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This place is creepy and brings back way too many shitty memories of my time in here, though on the other hand, it’s mind-blowing to see just how far I’ve come since then. The world seems like a completely different place now. It’s full of hope and promise of a big future, where this cell is nothing but dark and gloomy, and with every passing second, I know I should turn back and get my ass out of here.
Going to see Ember is like volunteering to have her stab a knife right through my back, yet I keep putting one foot in front of the other, determined to see this through. I'm a glutton for punishment. Either that, or just a fucking moron.
Yeah ... definitely a moron.
Laughter comes from the cell up ahead and the noise has my blood running cold. “Wow,” Ember says, knowing it’s me before even seeing my face. “I didn’t think you had the balls to show your face down here after that bullshit stunt you pulled.”
I take a few more steps and place myself right in front of her cell, looking in to see her lounging back on the hard bed, looking as though she could be sitting on the most stunning Caribbean beach. “The stunt that I pulled?” I question in astonishment. “You’re the one who’s been playing twisted little games since the second I arrived. You brought this on yourself.”
She laughs again, feigning amusement, but despite the fact that our whole friendship was a sham, I still know her better than she ever wanted me to, and being locked up in this tiny, cold cell is absolutely killing her.
“You’re still holding on to that, are you?” she chuckles. “Glad to see my twisted little games left a scar.”
“If I was holding on to something, don’t you think your bitch ass would have been released from these cells by now?” I question, letting her see just how quickly I was ready to let go of any kind of friendship that we had. Besides, it gives me a chance to flex my callous nature, and what kind of girl could skip an opportunity like that? “I’m simply here to inform you that both the Harding and Scardoni lines have officially been wiped from leadership, so no matter how hard you try, you will never have power in my world again.”
Ember stands and throws herself at the bars, clutching onto them with both hands. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
A grin stretches across my face and I lean in toward her. “It means that as of ten minutes ago, your whole family line ceased to exist to Dynasty. Everything your father worked for, everything he believed in means nothing now. Everything your bitch of a mother promised you, it will never happen because Dynasty no longer recognizes the Harding line as one of their own. You’re out on your own now without Dynasty’s protection, so you better be careful. If I ever allow you out of my cells, you’re free game. The tables have turned. I have the upper hand and you’re the one who’s going to spend the rest of your life watching your back.”
Ember pulls against the steel bars. “You can’t do that.”
“I already have,” I tell her. “The vote was held this afternoon, and I assume that right about now there are men storming into your home and stripping it bare, preparing the estate for its new owners.”
Ember clenches her jaw, the fury and rage pouring out of her in waves. “You can’t just take everything away from me. Isn’t it enough that you’ve already killed my father? You have a target on my mother’s back, and now you take my home? What the hell is wrong with you? If someone doesn’t agree with you, you’re just going to trample them out until they disappear, or will you just have your pack of wolves take care of the problem? This is a fucking dictatorship. The power has gone to your head.”
I laugh, stepping back and crossing my arms over my chest. “I have absolutely no issue taking out the people who have put their own targets on my back. If someone threatens my life, you better fucking believe that I will deal with it. That’s just what life is like in my position. The power hasn’t gone to my head because it hasn’t even had a chance to yet. I’ve been too fucking busy trying to keep myself alive so that people like Paris Moustaff can’t destroy everything my father and grandfather worked for.”
She shakes her head. “You’re a joke.”
I scoff, shaking my head. “You know what’s really sad?” I ask her. “You really had a shot at standing right by my side. All I needed was your honesty and loyalty. Had you come to me and told me what was going down and who you really were, I would have been able to look past it and I would have made sure that you had it all. For so long I thought you were my only friend, but you were too caught up trying to stab the knife through my back. Now look at you, you have nothing and nobody to bail you out. Crossing me was the biggest mistake you ever made.”
