เข้าสู่ระบบContent Warning: Mentions of graphic sexual assault. Please proceed with care.DAMIENShe swallows.“They said Papa must have disappeared. But I know they just never found his body. Or hid away the remnants, Papa would never, he... he wasn’t that kind of man. When I got older, I went looking for answers because I couldn’t accept it. I kept thinking somebody had to care. Somebody had to investigate. Somebody had to do something.”A bitter laugh escapes her.“The case was ruled a suicide twelve hours after the police found her body.”Twelve hours.Jesus Christ.“Twelve hours,” she repeats quietly. “That’s how long it took for everybody to decide my parents weren’t worth saving.”I close my eyes.Just for a second.When I open them, she’s still staring straight ahead.“I spent so long being angry.”Her voice is softer now.“At the system. At my parents. At myself. At everyone.”She laughs weakly.“I was convinced my life was over before it had even started.”The laugh fades.“And then I
Content Warning: Mentions of graphic sexual assault. Please proceed with care.DAMIEN“I want to kill him, Dame. Can I?”Rhea’s eyes are clear when she says it.Calm.Matter-of-fact.As though she’s asking whether we should stop for coffee on the way home.I can’t help smiling.I lace our fingers together and bring her hand to my lips.God, I adore this woman.“Is that all?”She blinks. “What?”“Is that all you want?”Confusion flickers across her face. “I… think so?”I frown. “Well, that’s hardly ambitious.”“Damien.”“You could ask for more.”Her expression somehow grows even more bewildered. “What more?”“Yes, more.” I squeeze her hand. “You’re limiting yourself, Dot. If we’re discussing murder, we should discuss it properly.”The corners of her mouth twitch.I continue anyway.“Dismemberment is always an option. Poison is terribly boring, though. Guns are uninspired. Anyone can pull a trigger.”“Anyone?”I nod solemnly. “Anyone. For your first murder, I’d expect something with a l
WENDY“You’re not eating. Does your ankle still hurt?”Christian’s voice is calm, his attention fixed entirely on me.I look up from my plate and smile.The concern on his face is embarrassingly genuine.The second he’d heard I’d hurt myself, he’d abandoned whatever meeting he’d been in and come running. He’d taken me to the best specialist in the country despite my ankle being little more than a sprain, sat through the appointment, argued with the doctor when he thought they weren’t being thorough enough, and now he was spending his evening watching me pick apart a very expensive meal.His phone has been switched off the entire time.Not silenced.Off.As though nothing happening in the outside world could possibly be more important than whether or not I’ve eaten my vegetables.It should be perfect and honestly, it is perfect.This is exactly how I’ve always imagined being treated.Like something precious.Something valuable.Something worth protecting.Christian excels at that.The
DAMIENI watch my wife step out of Titan’s building.The place looks exactly how I’d expect Titan to live.Questionable.Run-down.One strong gust of wind away from being condemned.I suppose it suits her, terrible character and all.Rhea doesn’t seem to notice me standing there.She’s somewhere else entirely, lost in her own thoughts as she walks down the steps. Her brow is furrowed. Her hands are shoved into the pockets of her coatless dress despite the evening chill.I cross the distance between us.Before she can protest, I drape my jacket over her shoulders.She startles slightly and finally looks up.“Why aren’t you wearing a coat?” I narrow my eyes at her, unamused.Her gaze lingers on my face for a second before she shrugs. “I forgot.”“You forgot?”“I was distracted.”Of course she was.I pull the jacket closed around her myself.The moment my hands leave her shoulders, she steps closer.Then closer still.Until she’s practically pressed against my chest.The tension immediat
RHEAI wet my suddenly dry lips and stare at the photograph on the screen.I’ve never been delusional about what my mother must have suffered.But there’s a difference between knowing something and having it shoved directly in front of your face.Ignorance really is bliss.It’s easier to live with horrors you’ve gone numb to. Easier to tuck them away beside everything else that happened before the orphanage and pretend they belong to someone else.But this?This is different.I’m staring at the man who murdered my mother.Maybe my father too.Not with his own hands. He wasn’t the only disgusting man who touched her. He wasn’t the only monster involved.But he was the one who gave the order.I gave up being Aurora Hale years ago. I buried the daughter they left behind right alongside the rest of her life.Yet as I stare at Ignacio Velez’s face, something ugly and vicious rises inside me.For my mother.For my father.For all of it.I’ll kill him if it’s the last thing I do.“You’re say
RHEA“You know,” Elara says lightly, “I spent a very long time thinking about what to send you.”My grip tightens around the phone.“What would a woman like Aurora Hale want? What would hurt her the most? What would finally make her break?” She laughs softly. “It wasn’t easy putting myself in your shoes. I mean, you never had very much to begin with.”My jaw clenches. “What did you do to Camryn?”“Your little bastard?” she scoffs.The word hits me like a slap.My vision blurs red.“Elara.”“Didn’t you see the coffin?” she asks sweetly. “You really should’ve looked inside. I even added a few bones for effect.”My chair scrapes violently against the floor.“What the fuck did you do with my daughter?”For the first time, Elara falls silent.I can hear my own breathing, the sound of my heartbeat pounding in my ears.“You know what I used to ask myself every night in prison?” I say quietly. “What did I do to deserve any of it?”My voice doesn’t shake.“I wasn’t the one who lied. I wasn’t t







