CHAPTER 6

ALICIA

“What?” Zach asked, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. My eyes finally found a point of focus on Zach's face, my grip on my lab coat finally loosening.

“Dear, it's not necessary, another would definitely come by, you don't have to take it.” Aunt Darla coerced me, reaching out to me.

I chuckled, pulling off my glasses as I rubbed my eyes gently.

“I'm taking the job, Aunt Darla.” I pressed on, my voice taking on a confidence I never thought I still had in me.

“Are you sure?” She asked again, her voice echoing her concern.

Her question ran though my head, the accusations and pointed fingers resounding in my head. The pain of watching the ones I trusted turn against me without batting an eyelid mocking me.

“Yes.” I replied, the decision crystal clear within me.

“Very well then.” She sighed, lowering herself to the chair. I nodded, grabbing the document from the desk, a silent breath I never knew I was holding escaped my lips.

“But… yo–you can't possibly want to help them after, well after everything.” Zach said, his voice increasing as I headed for the door.

“Well, she has made her decision, Zachary.” Aunt Darla said, her voice lowers as I pulled the door open.

I threw the paper on my desk, running a hand down my face in frustration.

“Are you really going to do this?” Zach's voice came from the doorway, his voice rushed but coming off as more of a whisper.

“It was going to come to it one day anyway.” I paused, my eyes rotating the “Belmont” name on the piece of paper in front of me.

“Someday, we knew they would one way or the other come back into my life.” I sighed, slumping into the chair behind me.

“You can't do this Alicia.” He pressed further, his voice gaining more urgency and weight.

“I've made my decision.” I sighed, trying my very best to avoid his gaze that way burning a hole in my head.

“Do you even remember?” He started, heading for my desk slowly his eyes focused on mine.

“Do you remember how they humiliated you?” He started, his fingers ticking off all he was listed out.

“Have you forgotten so soon?” He continued, his voice increasimg.

“How they put you in prison and left you there to rot for life?!” he yelled, his hand slammed on he table.

“I don't need you reminding me of all the things that hurt me.” I whispered, my voice crumbling under the rush of the painful memories.

“You need to be reminded at this point!” He yelled, fuming with anger as I stepped away from the desk in shock.

This was the first time he had yelled at me, the first time he had ever raised his voice in a conversation.

“I'm sorry, Zachary.” I started, sighing shortly as I drew a breath of air. I spoke again.

“My decision is final, I'm taking the job.” I replied to him, the atmosphere suddenly quiet.

Zach’s face turned a shade of red I had never seen before and he let out a dry laugh that sounded like it physically hurt him to produce.

“A final decision? Just like that?” He threw his arms up in the air and paced the floor of the office.

“You are acting like this is just some regular career move, Alicia! You are acting like they didn’t strip you of your dignity and throw you into a cage like an animal! How can you stand there and tell me it’s final when you’re literally handing them the keys to your life all over again?” He stopped right in front of me, his chest heaving as he stared me down with eyes full of a different kind of desperation.

“It’s like you have no self-respect left, like you’ve just decided that being their doormat is easier than standing your ground, and it’s pathetic to watch you give in so easily!”

Something inside me snapped at the word "pathetic". Heat rose from my chest to my throat until I couldn’t keep it down anymore.

I stepped forward, closing the gap between us until I was the one in his space.

“Why do you care so much, Zach?” I shouted back, my voice cracking but loud enough to make him flinch.

“Why is it your business if I choose to walk into the fire? I am the one who sat in that cell, I am the one who felt the cold on the floor and the hunger in my stomach, not you! So why are you acting like you’re the victim here? Why do you care what I do with my life when I’m the one who has to live with the consequences anyway?”

Zach opened his mouth to retort, his lips trembling as he tried to find the words to fire back at me, but nothing came out. He stuttered, his voice catching in his throat as he made a small, choked sound like he wanted to scream but had forgotten how to speak. He looked at me with an expression that was a mix of hurt and something deeper that I couldn't quite name, and then his shoulders just dropped.

The fire in him went out all at once, leaving him looking smaller and older than he actually was. He didn’t say another word, not even a goodbye or a final warning, he just turned around and walked out of the room.

I felt my knees give out and I slumped back into my chair, the adrenaline draining away and leaving me feeling empty. I ran my hands through my hair, pulling at the strands until my scalp hurt as I stared at the wall while everything Zach said played on a loop in my head.

He was right about the humiliation and he was right about the prison, and for a second, I felt the walls of the office closing in on me just like the walls of my cell used to do. I wondered if I was actually losing my mind or if I was just so desperate for a way back into the world that I was willing to shake hands with the devil to get there.

My eyes wandered back to the desk, landing on the document I had tossed there earlier, and I leaned forward to look at the very last line of print at the bottom of the page. It was a short, clinical sentence that stated I was expected at a preliminary conference scheduled for tomorrow morning at the Belmont headquarters. Seeing it there in black and white made the reality of my situation sink in, and the fear that had been bubbling in my gut suddenly turned into something much harder and sharper.

My expression hardened and I reached out, grabbing the paper and squeezing it in my fist until the paper was nothing but a crumpled ball. I tossed it into the corner of the room without looking.

I leaned back and closed my eyes, and suddenly I wasn't in my office anymore, I was back in that final moment I could remember with Killian.

I remembered the look in his eyes—the way he looked at me like I was a bug he had accidentally stepped on and didn't want to get on his shoe.

A small, dry chuckle escaped my throat, and I didn't even realize I was doing it until the sound echoed in the quiet room. It grew into a soft laugh, and then a loud laughter that rocked my whole body until I was shaking with it.

It wasn't a happy sound, it was the sound of someone who had finally realized that the only way to stop the pain was to pass it back to the person who gave it to them. I wiped a stray tear from my eye and sat up straight, my mind finally focusing with a clarity I hadn't felt in years.

Zach thought I was going back to help them, but he was wrong. I wasn't going back to be a part of his company, I was going back to find the cracks in the foundation and pull the whole thing down around him.

The best revenge wasn't staying away, it was getting close enough to touch him and then taking away the only thing he ever truly loved: his empire.

I would pull Killian Belmont down from his throne, and I would do it as slowly and as painfully as humanly possible.