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Once again, my lips turned up in a smile and I hummed the very same children’s song Mum had sung to me, and the same one I would have used for my child if I’d gotten the chance to have one.
One more day without being by Thorn’s side.
One more day of being the villain before I became the princess.
One more day or Thorn’s old Rose before he accepted the new one.
It made me feel happy as I twirled around the room, my dress sliding over my body as my hands touched my hips seductively. If only Thorn was there to watch me play for him… I would have given him a show he’d never be able to forget.
I smacked my lips and touched my hands to the mirror, glancing at my reflection.
“Mirror mirror on the wall,” I sang at my vanity table. “Who’s going to kill them all?”
I grinned at my reflection and twirled around the room.
Amber was long gone.
Harlow was next.
Pia would follow.
Until the only pretty little Rose left for Thorn was me…
Then, he would finally realize how badly he wanted me. Oh, and I couldn’t wait for it.
Fourteen
Rose
I was in my room after practice that afternoon, my thoughts filled with Carina.
The girl who had been my friend despite the stark distance between us, the girl who’d confided in me when she’d had nobody else. And later on, my enemy to whom I really should be grateful, because she was the one who brought Thorn and me back together again.
But I couldn’t help myself. I didn’t like her anymore. Any emotions and feelings I had felt towards her had been eradicated when she betrayed me so completely. And I’d had my assumptions before about her true intentions… which she’d proved were exactly right.
She wanted Thorn for herself, that much was clear. She was so in love with him everyone knew, even Pia and Madame.
But she wouldn’t admit it to me, straight to my face. She refused to tell me she was playing a game even though it was painfully obvious to me that’s what she was doing.
I had taken a long, cold shower in the bathroom to soothe my achy limbs, and I’d just finished getting ready when I heard the knock on my door.
I got up from my vanity table, my makeup done in soft hues with darker lips in preparation for my dinner with Thorn, and my hair down in flowing waves.
I opened the door just a crack, half-expecting it to be Pia. But it was Carina instead, wearing a gorgeous red dress with her makeup perfectly done.
“Hi,” she said hurriedly, looking down the hallway. “Can I come in?”
I didn’t know why, but I was hesitant to let her in my room. Something inside me, maybe a survival instinct, told me to close the door in her face. But I couldn’t quite bring myself to do it.
“Okay,” I said, stepping aside and opening the door wider.
She followed me into my room, nervously pacing it as I closed the door.
“What’s going on?” I asked worriedly, my eyes trying to find hers.
She looked confused as she stole a glance at me, guiltily chewing her bottom lip.
“I think…” she said. “I think I overheard something I shouldn’t have.”
“What?” I asked, my heart skipping a beat. “What did you hear?”
She sat down on my bed, her legs dangling as she stared at me. She patted the bed, motioning for me to join her, so I did, sitting down next to her.
“I heard Madame and Thorn talking,” she finally went on. “About… Amber.”
Right away, my heart jumped in my chest again.
Amber was a sore subject for me. At the same time, I was desperate to talk about her and find out what had truly happened, but I also felt like I would be putting my friend in danger if I mentioned it to Thorn. The less he knew about me worrying about Amber, the better. I knew he wouldn’t like that I wasn’t trusting his judgement. He’d want me to accept whatever fate he’d chosen for my friend, but I was struggling with it myself.
Amber was a good person, and she was so young and innocent. To be ripped out of her life like she had been… it was unfair. It had been unfair for me already, when Thorn took everything I loved away from me. But I accepted it, because I accepted him as my new owner. And I honestly doubted Amber was the kind of girl who could submit this way, who would be willing to hand over her control.
“What about her?” I finally managed to ask, my thoughts coming back to the present. “What did they say?”
“That…” she glanced up at the camera above us. “No one can see us, right?”
“I don’t think so,” I said softly. “I don’t think Thorn watches them… anymore.”
