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"Please." Pandora starts to plead on the stand where we're all standing. "Just one more vote. You could be the person that decides Eden Fall's fate."
Tianna glances fearfully between her father and her sister. She's too afraid to stand up. She knows her father will punish her viciously if she does.
Brazen is as stoic as he was before.
Bryony stares ahead, unaffected.
I grab the microphone and speak into it, addressing Pandora's family directly.
"Tianna," I start. "Think of the change you could make. You could be part of Eden Falls' new history. A history you'd be helping create. A history where we're all worth the same. No rankings. No differences."
She bites her lower lip. She wants to support Pandora, but she's afraid. My nails dig into my palms as I pray she'll stand up, offer her support.
She tries.
She lifts herself off her chair, but before she can stand up fully, her father has pulled her back down.
"Don't you fucking dare," Emilian hisses at his youngest. "Or I'll fucking kill you."
"This is what we're fighting against," Pandora speaks up from behind me. "Is this how you all want to live your lives? In fear of someone who's above you in ranking taking away what you love most?"
She's addressing Bryony now, and we all know it. Pandora's stepmother is nervous, folding her hands in her lap, trying to avoid the confrontation we all know is going to happen.
"Please," Pandora pleads softly. "The decision to change Eden Falls lies in your hands. It's time to rewrite history. You want to be on the side people celebrate, not the one they condemn."
Bryony gives a barely perceptible nod, but we need to hear her say it, loud and clear. She hesitates. It's not going well.
"As far as I know, you only have one chance to plead your case," Emilian says, sounding satisfied. "If your proposition is overruled, everything goes back to the way it was."
Whispers start up again. Of course, the prick is right. If Pandora can't get others to vote in her favor, her reign will be over before it even begins. We need this vote. We've worked our asses off for this, and we can't give up now.
I grit my teeth. I don't plead, I don't ask for shit, but this is important to my toy, and I need to help her win this war.
"Bryony Oakes," I address her directly. "It's all on your shoulders."
Pandora's stepmother turns her blank stare to me, making me grit my teeth even harder. My jaw sets painfully, but I'm not giving up. Not before my toy gets exactly what she wants.
"Do you want your children growing up like this?" I ask her. "And baby Reign. When he's returned to his home... is this the world you want him to grow up in?"
The woman swallows thickly. She's going to look at Emilian any second now, and then it will all be over.
I approach her, stepping off the stage and coming to kneel before her.
"You could be the last vote," I tell her. "The last chance to make things right. I know you've made mistakes - we all have. But now is the time to change Eden Falls. Now. Not tomorrow, not next year. You could be the change you want to see in the world. Do it, Bryony. Be the better person."
She stands up on shaky legs. Judging by Emilian's furious expression, he's ready to fucking off the woman. I keep my gaze fixed on hers, offering her my hand.
"Come with me. Stand up for your children, for yourself."
She takes my arm and I lead her to the podium. We're not there yet. She needs to say the words for them to count.
"Get your hands off my wife, Booth." Emilian stands up, eyes filled with rage as they meet mine. "Who the fuck do you think you are, kid?"
"Your son-in-law," I remind him. "And one of the only ones who can change Reign's life for the better."
Emilian laughs out loud. "By abolishing the system, you're hurting the kid, too. He'll be nothing until he's eighteen. A mommy's boy. Everyone will laugh at him."
Pandora steps forward and I have to stop her physically before she launches herself at he
