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We hurt Ophelia because it was the only way to avenge our father and reclaim what we lost. But, once she discovers her mother’s dying wish, she will change her mind. My little dragon will see that we’re not the villains in her story.
The letter from Cora is real, written by her mother one week before she passed. She was my mother’s best friend since high school.
They were like sisters.
There’s one more secret we need to reveal. A big one that will make Ophelia see things differently. We just need to get her back on our side.
ChapterNine
OPHELIA
I haven’t answeredany of Ares’s calls or texts. Even when Atlas sends a sketch of me, I delete the image and throw the phone at the wall. Apollo tries to reach me, too.
I hate them.
They used me.
I’m so disgusted with myself for falling into their trap. They must have known what they were doing all along. I was right to push them away at the beginning. All it took was some flirting with Ares and some sweet words from Atlas to change my mind.
I’m so stupid.
I believed their lies.
Let them see me.
Touch my body.
Now, I wish I could carve them out of my brain. If it were possible, I would erase every memory.
It’s well after eight o’clock when I’m flipping through the channels on the television. My uncle is doing one of his side hustles on the South Side, and I have nowhere better to be. I haven’t left his house in over two weeks. Not since my dad disowned me.
Alexander isn’t home much, so that’s an added benefit. I can sit around and eat ice cream, watch Netflix, and mope. Most days, I don’t even bother to shower or brush my hair. Today is the fourth day in a row wearing the same pajamas.
I stop scrolling through the channels when I spot one of my father’s clubs pop up on the screen. Kallidromo, the old warehouse my father converted into a nightclub, is on fire. Flames lick the front and sides of the building, smoke billowing out from every angle.
BREAKING NEWS flashes across the bottom of the screen. It’s a live feed from the Beacon Bay News Network.
The pretty blonde reporter surveys the firefighters extinguishing the inferno. “Local favorite, Kallidromo, has had its share of problems over the years.”
That’s an understatement.
I told my dad to sell that club years ago because it’s cursed. We’ve had everything from police raids to shootings at the club. Once a month, my dad runs an auction in the basement. I threatened to sell myself there when Dad first threatened to disown me.
Maybe I should have.
Then, I wouldn’t have a place to live, trapped at my uncle’s house like some refugee. But if not for his charity, I would have nowhere to go. Constantine offered to let me stay at his house, but our relationship is too complicated. He still collects a paycheck from my dad. Plus, he still likes me, even though we pretend the sex never happened.
The camera sweeps over the burning building, and the reporter continues, “The Beacon Bay Fire Department suspects arson. We’re looking for the owner and local businessman Belen Drakos, but he’s unavailable for comment. He could have been in the building when it set fire.”
“No!”
I rise from the couch with tears in my eyes, hugging my middle to stop the tremors rocking through me. My dad might have given my birthright to my stepmother, but I would never wish harm on him. He’s still my dad, even if he doesn’t want me to be his daughter anymore.
I run to my bedroom and change into jeans and a cleanish-looking T-shirt. My hair looks like a raccoon crawled into it and made a nest. So I brush through the tangled mess and pull it into a high ponytail. Inspecting myself in the mirror, I shake my head.
Boy, do I look bad?
Like I’m homeless.
