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“None. However, they stood in my way.”

“Of what? None of your brothers harmed you. Actually, they doted on you.”

“Oh Jacques, I want the money, the estate, everything. Everything should be mine, not theirs.”

In disbelief, I gazed at Caroline.Is that what this is all over? Money?

Stunned, I stared as James made a noise from the bed. I glanced over and noticed him trying to rouse.

“Stay away from Caroline, Jacques!” James croaked with sweat running down his forehead, “Caroline is the cause of all this…”

James pulled himself out of bed and collapsed on the floor. Concerned, I bent over him and saw that James was too far gone to recover his humanity. Sadly, I laid James gently back on the bed.

“You didn’t even do this right!” I snarled as I bathed James’s face.

“I did not intend to. Honestly, I wanted James to suffer,” Caroline quipped.

I forced down the urge to scratch Caroline’s face off and looked at James, fighting for his life.

Caroline stood like an avenging angel with her hair tumbling down her back and her eyes glinting in the daylight. Black suited her and made her look even more fragile and delicate. But Caroline was evil through and through, and I hadn’t seen it till it was too late.

Well, I had created this mess, and it was mine to end.

I waited until it was night, refusing to leave James’s bedside with her about. Then, when it was dark, I finished what Caroline had begun. Once again, I found myself explaining to a Hamilton what he had become.

It broke my heart telling him and watching the disbelief on James’s face appear and then the hatred.

“You should have let me die,” was all he said before leaving to feed on his first victim.

I stared at Caroline, hidden in the shadows. There was no emotion or guilt, just sheer discontentment, and finally, she left.

James recovered from his mysterious illness overnight, and the Hamilton’s household rejoiced in that one small mercy. Only three knew the truth; this number soon dwindled to two.

I guessed Caroline would try and destroy James and Edward, and I had to stop her. With her father’s permission, I obtained the chance to take Caroline down to my family’s estate. The easy excuse was that she needed a break from all what had gone on. We arranged for chaperones, and James would also accompany us.

We left at night, and on the way, I organised an accident that broke her neck. I knew Caroline wasn’t strong enough to recover immediately. This provided the Hamiltons with a corpse for burial.

For one last time, I brought grief to the Hamiltons, but I swore to try and make it up to them.

Caroline was buried in the family crypt two days later, and I snapped her neck twice more. There was awareness in Caroline’s eyes as she awoke one last time, only to discover me standing there.

In the end, Caroline was bitter and frightened, but I knew she wouldn’t stop on her own.

The night of the funeral, I crept back and drove a stake through her heart. Her eyes opened. For a brief moment, Caroline stared at me with such hatred that I cringed as I slit her throat. She erupted into dust, and the Hamilton curse was over.

As I left, I confronted James, who was standing outside.

“You killed her,” James announced emotionlessly.

“I had to. Caroline would have murdered your whole family. She had to be destroyed,” I said, putting my hand on his arm.

James shook it off and stared at me. Hatred radiated off him in great waves, and I backed away a little.

“Caroline need not have been destroyed if you hadn’t changed her. Did you consider that?” James asked.

I nodded, fully aware of the part that I had played. I harboured my own guilt at destroying a well-liked and admired family. London gossiped about the tragedies that had hounded the Hamiltons, and a few rumours claimed they were cursed. In a way, they were—by Jacques du Mont.

“However, James, you must understand one thing. Your personality did not change, neither did hers. What Caroline became was always inside her, just well hidden,” I retorted.