Page 163 of His Trick

“You didn’t come here for closure,” he spat. “You came to gloat. These names are already in the hands of the law, aren’t they?”

“No,” I said calmly. “I came so you could hear the truth from the man who loved your son.”

I paused, letting each word land with finite absolution.

“He may be gone, but you’ll fucking rot, and now he can have peace.”

Reginold flinched.

I’d never seen him flinch before, but I saw Carrington flinch that night.

I couldn’t wait to see this bastard burn.

You got him, Care Bear.

“Your legacy ends with you,” I said. “No heirs. No empire. No son to carry your name after you destroyed him. You cease to exist here alone.”

Reingold’s voice dipped into something venomous. “And you think that comforts you? Why?”

“No,” I admitted. “Nothing comforts me anymore. Not after losing him. But you know what it does do?”

“What?” he snarled.

“It keeps me breathing.” I stood, pushing the chair back with a scrape of the concrete below. “And before you think your daughter will save you, I’d think again.”

“Why? What have you done to my daughter?”

I smiled then, showing him my wedding ring.

“I’ll take great care of her, Dad.” I started toward the door, then paused as his screaming reached me.

“By the way,” I added without looking back. “He wasn’t weak. He was stronger than you ever deserved, and that’s why you lost in the end.”

I didn’t need to see Reingold’s face to know I’d hit the target dead-on. His scream was louder than my father’s on the other side of the bars.

The guard opened the door.

And as I stepped out without a backward glance, I sighed, feeling the rain fall into my face.

Justice wasn’t clean.

It wasn’t satisfying either. It didn’t make grief easier, but watching Carrington’s father falter and know he’d lost, watching the man who tormented him lose the last shred of control he had…

Yeah.

That was something, not peace exactly, but enough to take another step forward.

Enough to keep breathing…

Even if I didn’t know how much longer I could.

One Year Later

The rain came downlike shards of glass, cutting at my skin and soaking through my coat.

Drip.

Drip.