She Took The Rags I Took The Empire Novels & Stories

nothing more. One rogue snorted in disbelief, his sharp eyes darting to Marcus with exaggerated amusement. “Take her back, huh?” He crossed his arms, looking between us as though we were the joke of the century. His grin widened maliciously. “What’s the deal, Reed? Collecting broken trash now? Makes sense. Heard your pack has been scraping the barrel for income lately.” The other rogues laughed again, their voices fraying the last remnants of my self-control. Emily stirred beneath the layers of vulnerability and terror. She let out the faintest growl, her maternal instincts urging her to fight back. But we were too weak. All I could do was hold my trembling arms tighter around my chest.

She set her mug down, fingers tracing the rim, eyes meeting mine with that bold intensity. "Want? Hell no. It was supposed to be strategy, seal the syndicates, bury the past. But Ronan's... complicated. We had something once, years back. A fling, I thought. He said he loved me, and I bolted. ...I felt it was too messy for the empire." Her laugh was brittle, like cracking ice, but I caught the undercurrent...was it regret? The word "empire" ignited something in me, a spark turning to flame. Empire built on blood...... the blood of my parents.

“But I also know who I was. And I won’t let that part of me die. Not while you’re still here.” The sincerity in his voice cut through her defenses, and for a moment, she found herself on the verge of breaking. She wanted to reach out, to tell him that she, too, remembered the boy he had been. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t afford to let herself fall into the same trap again. She couldn’t afford to be weak. “You don’t get it,” she said, her voice low and tight. “The empire took everything from me. They took you from me. They made you into something... something unrecognizable. And I can’t—” Her voice broke, and she turned away, unable to continue.

I couldn't hide my admiration for her as she was doing exactly what I told her to. Of course, she was all that for me. And I’ll have her - as well as I’ll have CG Empire. Once the CG Empire became mine, everything would make sense. And the time is close. The sooner I got what my heart desire, the better. Everything would then make sense.

Enough to turn her empire to ash. Kade whistled softly. “You stole from your mother.” “No,” I said coldly. “I reclaimed what was mine.” The room went silent. Anton studied me, then leaned back. “So what now?” “Now,” I said, voice like ice, “you either work for me, or you work for a ghost. Choose wisely.” Kade laughed softly. “You’ve grown teeth, Scarlett.” I turned my gaze on him. “You’re not used to women with teeth?”

"Valerie, so what if you met Freddy before me? The one unloved is always the third wheel." Then, with a dramatic little cry of "Oops!" she let go of the bundle. The bills slapped across my face before scattering across the floor in a humiliating spray. Lisa smiled without a hint of regret, her gaze condescending. "Sorry… slipped right out of my hand." The beer-bellied vice president bellowed with laughter. "Now that's the true Mrs. Richmond! Magnanimous, full of class!" Freddy cast me a cold, dismissive glance. "Pick it up, and leave."

His breathing gradually evened out as he fell asleep. [No matter what happens when they reach the capital, no one can tear this mother and son apart.] … We arrived at the imperial palace in the capital. The great palace gates opened slowly before us like the jaws of some enormous beast. Adrian stood at my side. He gripped my hand tightly, though his face showed no sign of nervousness. Nathaniel led the way. We passed through layer upon layer of grand halls. Servants knelt in rows as we passed. "His Highness, the Imperial Grandson, has returned!"

The canvas, the one that held all our memories, was slashed to ribbons. The glowing dots, our moments of love, were now just shredded fragments. It was the love poem I wrote him in the only language I truly knew. It was our proof. And now it was destroyed. Rage burned through me. I stormed out of the study and stalked toward Eliza's room. "Eliza!" I threw her door open. "Get out here!" She was at her vanity, removing her makeup. She put on a mask of terror when she saw me.

“I’m the one it wants. Let it take me. Apparently I’m the Empress, so I can survive it!” “Look at your hands.” She does. They’re going to see through, bright as lanterns. She’s burning down to nothing, and she knows it. “That’s not fair,” she whispers. “No. It isn’t.” “I don’t want to be her. I don’t even know her. I don’t want a throne, Adrian. I want to go back to folding sheets. I want you to say something stupid again.” “I will. I’ll say something stupid every day.”

"When this empire falls, I am going to take everything that belongs to her." She disconnected the call, slipping the phone back beneath the mattress, and pulled the white duvet back over her chest—a deadly Trojan Horse lying comfortably at the very heart of the Vance empire.