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Iwas the one who was supposed to rule. I knew I could do it. It was in my blood.

But after my mother died, there was no one to fight for my ascension to the family’s throne. For myrightfulplace. And as much as I tried, there was no going against Father.

He was much more powerful and ruthless than I ever could be.

Marriage was my only way out. But in reality, I was just trading one cage for another.

The new one was seemingly even more horrendous than staying with my father and god-awful stepfamily.

Fatherstolesomething from the Solei family.

I had an inkling of what it was, but I couldn’t bring myself to even consider the vile idea. But at the same time, it wasn’t very surprising.

Vampires like them had no moral compass. They took what they wanted. Including other vampires. Anything to expand their range of power.

Krae wouldn’t approve.

I couldn’t help but wonder what our goddess was feeling watching this all unfold. My mother was so devoted to her, yet she stood by while she and her daughter suffered at the hands of a single man.

Sometimes I even wonder if she is real at all.

Even if she was, praying to her wouldn’t do me any good. She had proven her uselessness to me enough.

Along with everyone else…even myself.

But wallowing in my own pity would do nothing for me, so I spent the last day of whatever freedom I had left in the back gardens that surrounded the property and reveled in the only place of my mother’s that still stood standing.

I hoped—foolishly—that it would make me feel closer to her. Maybe give me the answers I was looking for. Some hint at how she survived all those years with my bastard of a father.

Of course, all I was met with was a reminder of how little one’s life meant in the grand scheme of things.

My mother’s favorite place was one filled with life. A place where flowers bloomed all year round. Where the essence of hersoul could be felt by all those who entered. Walking into the garden felt like being pulled into my mother’s warm embrace. A place that provided comfort.

But a place like that didn’t exist after her death—at least not under Father’s reign.

What was once a flourishing garden had turned into a long-dried-up fountain with overgrown weeds seeping through the cracks standing at the center of millions of roses my mother had planted. It hadn’t been cared for in the years since she was gone, but for some reason, Father still kept it standing.

All the colorful beauty she spent years planting by herself, cutting open her hands, and spilling her blood into the soil was all demolished in the blink of an eye. My father attempted to destroy every bit that my mother left behind and replaced it with his own colorless void.

I liked to believe it was the people’s decision to keep some part of my mother alive. That maybe hehadtried to get the eyesore taken down, but no one would heed his requests out of respect for my mother.

Even after hours, I found myself still sitting on the edge of the fountain, looking down at the cracked blue tile she had specially created by one of the family’s mosaic artists. Intricate blues, whites, and reds swirled around each other creating beautiful blossoms of color.

Even with all the grime and dirt that covered it over the years, it shone beautifully in the dimming sun. Not even the cracks could take away from its beauty.

I missed my mother in moments like that the most.

The moments when all the anger had finally subsided. When the reality of the situation had sunk in. And when I couldn’t just talk my way out of it.Hell,I couldn’t evenblackmailmy way out of it.

Money. Connections. They had no use. Not when the payoff was power.

Even beyond that…not when the real reason for the deal was something that was decided long before I was even born.

Those were the moments when my walls started to crumble. Every single brick that I carefully plastered together with all the rage that had been building inside my body was coming apart. I was no longer able to keep what lay behind locked away.

I am just waiting for my doom.

There was another complication, though. One that I prayed would just leave. I thought the assassin would just give up after a while, obviously not willing to help me in the way that mattered the most.