Page 47 of Always A Villain

Relief flickers, but it dies the second I realize he won’t look at me. Shit. Something’s off.

“Sit,” Dad snaps, eyes still glued to the papers on his desk. No glance, no acknowledgment—just orders. The irritation is automatic, but I shove it down. He always does this.

I step farther in, gripping my keys. “What’s going on?” My voice is calm, but my insides are unraveling.

Dad finally looks up, his cold, ice-blue stare pinning me to the spot. “Where did I fail as a parent?”

The question sends my nerves spiraling.

“What?”

“I said”—his voice is harder now, fists clenching against the desk—“where did I fail as a parent?”

My mouth goes dry. The tension in his face, the fire in his eyes—I know exactly what this is. Alicia.

“You have no idea what kind of damage you’ve done,” he growls.

I swallow hard. “I—I don’t know what you mean.”

“Cut the bullshit, Victoria,” he spits, slamming a thick stack of photos onto the desk.

I don’t need to look to know what’s inside them. I already feel the shame sinking its claws into my chest. Alicia fuckinglied. She was supposed to give me more time.

My father leans forward, eyes full of cold disgust. “Did you really think no one would find out?”

The pictures sit there, a pile of evidence. Of humiliation. Of my mistakes.

“Dad, I?—”

His fist slams down again, rattling everything on the desk. I flinch, stealing a glance at Spencer, but his gaze stays locked on the floor.

“You’ve been whoring yourself out,” he snarls. “You’ve broken your Sovereign vow.”

“No, it’s not like that?—”

“Then what the fuck is it?” He throws the pictures, and they scatter across the floor, each one worse than the last.

I can’t breathe.

“Why would you do this?” Spencer’s voice is quiet, but the betrayal in it is deafening.

I turn to him. “Spence, I?—”

“You have disgraced this family.” Dad’s chair scrapes against the floor as he stands. “Your actions will not go unpunished.”

“Dad, let me explain,” I plead, tears streaming down my cheeks.

“Explain what? That you have no respect for the Sovereign?”

“No!”

“That you would rather get on your knees than serve your Sovereigns? That you would betray us and sell yourself?”

“I have given everything to the Sovereign!” I shout, desperation echoing in the air. “I have devoted my life to this,and it still wasn’t enough!”

“What have you given?” He laughs, a cruel, mocking sound.

“EVERYTHING! I have given everything! I married for you!” My voice rises, laced with anger and hurt. “YOU SOLD ME! My duty for your pathetic excuse of a legacy!”