Home / The Mercenary Queen Came Home for Her Twin / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of The Mercenary Queen Came Home for Her Twin: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

When I crashed the engagement party, soft orchestral music was drifting through the hall.Isabella wore a priceless diamond tiara and a stunning custom wedding gown that must have cost a fortune.She was hanging on Marcus's arm, glowing with happiness.My parents sat in the front row, all smiles.I blended in with the guests and watched it all coldly, but I didn't make a move. Not yet.Killing them outright would be letting them off too easy.First, I had to find Cecilia.I slipped past security and made my way to my sister's old room on the estate. I still remembered the way.I'd bought this mansion for her as a wedding gift before I left.But now my sister's beloved Steinway had been smashed to pieces.Even the hundreds of silk handkerchiefs I'd had made for her in Paris hadn't been spared.They'd been crumpled up and thrown on the hallway rug like garbage.A heavyset maid named Rosa was standing on one of them, grinding the dirt into it with the sole of her high heel.She looked up

Chapter 2

Teeth clenched, Grant forced out the words. "Basement level two!"I grabbed his hair and slammed his face into the marble floor."A liar doesn't need a tongue."Grant finally broke down, his voice trembling. "Three days ago, Cecilia disappeared from the basement! The Don didn't want it to ruin today's engagement party, so he ordered everyone to keep quiet about it!"Three days ago, a tearing pain had jolted me awake in the middle of the night.With pain that bad, there was no way my sister had left on her own.I flicked open the butterfly knife I always carried and pressed the cold back of the blade to Rosa's cheek."Who was the last person to see her?"Rosa wet herself in terror and wailed, "Martha! It was Martha, the head housekeeper! She took people down to the basement to question Cecilia!"The words were barely out of her mouth when footsteps clattered at the end of the hall.Martha showed up with a dozen bodyguards and blocked the doorway.She was carrying a custom-made leather w

Chapter 3

Marcus strode in with his personal assistant. When he saw Martha pinned down, his face went dark."Cecilia, who said you could touch my people?" he barked.Right in front of him, I lashed Martha again.Martha screamed for help. "Don, save me!"Marcus stepped in front of her and reached for the whip."Let go," he ordered coldly.I looked at him. "Cecilia's missing, and instead of looking for her, you're throwing an engagement party?"Impatience flashed across Marcus's face."What game are you playing now?" he snapped. "Three days ago, you hurt a guard and escaped from the basement. Now you've come back on your own and you're pretending you went missing to get my sympathy?"So he still hadn't figured out that the woman standing in front of him wasn't my sister.My sister and I had identical faces, but our personalities were completely different.He swore he loved her, yet he couldn't even tell when someone else was standing in her place.When I didn't answer, Marcus assumed I felt guilty

Chapter 4

My mother rushed into the hall and yanked Isabella up off the broken glass.She checked her over frantically. "Isabella, where are you hurt?"Isabella threw herself into her arms, sobbing her heart out. "Aunt Helen, this crazy woman tried to wreck my hands!"My mother whipped around and slapped me hard across the face.She was beside herself with rage. "Isabella suffered out there her whole childhood. We adopted her. What's wrong with making it up to her a little?!"I slowly wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth with my thumb."That slap was for her?"My mother ground her teeth. "What if it was?"My lips curled, and I nodded. "Fine. I'll remember that."My father strode up to me, glanced at Marcus under my foot, and barked at me, "Let go of Marcus, get on your knees, and apologize to Isabella right now!"I raised an eyebrow at him. "And if I don't?"My father's face darkened. "Then I'll announce right now that you're cut out of the Payne family for good! From now on, whether you

Chapter 5

My mother's lips trembled. She stared at me in horror."S-Selina! You... you're alive?"I pressed the tip of the knife to her throat."You sound disappointed that I'm alive."My mother shook her head frantically, her voice shaking. "No, I'm just so shocked... I thought you'd never come back."I gave a cold laugh."You were both hoping I'd die overseas, weren't you?"My mother's expression changed abruptly.My father cut in loudly. "That's ridiculous!"Selina, the minute you got back, you stormed the estate with a knife and pretended to be Cecilia so you could hurt Isabella!"You're out of your mind!"I turned my head and eyed him icily."You paid a South American drug lord two million dollars to put a bomb on my private plane."Father, want to guess why I'm still standing here?"My father went silent.Back then, they'd booked my flight, claiming they were sending me to open up a new market in South America.I'd spent years walking the line between life and death, and I could smell dang

Chapter 6

My mother held on even tighter, wailing. "Cecilia's lost her mind! She hurt Isabella's baby, and she tried to kill Marcus! We locked her in the basement to keep her from getting herself killed!"I kicked open the heavy metal cellar door."Where is she?"My mother tried to block me again.Then Isabella shrieked, "Cecilia's long dead!"The room fell silent.I slowly turned my head and stared at her.Isabella thought she'd found my weak spot, and her eyes glittered with sick glee."She stopped breathing three days ago. Before she died, she couldn't take the torture anymore and handed over the list of your inner circle."Useless trash like her was just a waste of food!"Marcus whipped around to look at her. "What list?" he demanded.Isabella froze and backed away in a panic."Marcus, I... I just heard the staff talking. I've never even been in the interrogation room."I didn't waste any more words on her.With a flick of my wrist, the butterfly knife flashed through the air, grazed Isabell

Chapter 7

Marcus snatched the medical report.His face darkened as he read.The report spelled it out. Isabella had never been pregnant at all.She'd paid a private doctor a fortune to falsify her pregnancy test results.Then she'd had a maid prepare a blood bag to hide in her skirt.At an earlier engagement party, she'd deliberately provoked Cecilia.Cecilia had never even touched her. Isabella had thrown herself down the stairs and squeezed the blood bag until it burst.Marcus's head snapped up. "Impossible!"Isabella wailed desperately, grasping at her last chance."Marcus, Cecilia just hates me that much! She and Selina are in this together, trying to frame me!"Cecilia leaned against me. Her voice was weak but mocking. "The doctor's signature is on the report."Every one of those checks can be traced through a Swiss bank."You wanted proof, didn't you?"Now it's in your hands."Marcus gripped the report so hard the veins stood out on the back of his hand."If you had this all along, why did

Chapter 8

My father slumped on the cold floor, staring in disbelief."That's impossible!"Three years ago, you gave Cecilia top-level command of the mercenaries!"I crouched in front of him, still looking down at him."I said I was giving her control of the security division."I never said I was handing over command of the core force too."The last bit of color drained from my father's face.Even three years ago, I'd known just how deep my parents' favoritism ran.But I'd assumed they only favored my sister because she was gentle and easy to push around.I was afraid she'd be mistreated once she married into the Sterling family, so I temporarily gave the Payne family authority to deploy the security division's personnel.Real command had stayed firmly in my own hands the whole time.Without my iris scan and fingerprints, no one could deploy the core force.My father had fooled everyone with that forged document, then teamed up with Marcus to wipe out 17 key men who refused to fall in line, calli

Chapter 9

For the first time, Marcus looked panicked as he stood in front of Cecilia. Afraid, even."Cecilia, I had no idea about any of this."They lied to me, all of them."As long as you stay, you'll still be the Donna of the Sterling family."I'll have Isabella executed. I'll find the best doctors in the world to fix your legs."Cecilia looked at him calmly."Where were you the first time they locked me up?"Marcus froze."That day, Isabella said I pushed her into the pool."The second time?"She said I poisoned her coffee."And when I took the 199th lash?"Marcus opened his mouth, but nothing came out.Cecilia answered for him."You said, 'If I don't make you suffer a little, you'll never learn your place.'"Marcus went deathly pale.Cecilia's voice stayed soft."The day they threw me in the basement, I kept hoping you'd come and hear me out."I waited until late at night, and you never showed."Later, I cut my wrists and begged a maid to call you."You said I was just making another scene

Chapter 10

Three months later, Cecilia was finally able to walk on crutches.The doctor told me privately that she could regain about 80 percent of the use of her right arm.But her legs had been hurt too badly. She'd never be able to stand for long, and they'd ache whenever it rained.When Cecilia heard that, she looked down at her legs.I thought she'd fall apart.Instead, she tossed her crutches into the corner of the sofa."So I can't stand for long. Then I won't. Worst case, I'll just use a wheelchair every day."Anyway, Selina, you've got plenty of money to take care of me."I went over, picked up the crutches, and tapped her shin with one."Throw them around again and there's no chocolate mousse for you tonight."She immediately grabbed my arm and turned on the charm."You're the best, Selina."My hand just slipped, that's all."I rolled my eyes at her."Tsk. Three years apart, and you've turned into a shameless little brat."Victor came in and set the last case report on the table.My fat

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