LOGINAs each finger was cruelly broken, the agony that surged through her body revealed the truth—her nanny and maids had betrayed her long ago. When her sister confessed to carrying her husband's child, Miranda realized that their prior kindness had been nothing but an act in a sinister play. When her gentle husband, a man she had once loved, directed his new lover to claim her life, she understood she had been nothing more than a stepping stone to his ascent to power... Twenty years in this mortal world, and she was merely a puppet manipulated by others. Yet, fate, in its mercy, offered her a second chance. This time, it was her turn to consign those deceivers to hell! Although she returned only to exact vengeance, how did she unwittingly capture the interest of a powerful magnate this time around? Watching the delicate yet resilient girl, the Duke turned to his subordinate and said “Remove the filth that marred her eyes. Feed it to the dogs."
View MoreSAINT.
"Wait... Please... Stop... I can't..."
That fucking unforgettable voice has been stuck in my head for eight goddamn months, constantly haunting the walls of my skull.
She was so weak that she could barely keep up with the bargain we made.
Pathetic.
And even after her incompetence, she had the nerve to steal from me.
If I ever find her again in this lifetime, hell, even in the next, I’ll make sure she regrets every single breath she took after stealing from me. She’ll wish she'd never taken what wasn’t hers.
I don’t care if it takes months or years. I’ll make her regret that night until her last breath.
I’ve always hated that miserable excuse of a town. I heard the people there were nothing but bottom-feeders... thieves, addicts, liars, and abusers. And just the first time I and Kyrie set foot in there, we got hit.
While I was robbed of my expensive Rolex watch, which could buy the entire wretched town, Kyrie had his common sense and his heart stolen by the same woman I'd give anything to see kneeling before me and begging for mercy while I decided her fate.
The good thing here is, the girl, who appeared to be around twenty or thereabout, was putting on a mask the night I and Kyrie both stuck our cocks into her.
She thought it made her mysterious. But, no. It didn’t. It only made her predictable. I’ve dealt with her type too many times. The only difference is, she got lucky.
Kyrie had her bent over the hotel mattress, one hand tangled in her hair, while the other gripped her hip like he was trying to brand her with his fingers. He was groaning like she was something special... It was almost like he’d never fucked a girl who trembled and begged before.
I stood beside them, my cock in hand, watching the way her body shook under him. Her moans were strangled by exhaustion. Her thighs kept trying to close.
She was already trembling and falling apart when I hadn’t even touched her yet.
Barley half way into the fun we had planned for the night, her mask slipped off just for a second. And in that one second, I’d memorized every fucking detail of her face – high cheekbones, parted plump lips, with deep, blue eyes full of something close to regret. That look people get when they realize they went too far and can’t crawl back.
She quickly yanked the mask back on.
She'd hoped I hadn't seen anything, and I also gave her the impression that she was right.
I met her eyes when she looked at me with panic. I closed mine, let out a breathy moan, and pretended I didn’t notice a thing.
If only she knew.
Now, I remember her face like it was burned into me and this places me at an advantage over Kyrie, because, the moment I set my eyes on her, I'd kill her without even blinking, and he might even be one of my spectators without realizing I'd just killed his beloved enchantress.
Kyrie hardly ever falls in love. Hell, he had only fallen in love once in his life. When he loves, it’s all-consuming and reckless. The kind of love that could kill him. And he’s already dying inside from the one girl who I'd do anything to kill.
Well, for both our sakes, I hope this was mere infatuation or hunger for her tight little pussy. Perhaps he didn't get enough that night. I hope it wasn't actual love. Because this could be the only thing that would rip us apart.
I knew there were gold diggers everywhere. But I always hate it when they have their way. Just like the one my father had fallen for, who was from the same shitty town full of thieves.
At age fifty-eight, he still acted like some love-struck teen with a midlife hard-on. Still blinded by love. And in two days, like a true fool, he was letting her drag him to the alter... A woman he just met three months ago.
Fuck.
It’s pathetic watching a man with that much life experience get played by someone who probably can’t spell the word ‘loyalty.’
I tried to stop him but the old fool went on and on about how she kept him happy and alive and gave him a new purpose in life.
And the icing on the cake?
She fucking had a daughter!
They were both here, ready to feed off his last name, our wealth, and my inheritance.
And since I couldn't stop the wedding, I'd have to keep a close eye on them.
I wiped the blood off my gloves with a strip of cloth I pulled from the dead man’s shirt. It didn’t matter that it stained red; I wasn’t planning to keep it.
"Clear," I said into the comms.
"Copy. East hall secured," came Kyrie’s calm voice.
I stepped over the body, motioning to Kian and Voss to fan out and check the corners. Kian, my demolitions expert, had his rifle tucked tight to his shoulder, while his eyes swept every dark crevice. Voss, the one I call a silent ghost of a man, vanished into a hallway like the shadow he was.
This was the third facility in two months... Another warehouse masking itself behind a false corporation.
We were the retribution people never saw coming.
"Target confirmed in the lower east wing," Kyrie murmured through the comm. "He’s trying to escape."
"Take the exit routes," I told Voss and Kian. "Kyrie, flush him. Keep him running. I want to see the look in his eyes when he realizes he’s trapped."
I turned the corner and passed another room with bodies sprawled out.
I liked this part. The way we dismantled human garbage without chaos or sympathy.
It wasn’t the blood that did it for me. Or the way they screamed. God, No. Because It was always like watching a movie with the sound off.
What satisfied some twisted part of me, was the accuracy. The stillness in the moment before the strike. The godlike control. The way each takedown feels like a small correction to the universe – one I was too weak to make back then when I was only thirteen.
The way we carved sin from the world cleanly, like surgeons... It made me feel like something more than a man. And less.
We don’t just eliminate threats. We rewrite the rules. And somewhere deep inside, it feels like I’m undoing that night – the fire, her screams, my hesitation. One monster at a time.
That fire had painted something permanent inside me... It was like a fucking itch I still hadn’t scratched.
"He’s cornered," Kyrie said.
Perfect.
I entered the stairwell and descended. As I opened the steel door to the lower level, the scum we were after came into view, backpedaling like a rat. He had blood on his shirt and he was breathing hard.
He turned and stopped the moment he saw me.
Realization washed him clean. "Please..." he began. But I shot him in the leg before he finished, and he crumpled to the floor.
Kyrie stood behind him, chewing gum with that same lazy confidence he always wore effortlessly. Black tactical shirt tight against his frame, rifle in hand, and a smile barely touching his lips. That same smile he wore before he beat a man until his knuckles cracked open last month.
I approached the man slowly as he pathetically tried to crawl backward.
"No names," I said quietly. "No deals. You traffic children. You die."
"I didn’t know...!"
I kicked his face in. Twice. Maybe three times. But hard enough to knock teeth out and shatter his jaw. The satisfying crunch of cartilage and blood splatter across my boots.
I stopped when he stopped making noise.
"Check for documents," I said. "Hard drives. Any backup servers. Burn everything else."
"On it," Kyrie replied, hopping on it already.
I stood over the body. The man wasn’t moving.
Good.
I opened my phone, snapped a picture of the corpse, and sent it to one of our anonymous drop boxes… Another piece of filth wiped from the earth.
"The world doesn’t need people like you," I muttered.
But the truth?
It needed people like me.
Because I enjoyed this.
And that fucking terrified me.
Kyrie returned. "You sure you’re good?"
"Yeah."
He paused, looking down at the body. "He was probably someone’s dad."
"Then someone should’ve raised him better."
Reginald? How could he appear at such a moment? And what could his presence possibly have to do with Lady Lark’s death?Miranda narrowed her eyes, and—together with the bewildered courtiers—turned toward the great doors.Twilight was settling; the light dimmed, casting a somber pall across the hall. Yet when Reginald entered, clad in the last rays of the sun, it was as though the dusk itself had parted. The brilliance of his presence outshone even the gilded splendor of the chamber, and those assembled could not help but draw breath at the sight of him.With such striking beauty, no wonder that once… Lady Liudmila shook her head with a quiet sigh.As he stepped into the royal apartments, Reginald’s eyes at once found Miranda. Seeing her face serene and composed, he allowed himself a fleeting measure of relief. Then, with a sweep of his gaze across the company, he cast back his cloak and bowed.“Your Majesty,” he said gravely, “word has reached me of Lady Lark’s sudden death. Forgive m
Miranda fixed her gaze on the Queen and said coolly,“Your Majesty, surely you don’t mean to suggest that even the scullery maids have long since been bribed by me, and are now all speaking in concert to cover up my lies?”Of course, that was impossible. If Miranda had been able to buy off the entire kitchen staff, she could have easily ordered them to tamper with Lady Lark’s meals long ago, sparing herself the risk of acting directly and falling under suspicion as she had now.Lady Liudmila mused aloud,“If Miss Miranda never had the chance to meddle, then this toxin of the black orchid…”“The dessert, from the moment it was brought out until Lady Lark partook of it, was under my eyes the whole time. I can vouch for that. But once Lady Lark had finished, it was this maid who cleared the dish away. From the moment she carried off the remains until now—what may have happened in between, I cannot say.”Miranda’s words were measured, but the implication was clear enough to everyone: the
The Queen Dowager’s expression grew sharper, her gaze hardening as she fixed it heavily upon the Queen, silently waiting for her reply.“Hmph. This servant may once have been Mother’s trusted attendant, but ever since Miss Miranda entered the palace, he has followed you constantly, showing you the utmost deference and obedience. No doubt you have long since bought him over to your side. A few words, a nod here and there, to help you cover a lie—such things are hardly difficult! How could such a man possibly prove your innocence?”The Queen hesitated between dragging the Queen Dowager down with her or striking only at the eunuch. In the end, she chose to distance herself from the Queen Dowager for now—better to deal with Miranda first.“Your Majesty, you should take care with your words,” Miranda replied coolly, her eyes gleaming with a cutting light. “He is the Queen Dowager’s most trusted servant. What right or power could I possibly have to bribe one who belongs to Her Majesty the Q
The Queen Dowager understood very clearly: she herself knew how to place the greater good above personal feelings. If necessary, she was willing to sacrifice Miranda in order to preserve the Queen’s position. But would the Queen, in turn, ever do the same for her? She recalled how, only moments ago, she had considered the Queen’s interests first, weighing how best to shield her should their scheme collapse. And yet, the Queen had responded with relentless aggression, pressing harder and harder, even to the point of dragging the Queen Dowager herself into suspicion.At that moment, the Queen Dowager had her answer: if matters truly came to this, the Queen would never feel gratitude for her sacrifice of Miranda. On the contrary, she would scorn the Queen Dowager as weak and ineffectual, unable even to protect her own ward. Worse still, the Queen would seize upon Miranda’s downfall as the very lever with which to topple the Queen Dowager herself.If preserving the Queen came at the price
After the King and Miranda had started conversing smoothly, the Queen Dowager quietly withdrew with her maids, leaving the room to the two of them for a more personal conversation.The King paused for a moment, then suddenly shifted the topic. “I heard that for the past ten years, it was your stepm
It had been quite some time since the Queen Dowager last saw Miranda, and the moment Miranda entered the palace, the Queen Dowager took her hand affectionately, inquiring warmly about her health. She also asked after the Earl of Croyso, and upon hearing that his condition was no longer serious, she
“Many thanks to Her Majesty the Queen Dowager for her kindness. It has been days since I last saw her—I’ve missed Her Majesty dearly,” Miranda replied with a warm smile. There was no avoiding this summons, and truth be told, she had no intention of dodging it. She had always preferred to face chall
“Miranda, I’m sorry, I just…” Reginald’s brain had completely shut down. In a daze, he rubbed his forehead like the fool he was, trying to recall the sensation from just now. That kiss… the sweetness of it felt oddly familiar, like he had tasted it somewhere before…Seeing the way he stood there, c












Welcome to GoodNovel world of fiction. If you like this novel, or you are an idealist hoping to explore a perfect world, and also want to become an original novel author online to increase income, you can join our family to read or create various types of books, such as romance novel, epic reading, werewolf novel, fantasy novel, history novel and so on. If you are a reader, high quality novels can be selected here. If you are an author, you can obtain more inspiration from others to create more brilliant works, what's more, your works on our platform will catch more attention and win more admiration from readers.
reviews