greediness blinded you.” I chuckled coldly. “You stole from a family that doesn’t even steal from its enemies.”
“Merge, wait—”Kalvon screamed but my blade was already in motion.
With one clean, merciless swing, his head hit the block with a sickening thud before rolling across the concrete like it was searching for somewhere to hide. The sound was heavy, wet, and final. Kalvon’s body collapsed forward and twitched once as blood fanned out across the floor.
I picked the chain off the floor and held it high for everyone to see.
“He wasn’t worthy of this, and the family don’t wear what traitors touched!”
I threw it into the barrel already lit behind me and it melted in seconds.
I turned to face the room again. My boots were still sticky with Kalvon’s blood.
My father stepped up beside me, hands clasped behind his back like a king surveying his kingdom. His eyes swept across every man present; each one silent, stiff-backed, and fully aware they’d just witnessed history.
His voice rolled out slowly and heavily. “This is what happens to those who believe they can betray us and live.”He paused, letting Kalvon’s headless body drag across the floor punctuate the point. “This is what happens when ego outweighs loyalty, and a man forgets the hand that fed him.”
My father rested a firm hand on my shoulder, solid and unapologetic pride in the gesture.
“And this,” he added, looking around the room, “is what a real heir looks like.”
The men didn’t cheer or clap. Their respect wasn’t loud; it was quiet and unanimous.
Every man bowed his head once in silent allegiance.
My father leaned in then, low enough that only I could hear him. “Now that’s he’s gone, tell me… what the hell are we gonna do if you don’t give me a grandchild soon?”
I cracked a smirk. “Everything will work out, Pops. I don’t know how, but I feel it will.”
Behind us, Kalvon’s body was dragged across the cellar floor, leaving a thick trail of blood in its wake while his head was carried out separately in silence.
Bagged… tagged… and forgotten.
I didn’t feel any type of remorse. Hell, I didn’t even feel sick.
One less snake breathing my air. One less obstacle standing between me and that chair.
Chapter seven
Haelyn
The chill bit through my thin jacket as I stepped off the bus and crossed the parking lot toward the grocery store, but I didn’t complain. It was the kind of cold that reminded me that I was free.
It was September. I made it home just in time for the holiday season. I had no family to visit, no one to greet me with sweet potato pie or wrap me in a hug, but it still felt better than being trapped behind Willowgate’s sterile walls during the holidays.
In there, we got turkey loaf and watery mashed potatoes served on beige trays. A dusty tree sat in the corner of the day room, decorated by staff who didn’t care and patients who couldn’t. They played the same scratched-up CD every year—off-key carols echoing through the halls like a bad joke. And if you were lucky, your meds would hit early enough to knock you out before the melancholy settled in too deep. Now the cool air didn’t come with locked doors or mandatory group therapy; it came with possibility. And that was more than I’d had in years.
I pushed through the sliding doors, and it was strange how something as simple as a grocery store could feel like a newplanet. The smell of produce, the hum of refrigerators, and the sound of kids whining for cereal all felt too alive… toonormal.
I stood in front of a shelf of pasta sauce, trying to decide between marinara and three-cheese when I realized my hands were shaking.
I took a slow breath and whispered under my breath, “You’re fine, Haelyn… just shop like a regular person.”
A voice cut through the air behind me. “Haelyn? HaelynThibodeaux?”
My spine stiffened.
