Tears soak my cheeks by the time I finish, but they’re not sad or weak tears. They’re angry tears. Injustice tears. Because I was finally able to tell him what I think, what I’ve always thought.

The reason I felt so guilty towards those victims was because, even though I hated him for what he did, I couldn’t stop considering him as my dad. The little girl in me still loved him. She still saw him as the father who picked her up, after her mother threw her away, and raised her as if his world revolved around her.

But he tarnished that world. He smashed it to pieces.

Maybe that’s why sixteen-year-old me thought I needed to take the jabs and the hits. She even thought being stabbed was karma for not being able to hate my father as much as I should. For secretly still loving him. For secretly missing him.

I needed to come to terms with the fact that it’s okay to consider your father a father, despite him being a monster. I just have to move on from those memories where I considered him my world.

He isn’t.

He’s just a monster who doesn’t deserve respect.

Dad remains motionless. His expression doesn’t change, but his jaw clenches. “You will not get anything from me unless you apologise, Claire.”

“I’ll never apologise for turning you in, Dad. That was the best decision I made in my life, even if it flipped it upside down.”

I stand up because it’s useless to try to extract information out of him. He’s right. We’re both too stubborn, and he won’t give me anything unless I comply with his condition.

“They’re only after you because you’re my muse now, Claire. They’re after me, not you.”

“Then I hope they get you.” A tear slides down my cheek as I stare him in the eyes that are identical to mine and, in a way, it feels like I’m bidding farewell to the little girl I always saw in those eyes. To the me from the past. “This is our official goodbye, Dad. I’ll never visit you again. If you still want to go on with the parole process, I’ll stand there again and tell them you deserve every second you spend in prison.”

I take one last look at his face, at the drawn brows and the golden beard and hair and I finally grieve my father.

When I get out of the building, I inhale a deep gulp of air.

Real air.

Actual air.

The feeling of being alive hits me straight in the chest and it’s so strong, I have to brace myself against the wall for a second.

I’m finally alive.

Finally breathing.

I’m finally out of that grave. Literally and figuratively.

“Are you all right, Miss?” One of my security men clutches me by the elbow.

I straighten, clearing my throat. “I’m perfect. Thank you.”

“Mr King has been calling nonstop,” he says as he leads me to the awaiting car.

Of course he has.

Once I’m in the back seat, I check my phone, and sure enough, there are a dozen missed calls and emails.

From: Jonathan King

To: Aurora Harper

Subject: Answer The Fucking Phone

Refer to subject. Don’t make me come find you from fucking Oxford.

Then another one.

From: Jonathan King

To: Aurora Harper

Subject: I’m On My Way

You better be ready for that arse to be turned red.

I power off my phone. Dad didn’t deny that Jonathan could be the one behind Alicia’s poisoning. If he is, this will get ugly.

“Miss.” The bodyguard hands me his phone with a pleading expression. “Please answer or he’ll fire us all.”

The fucking tyrant.

I swipe the green button.

“If you don’t put her on the fucking phone right now, consider your future ruined.”

My heart picks up speed at the sound of his voice, and I want to murder that heart. I want to bury it with Alicia so it never beats again.

“I’m on my way home,” I say in a bland voice that I don’t even recognise. “And stop threatening people.”

I hang up before he can say anything.

By the time we reach home, Jonathan has called the guards’ phones a few more times, but I took them and powered them off.

“Tell him I did it,” I say to the men as I leave the car and stride into the house.

They nod, but their expressions remain unsure.

My steps are long and confident. Jonathan better be ready for the hell I’m going to bring him the moment he walks through the door.

He’ll tell me everything, and he better be convincing, because I’m not in the mood to be trifled with today.

A shadow passes in my peripheral vision, and I freeze. The screeching sound of my heels echoes in the silence.

Oh, no.

No, no, no.

I make a run for the entrance. The security guys are there and —

A body hits me from behind and we both crash to the ground. I scream, thrashing and clawing at them. A hand covers my mouth from behind, muting any sound I have to make.

I manage to roll onto my back and claw at the mask covering his face. I remove it, my nails pulling at his hair, then I freeze. The dragon tattoo. How come I didn’t see it before?

“You,” the word falls from me in a murmur.

Renewed energy rushes through me and I hit him in the crotch. He wails and I use the chance to jump to my feet. Adrenaline tightens my muscles and I’m about to make a run for it again when something prickles my nape.

I fall into the shadow’s hand, eyes rolling to the back of my head.

“J-Jonathan…” I whimper as the world turns black.

30

Jonathan

“Fuck!”

I grip the phone tightly as my security guy hangs up on me.

I’m willing to bet it’s Aurora again, not him. She has that fucking attitude that drives me insane.

But she had no business visiting the fucker Maxim. If he tells her anything that will worsen her state of mind, I’ll murder him in his cell.

“Faster, Moses.”

My driver speeds up, not caring if we get a few tickets in the process. As long as I reach Aurora, nothing else matters.

I try calling my security again. This time, Arnold picks up. Fucking finally.

“Where is she?” I bark.

“She just went inside the house, sir.”

“Don’t let her out. I don’t care if you have to chain her to a fucking tree.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Don’t hurt her, though. Leave a scratch on her skin and I’ll cut off your balls.”

“Yes, sir.”

I hang up, releasing a breath. Sometimes, I don’t know what goes on in that woman’s head. It doesn’t matter how submissive she gets under my hand or in bed. Out of it, she’s a tigress ready to rip the world a new one — me included.

Maybe that’s what made the challenge of taming her all the more thrilling. The feeling of utter control and empowerment I get from owning her is something I’ve never experienced before.

Even the feelings I have for this woman are entirely different from what I know. It’s that strange sensation that creeps up on you, then completely owns you.

Contrary to what everyone thinks, I do feel. I loved my parents and my brother in my own way. Aiden and Levi, too. But all of them are family — they’re people who hold the King name and my blood.