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My frustration erupted into full-out rage. She never listened—she never cared. She never even bothered toseethe woman I was standing right here in front of her, too busy imagining the daughter she wanted me to be.
If anyone was obsessed around here, it was her. And it was time for that obsession to end.Iknew who I was, and I couldn’t squeeze myself into the box she wanted me to fit into any longer.
“No,” I repeated, sharper this time. “If it’s all or nothing now, then I’m done with everything to do with the Deadly Rose legacy. I never wanted the empire anyway. You can find someone else to inherit your throne.”
Mom walked up to me, her expression still a frozen mask but so much fury seething beneath it that it wafted off her and sent goose bumps prickling up my arms. “You’ve entertained your stupid dream for long enough. Youwillget your act together now and play your part, or every one of the men you claim to care about will pay for it fordaysbefore I finally see them buried.”
She meant that threat. She would torment all four of my men in every way she knew how, drive them to the limits of pain, just to shape me to her image. I recoiled inwardly, horror turning my stomach.
My hands clenched at my sides as I hardened myself against the instinctive panic. “You wouldn’t dare. Not when I can expose your master plan to the only people who could makeyoupay.”
Mom’s eyes narrowed. “If you try to destroy me, you’ll only be destroying yourself. I’ll see that you and everyone you care about suffer until those men curse the day they met you and you wish you’d never been born, and then more after that. You won’t get away with it.”
With that last sentence, Mom sprang at me, swift as a cobra striking. She snatched at my ponytail and wrenched me against her into an embrace that was all venom. I struck out, thrashing in her hold, but Mom clamped me tight—and rammed a hard muzzle against my lips.
My mouth jolted open at the pain lancing through my face even as the rest of my body froze in recognition.
Still clutching my hair hard enough to send jabs of agony through my scalp, Mom shoved the barrel of her pistol between my teeth. I fought the urge to gag at the oily metallic flavor that seeped over my tongue.
“This is what your lovers will feel right before they eat their last bullet,” she said, her voice so fraught it was almost a hiss. “Hold on to that memory. Remember it every time you think about defying one of my orders.”
With that, she heaved me away from her. I stumbled and caught myself on a side table before I fell to my knees.
“Get out of my sight,” Mom snapped. “The next time I send for you, you’d better be ready to play your role.”
Blood trickled through my mouth from where the gun had scraped my tongue. My mind had gone blank. I groped for the doorknob and stepped into the hall on shaky legs.
She’d nearly killed me. She’d had her finger on the goddamn trigger.
She’d treated me like a minor underling—like a dog she’d put down if I didn’t jump to fulfill her every command.
Like she didn’t give a shit whether she had a daughter. She’d rather I was dead than happy on any path other than the one she’d chosen for me.
I made it back to my bedroom without much sense of how I’d arrived there. My head kept spinning. I wandered to the bed and gripped one of the posts for balance.
Something had broken inside me with that act of violence. After everything Mom had done over the years, somehow I’d never been prepared for her to go that far, to treat me so callously.
I could crumple like a rag doll and give in. The fear wavering inside me liked that idea. Pretend my heart out, protect my men, appease Mom’s ego.
But even as the idea presented itself, the rest of me resisted.
I’d already tried playing along, and it hadn’t worked. I couldn’t live like that… Frankly,I’drather be dead than become nothing more than a puppet carrying out Mom’s bloody ambitions.
Nothing short of transforming into a person I could never be would be enough for her. No matter what I did, sooner or later I’d disappoint her. And then she’d go after my men as punishment.
I’d have proven that my threats really were a bluff. She’d want to get rid of the distraction they presented too, as soon as possible, with the slightest excuse she could use to justify it.
None of us would ever be safe as long as Mom was fixated on carving me into the heir she expected. Our lives were on the line either way.
At least if I gave her something bigger to worry about, it’d keep her busy while we made our escape. Maybe it’d even bring down her and her empire completely.
The second I made the decision, a lump of guilt formed in my gut. In spite of everything, she was still my mother. This empire had been built by my ancestors going back generations. I could be bringing that effort all crumbling down.
But the loss was on Mom’s shoulders, not mine. I’d told her where I stood, and she’d refused to listen. All she’d needed to do to avoid disaster was appoint some trusted underling as her next-in-line and let me go.
Her refusal wasn’t on my conscience.
I grabbed my burner phone and tapped out a message to Rafael with trembling fingers.I’m on my way. Get ready to leave immediately—for good.
