Chapter 3

I looked at him, really looked at him. I remembered how those words used to sustain me, how I’d spend months counting down the days until a car that never arrived.

"Okay," I said.

He touched my hair, his brow furrowing in a way that told me he was confused by my lack of drama. Maybe he expected me to grab his leg and refuse to let go. Maybe he wanted the scene to be easier for him by being harder for me. I didn't give him that satisfaction.

"Take care," he added.

"I will."

Minutes later, I was in the back of the car, watching the Vexari estate fade into the distance. For years, I’d viewed that place as the goal, the prize, the home. Now, it was just a house. It was just bricks and mortar where people who didn't love me happened to live. Family isn't blood; it’s the people who actually show up for you and I was done chasing shadows.

The drive was silent. My grandparents weren't talkative people, and I wasn't about to start a conversation to fill the air. I kept my eyes on the window, my mind already running through the checklist. I had twenty years of knowledge, of mistakes to avoid, and of secrets to uncover. This wasn't a prison, it was a base of operations.

When we pulled up to the estate, it was just as quiet and isolated as I remembered. Before, I’d seen it as a cage. Now, I saw it for what it really was: space. Freedom. A place where nobody would be watching over my shoulder.

My grandmother walked me to my room. It was stark, a bed, a desk, a closet, simple. The old me would’ve looked for the missing luxury, the missing love. I just looked at the privacy.

"Rest," she said, before closing the door.

I was finally alone. I didn't feel lonely, though. I walked to the mirror and looked at the girl staring back. She was scared, fragile, and clueless. I reached out and touched the glass.

"I know," I whispered to her. "I know you're terrified, but you're done begging. We’re done being the victim."

I went to the desk, pulled out a notebook, and stared at the blank, white page. It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. I picked up a pen and started writing, my small hand moving with a precision that didn't belong to a six-year-old.

I will be stronger. I will learn everything. I will build a life that is entirely mine.

This wasn't about spite. It wasn't about making them regret me, though they would. This was about finally choosing myself.

The next morning, my life as an ordinary  child started. My grandmother expected a sulking, miserable kid. Instead, she got a machine. I was up before the sun, my schedule locked in, my studies aggressive. They thought it was a coping mechanism, a child trying to stay busy to avoid the pain but they didn't have a clue.

I kept my head down. I played the part of the polite, quiet, unassuming girl. I knew better than to show my cards too early. If you show the world you’re a shark, they’ll put you in a tank. If you act like a goldfish, you can swim anywhere you want.

I was building the foundation of a empire, one lesson at a time. I wouldn't spend another day of this life trying to crawl back to the Vexaris. I was going to become so powerful, so untouchable, that when I finally decided to walk back into their world, I wouldn't be asking for a seat at their table. I’d be the one who owned it.

The silence of the estate became my greatest asset. My grandparents were the definition of absentee guardians. As long as I didn't set anything on fire, didn't talk to the press, and didn't show up in the social columns, they couldn't have cared less what I did. 

They were busy playing high-stakes politics and social climbing, leaving me to rot, or as I saw it, leaving me to evolve.

They threw a black credit card on my desk when I turned seven, some token gesture to keep me fed and quiet. I left it in the drawer, untouched. Using their money was a leash I wasn't willing to wear.

Instead, I turned my brain into a weapon.

Being seven with the mind of a twenty-something was a surreal experience, but I didn't waste time on existential crises. I hit the books. 

In my first life, I’d been a high-achiever, but now? I was a force of nature. I didn't just read the curriculum; I devoured it. By the time I was eight, I was doing high-school level mathematics for fun and teaching myself advanced coding in the dead of night.

I needed cash that wasn't tied to the Vexari family. I started a small online tutoring for kids whose parents were desperate for results. I used a fake persona, a generic handle, and a voice modulator. I was the anonymous prodigy  who could explain quantum physics to a confused teenager in ten minutes flat. 

The money started trickling into an offshore digital wallet I’d set up, shielded by layers of encryption that would have made a government agent break into a sweat.

But knowledge wasn't just about grades. It was about people.

Between the ages of six and twelve, I became the most observant girl in the country. I didn't hang out at the playground; I hung out in the chat rooms, the forums, and the private networks where the real players lived. 

I wasn't looking for friends; I was looking for assets.

I found Leo first, a twelve-year-old math genius living in a shitty apartment in the city, bullied because he looked like a nerd and had the social skills of a brick. He was a coding prodigy, but he was drowning in a world that didn't understand him. I messaged him, not with "hello," but with a complex algorithm error he’d made in a public repository. 

We started talking. I didn't baby him; I challenged him. I gave him the confidence to stop hiding and the technical direction to turn his talent into something lethal. To Leo, I was just a voice on a screen, but to me, he was the backbone of my future infrastructure.

Then there was Sarah. She was ten, the daughter of a disgraced investigative journalist. Her father was being hounded by the same vultures that eventually ruined my life in my first go-around. I fed her information. I sent her tips on where to look for the hidden  corruption in the Vexari family’s periphery, helping her father get his career back on track. 

I didn't care about the news; I cared about creating a debt of gratitude. When that girl grew up, she would be my eyes and ears in the press.

I moved through school like a ghost. I’d finish my exams in a fraction of the time allowed, write down just enough to get an A, never a perfect score, I wasn't an idiot and then spend the rest of the day looking out the window, planning the blueprint for my life at eighteen.

I wasn't just building a company. I was building a fortress. By the time I was twelve, I was no longer that scared little girl who looked for love in the mirror. I was a strategist. I had a small, untouchable bank account. 

I had a network of friends  across the globe who would owe me their careers, their secrets, and their loyalty. I knew where the Vexari bodies were buried, and more importantly, I knew who was currently holding the shovel.

My grandmother would occasionally stop by my room, peering in with those cold, distant eyes. "Don't cause trouble, Nyxara," she’d say, her voice devoid of any real maternal warmth.

"I won't," I’d answer, my voice perfectly pitched to sound obedient, timid, and utterly harmless.

She’d nod and walk away, satisfied with the lie. She had no idea that while she was out at galas trying to sell Nysa off to the highest billionaire bidder, I was busy orchestrating a takeover that would eventually leave them all with nothing.