Semua Bab MISTRESS OF THE GAME: Bab 131 - Bab 140

MAMAI got back to Sheila’s place after the visit to Lockwood, feeling like a storm cloud had taken permanent residence in my chest. She wasn’t home at the time I arrived, so I slipped quietly into the guest room, but the silence only made my thoughts louder. I sat down on the edge of the bed, staring at the wall, replaying everything I had just heard from the new Matron.My mother. My estranged mother. Dying of cancer in some hospital on the other side of the country.It was surreal. For years I had told myself she was dead already, or at least dead to me. That was the only way I could move on. But now… she wanted to see me. And I couldn’t stop thinking about the bitter irony: she abandoned me because of a man, and that man abandoned her too.I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. “What went wrong?” I whispered to myself. “What could possibly have gone so wrong that a woman would send her own child to the streets for a man who didn’t even stay?”The more I thought about it

StormAfter the call, I couldn’t leave Marie. My body wanted rest, but my mind would not permit it. Sleep was a luxury I could not afford when she lay on that bed like a fragile porcelain doll, broken yet somehow breathing. Every second I kept looking at her chest, counting the rise and fall, making sure she was still alive. It was the only rhythm keeping me sane through the night.She slept all through, or maybe she was unconscious. I could not tell which. Each time I leaned in close and whispered her name, she did not respond. My hand hovered over her face, tempted to shake her awake, but I couldn’t risk it. The doctor’s words echoed in my head: She’s stable, but give her time.I sat in the armchair by the bed, the one place where I could see her without moving. The lights were dimmed, the curtains drawn, but my eyes never shut. Every shadow looked suspicious, every creak in the building made me tense. I was alert, my mind running through scenarios of who dared touch her, who dared

STORMI sat on the couch after the call and had a rethink. The quiet of the suite was too loud, my mind restless. I will not entertain this game with Garrick, Roland, or whoever else was in on it. I’m done dancing to their tune. They think they can pull strings and move me like a pawn. No. Not anymore.Even Marie.My jaw tightened as the thought settled in. I would give them choices—choices with consequences that would be theirs to live with. Every move from here on would be deliberate. Even with Marie, no more letting her run circles around me, no more indulging her just because I couldn’t resist her fire. She would either be with me or against me, and she would understand what either path would cost.The night stretched on with no sleep in sight. I sat there for hours, staring at the ceiling, replaying conversations, forming plans. My mind felt like a war room, scattered maps, burning cigars, men shouting orders. Marie’s face was in every corner of it, along with Garrick’s smirk an

MARIEThe beach house looked like something out of a magazine, quiet and perfect in a way that made me feel even more trapped. It sat low behind a grove of palms, its white walls glowing softly under the sun, a wide veranda wrapping around its sides. There were no neighbors at all, no cars passing, nothing but the sound of waves and the wind pushing through the trees. At first, I told myself I could live here for a while. It was safe, secluded, far from the chaos of the city and everything that had happened. Inside, the house was open and airy. Large windows stretched almost wall to wall, letting in light and the salty smell of the ocean. The floors were cool tile, the furniture modern but simple, as if someone had gone out of their way to choose things that would not get in the way. The kitchen was fully stocked, the bedroom had clean white sheets that smelled of lavender, and the bathroom was big enough to echo when I shut the door. Everything was perfect. Too perfect. The first

STORMI woke before dawn, my body heavy but my mind alert. The sound of the waves outside the beach house was a steady rhythm, a low hiss that almost lulled me back to sleep. Almost.Marie was curled beside me, her hair spilling across the pillow, her breathing slow and even. For a moment, I just lay there watching her, tracing the curve of her spine with my eyes. She looked so peaceful when she was asleep, so untouched by all the chaos that surrounded us. But I knew better. I knew the storm that lived inside her, because it matched my own.I pushed the sheets back and sat up slowly. The movement stirred her, and her lashes fluttered open.“Don’t tell me you’re leaving already,” she murmured, her voice still heavy with sleep.I didn’t answer right away. I stood, stretching, my gaze fixed on the corner where I had dropped Crumbs last night. The old teddy bear sat there on the chair, its single loose eye catching the faint light creeping through the curtains.I walked over, picked it up