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My love for them felt less like a choice and more like a force of nature—a tsunami of emotions that threatened to consume me.It was chaotic, it was passionate, and it was profoundly terrifying.Yet, despite the fear that sometimes haunted me, there was a sense of rightness in it, a certainty that echoed in the deepest corners of my soul.
They were my storm and my calm, and I was irrevocably theirs.
Until they stopped being mine.
ChapterThirty-Five
““Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”—Lord Acton
I always picturedcollege as my ticket to liberation, an escape from the shackles of my father’s life—the family business.Instead, it morphed into a cold initiation into the life my father had meticulously orchestrated.Nothing went the way I wanted.After four years, I couldn’t just leave.They made me stay for longer.
For seven long years, I found myself in the sultry heat of Florida selling products, training new recruits, and learning about the business.I was a drug dealer in the making.And I was being groomed to fill my father’s shoes.
Regan, the boss’s son and my constant companion, would become ...well, the boss.Since the first months that I met him, we became almost inseparable.We shared an intense passion and what we thought was love.He was my everything.
In retrospect, the reality of our bond was less a love story and more about two people holding onto each other while dealing with the life neither one of us wanted to live.We were numbed, following instructions from people who could break our necks with the snap of their fingers.We existed in an illusion fueled by desperate fantasies of rebellion and power.
I wanted to change our narrative, and he supported me in that.We wanted to take the power away from our parents.Be the ones in charge of their future—we’d be the ones giving the orders for a change.We played the dutiful employees as we tried to figure out how to change the narrative.We bided our time.Our thirst for vengeance simmered below the surface.
But, of course, my plans changed when the universe led me to her.My little sister was back in my life.Well, Mom sent an announcement that my sister would perform at Lincoln Center.It was the Christmas season, so I guessed she finally got a role in the forsakenNutcrackerand made our mother happy.
I hadn’t spoken about my sister to anyone.No one knew about the resentment I harbored for her.In my mind, she was the root of all my miseries.The cause of our parents’ divorce and the reason why I ended up where I did.
It seemed easier to blame her, to direct my anger toward her rather than face the chilling truth.We were both destined for this life.Dad didn’t have any say in it.In a way, my mother’s obsessive devotion shielded Evie from a childhood of pain.
It was me, the one who dragged her into the harrowing labyrinth of hell.I hated seeing her happy, realizing her dreams, and still being Mom’s favorite.I made it my mission to destroy her and make her feel all the pain I felt since I turned thirteen.Regan was willing to help me.That man would do anything for me in the name of love.
We convinced the boss to let us go to New York for a few months to see if we could move some product there.As we did, we also watched my sister’s every move.It startled me to discover she was dating—not one, but two men.
Hanford, the boy I tried to get in trouble for hugging my sister, was one of them.The man was now part of a band—a very famous band.The other one was Jet, an up and coming singer whose family was famous.
Evie was in her last year of college.Knowing she was tucked away in New York, I visited Mom to discover my sister’s secrets, weaknesses, and blind spots.After so many years, I’ve learned that everyone has them, and knowing them is power.
I had no idea that Evie cut all communication with her when she left for college.She called her ungrateful, but still, she was proud of my sister.Even when she couldn’t speak to her, Mother traveled to New York to watch her live performances.
Mom didn’t know about Hanford or Jet.I was tempted to tell her, stir up some chaos and get her in trouble.But I remembered my sister wasn’t a seven-year-old who could be grounded.Evie was an independent woman.
Her punishment needed to be more severe and come from someone powerful.She needed to learn a life lesson.She had to feel pain.I was ready to break her.Shatter her into tiny pieces.They would be so small that when I was done with her, no one would ever remember her.
I made it my mission to find a way to make her pay for every tear I shed.She needed to feel the anguish, the searing burn of suffering that I did.Evie would live the agony that had been my existence.She was about to learn that vengeance and tragedy fueled me.Seeing her broken would keep me happy for years to come.
ChapterThirty-Six
“The masses have never thirsted after truth.They turn aside from evidence that is not to their taste, preferring to deify error, if error seduces them.Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim.”—Gustave Le Bon
Once I heardthat ballet is like a well-choreographed symphony, where dancers become the instruments, and their movements become the notes that create a breathtaking melody.
Although my body lacked coordination, my mind had mastered the art of crafting and executing plans with absolute precision.No one ever questioned me when I proposed my ideas, not even my father or his boss.They had finally placed their trust in me.Sadly for them, they seemed to have forgotten the very first lesson they taught me: Don’t trust anyone.
And I knew why.It was because trust always got you killed.
Much like ballet, a delicate dance of power, manipulation, and survival, our plan against the empire began taking shape.In this elaborate dance, Regan and I were the principal dancers, the orchestrators of a deadly symphony.
Our allies in this grand performance were the drug suppliers, shadowy figures lurking on the fringes of our dark world.I met them, they trusted me, and they wanted to grow like I did.With meticulous planning, I sowed the seeds of doubt among my father and his associates, exposing their vulnerability.
The drug lords were ready to engage in my game, their insatiable thirst for money outweighing any loyalty.They understood why I would betray my father.This wasn’t new to them.
They swiftly transitioned from one dealer to another as long as their product continued to flow.Their apathy toward everything else allowed us to manipulate the chessboard effortlessly.
