AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Bathroom is this way,” she says. My blood turns cold.
I want to hurt her so much. How can she live with herself? If I were responsible for one of my children’s deaths, I’d fucking hang myself. Yet, Amelia lives life as if nothing is wrong, as if Ian didn’t leave the world with his blood on her hands.
“Whoa, this is pretty flooded,” Declan comments.
I grin. Amelia’s influence is dwindling. It was easy to bribe the gardener to use the bathroom yesterday and smash a pipe.Too easy.
“Yes, well. Thank God you’re here to fix it now. I’ll be in the sitting room if you need me. There are cameras, so please keep your hands off my personal items.”
God, she’s horrible. How had I never seen through her before? I knew I wasn’t her favorite, but I didn’t know how badly she wanted me out of the picture.
“Oh, hey,” Declan says. “I noticed the painting in the hallway. The one of the young boy. I have a son that age. Is your boy obsessed with superheroes like mine? Batman is his favorite.”
Amelia laughs sweetly. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen my grandson. But yes, he was quite the Batman lover last I checked.”
Sean makes a rebuttal, but I’m too focused on climbing out of the van and heading for the front door to pay attention. I slip inside, immediately stopping when I catch sight of the family photo in the foyer. Ian holding a newborn Max, and young Em pressing a kiss to the baby’s forehead. I remember that day. We’d taken so many photos, and his mother insisted on getting one of each of us alone with the children.
Back then, I’d thought she’d been looking out for me. She’d told me I would want a photo of just me and the kids one day when I did baby book stuff. Now, I know the truth. She just wanted me out of her life.
“Samira?” A shocked gasp escapes Amelia.
I force my gaze away from the picture and turn to her. She looks just the same as the last time I saw her. Blonde hair pulled back, bright green eyes staring at me. Ian’s eyes.
“Hey, Amelia.” I take a step toward her; she takes one back.
“W-what are you doing here?” she asks, continuing to walk backwards.
“I’ve come to talk to you about Ian,” I say, closing in the distance between us.
Declan appears, standing behind her like a brick wall. She takes another step before colliding into his chest.
“Samira,” Amelia whispers, clutching her hand to her chest. “What’s going on?”
Declan grips her arms, but not tight enough to harm her. “Let’s go sit,” he says, guiding her into the sitting room off to the left.
I follow, and Sean piles in, too. When she’s sitting, I drop a flash drive onto the coffee table. “I know what you did, Amelia.”
Her gaze snaps up to me. There’s no remorse, no regret. Nothing but pure hatred as she glares at me. Her lips screwed into a tight pout. No verbal confirmation.
“Still don’t want to admit it?” I ask, pulling out my phone to open the folder that holds everything the flash drive does.
A paper trail of how she paid those men to kill me, emails that are written demanding half payment up front. A phone call of her screaming how they killed the wrong person. Video of her pacing back and forth and discussing how their plan went so terribly wrong.
I swipe through the photos and documents, allowing her to see each one before tucking it away into my pocket again.
“What do you want?” she whispers, her gaze dropping to the floor.
I cross my arms, glaring down at her. “I want you to go to your lawyers when I leave. You’re to release Emagine and Maximo’s trust friends immediately into my control. You’re to place me as your power of attorney until Emagine is eighteen in three months. The estate. . .” I wave a hand in the air, signaling the mansion that’s been passed down to every Cullen son for a century. The house that was taken from Ian because his parents didn’t approve of the woman he loved. “Belongs to Emagine and Maximo. And once all of that is finalized, you’ll walk into a precinct with that flash drive and turn yourself in for the murder of your son.”
She shakes her head. “Even if I agreed, there are hoops to jump through. It would take months to convince the lawyers I’m of sound mind, that I’m not under coercion when I am.”
I glance at Declan. “I don’t like her tone, babe.”
He smirks, head tilting to the side, making him look certifiably insane. Making my core tighten around nothing, a desperate need to be close to him.
“I don’t either, doll. Tell me how you’d like her to be punished for her. . .attitude.”
I turn to Sean. “Do you know who these men are, Amelia?”
