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EMMA

H e holds my hand as we walk to the basement.

Klaus warned me that things could get ugly, but I told him I wanted to be there for this. Richard caused a lot of hurt to a lot of people. I want to be there when he takes his last breath.

“The walls are partially soundproof,” he explains as we take the stairs to the basement. “That’s why everything is muffled.”

I nod, glad this won’t disturb the kids.

“So are there anymore secrets I need to know about you or your family?”I ask. “If any more dead people are going to come back to life, I’d rather know about it now.”

“No, this is mostly it,” he says. “But you should also know that Alaric and I are part of a cult.”

“Very funny,” I say.

He purses his lips together.

“You guys are in a cult ?” I ask. “What sort of cult?”

“It’san international organization called the Resistance. They solve global crime in unconventional ways. I’m not an official member, but I’m one of the associates,” he says.

We reach the bottom of the staircase. I’m still thinking about what he said as we pass through a door flanked by two security guards.

There’s a second door. The moment we cross through it, the screaming is loudenough to pierce my eardrums.

I see a sweaty, blood-soaked man tied to a chair. The two women he wronged circle around him like vultures about to pick on their prey.

There’s a powerful energy in the air.

This is female rage, unfiltered .

“Baby, no, please,” he says.

“Which one of us are you talking to, Ricky?” Sera asks.

“It’s always been you, Sera,” he says. “Always.”

“You pathetic liar,” she snarls, pointing the gun at his chest and pulling the trigger. I gasp, but no bullet leaves the gun.

Sera snickers when her husband recoils.

It looks like she’s playing Russian roulette with him, letting fate decide if he gets to live or die.

“All I want is for us to be a family again,” he says. “You, me, and the kids.I’ll take you to the Greek island you’ve always wanted to visit. We can stay there for as long as you wish.”

“That’s all I ever wanted,” Sera says. “I wanted you to be a good husband and a good father. I thought you would change your ways with time, but you couldn’t help yourself, could you? You weren’t just unfaithful, you were also cruel.”

“It wasn’t me, baby,” he says. “It was the alcohol. I wasn’t in my right mind when I did all those things.”

“I was taking care of the house and our kids while you went and found yourself a sidepiece,” Sera says. She looks at the other woman. “No offense.”

Clara shakes her head, keeping her eyes on Richard. He glances at the other woman. He can’t hide the disgust on his face when he looks at her. He can’t help but show the world what a horrible person he is on the inside.

“As if the cheating wasn’t bad enough, you started abusing me,” she says. “You hurt me. It was only a matter of time before you hurt the kids, too.”

“I would never,” he says.

Even in a bloody and bruised state, I can easily see why a woman like Sera would be blinded by him. Not only does he have an old Hollywood charm about him, he’s also a spectacular liar. His eyes shine with love and adoration, like he wasn’t the reason for ruining so many people’s lives.

“You’re the reason I had to live without my kids for a whole year,” Sera says. “I’ve waited a long time for this. The day you’d finally be at my mercy.”

“Baby, please,” he begs. “It’s not too late. You were the only woman I ever loved. The rest of them didn’t mean anything to me.”

Clara picks up a baseball bat and swings it with all her might. It lands on his cheekbone, making his head snap to the opposite side.

Richard spits blood on the floor. I notice that two of his teeth have come knocked loose as well.

He looks up at Clara.

His mask slips.I see the narcissist lurking underneath the charming exterior. I see the malice in his eyes.

“You bitch,” he spits out. “What the fuck are you even doing here?”

“She’s here to watch as you breathe your last,” Sera says, pointing the gun at him again. “And you don’t get to talk to another woman that way ever again.”

Sera lifts the gun, aiming it at his head this time.

“Sera, wait—” he says.

She pulls the trigger.

There’s no bullet. He’s sweating, though. He knows his end is near.

“The kids need a father, Sera,” he says. “They need me. You know this. I’m going to change. I’ll do it for you. I’ll do anything for you.”

“Oh, give it a rest,” she says. “Everyone in this room has already seen your true colors. You’re not fooling anyone.”

Richard’s gaze swings between the two women. And then it shifts to Klaus and me.

“Please help,” he says, giving me his full attention now. “They’regoing to kill me. Please call for help.”

If I didn’t know any better, I would have believed everything he said. I would fall victim to thosepitiful eyes.

“You deserve so much worse,” I tell him.

“You whore,” he spits out, his face turning red.

Klaus is about to lunge forward, but I reach for his hand,stopping him in his tracks. At the same time, Clara swings the baseball bat again, shattering his kneecap this time. She grins at her handiwork as he howls in pain.

“I don’t know what I ever saw in you,” Sera says. “I wish I never met you.”

“We can fix this,” he says. “You and me, we’re a team, Sera. It’s always been us against the world, remember?”

Tears gather in Sera’s eyes. The anger melts from her face as she stares at the man she once shared a life with.

And then she lifts her gun again, aiming it at his chest.

She pulls the trigger. A loud blast echoes through the room.

There’s a hole in the center of his chest.

Richard glances down at his torso in disbelief.

“Fuck you, Richard,” she says. “Fuck you for making a fool out of me. Also, you might have a pretty face, but your dick is so small.”

Clara laughs then, the sound of her mirth the sweetest melody. She nods in agreement.

Those are the last words Richard gets to hear before he draws his final breath.

All of us stare at him for a moment.

The silence is deafening.

Clara puts the baseball bat back where she found it and walks away from the scene. She’s about to head back upstairs when I reach for her hand. She glances down at it in surprise and then at me.

“Are you okay?” I ask her.

She nods once and then smiles at me.

I let go of her. She floats back up the stairs,her soft footsteps so familiar to me now. My heart reaches out for her, but I’m also in awe of her strength.

Sera’s reaction is the opposite of stoic.

She starts crying, quiet at first, but it soon turns into sobbing. She falls to her knees, but her brother is there to catch her.

“Not in here,” Klaus says. “Let’s go outside.”

Sera wraps her arms around her brother as he lifts her into his arms.

“I thought it would feel better,” she says. “But I just feel so empty inside. I feel...nothing.”

“That’s okay,” Klaus says, walking up the stairs of the basement.

“It’s not okay, Klaus,” she says. “I waited so long for this moment. It’s come and gone, and I just feel the same. I don’t feel any happiness.”

“It’s not supposed to make you happy,” Klaus says. “You took matters into your own hands, but you’re not a sociopath like him, Sera. It’s not supposed to bring you any joy.”

I follow quietly behind them, lost in my own thoughts.

Richard reminded me of Adam in so many ways. He reminded me of false promises and toxic love. It’s always a tough pill to swallow when you’re hurt by the very person you learned to care for.

No words of comfort will take that pain away.

It wasn’t until I met Klaus that my heart started to truly heal. He didn’t just give me protection, he inspired my heart to feel something again. He made the whole world sweeter just by standing next to me.

It’s a chilly night, but Klaus carries his sister outside and puts her down on her feet. I’m hesitant to join them, but Klaus turns and reaches his arm out for me. The three of us sit down on themarble stairs at the grand entrance.

“When did it all get so complicated?” Klaus says, blowing out a foggy breath.

“I don’t know,” Sera says softly.

Klaus looks over at her.

“I would have helped,” he says. “If you told me you needed me, I would have done everything in my power to take care of you.”

“I wasn’t in a good place then, Klaus,” Sera says. “I was...”

I stand. Klaus’s sister looks up at me with those sorrowful blue eyes.

“I’ll give you some privacy,” I whisper, about to head back inside.

“No, stay,” Sera says. “I don’t mind at all.”

Klaus reaches for my hand and tugs at it until I’m sitting next to him again. I glance down at theway his large hand covers mine. My heart swells with love for this man.

“You were saying?” Klaus asks, turning back toward his sister.

Sera clears her throat. “I know you would have helped me, but I was ashamed of the situation I’d gotten myself into.

You told me that you didn’t like Richard, but I married him anyway.

And toward the end of that relationship, I was in a very dark headspace.

I felt like it was my problem. I got myself into it, so I had to get myself out of it. ”

“I’m your big brother, Sera,” Klaus says. “It’s my job to be there for you when you need me.”

“I know that now,” she says softly.

“You went to Alaric for help, but you didn’t come to me,” Klaus says, finally saying what’s on his mind. “Why didn’t you come to me, Sera?”

His sister looks at him.

“Because,” she whispers. There’s so much heartbreak in that one word. “I was more concerned about you than I was of myself, Klaus. We all were. I don’t know if you remember, butyour nightmares were worse than ever back then. I didn’t want to give you another thing to worry about.”

“It’s my right to worry about you,” Klaus says. “Do you understand that?”

She bites down on her bottom lip and nods. She glances up at the night sky. Thousands of stars glitter down at us, making us momentarily forgeteverything that’s wrong with our lives.