Page 10 of Promised to the Demon King (The Demon Brides #1)

The front doorbell chimed, indicating more people and more condolences. It's not that Nova was ungrateful to people coming and paying their respects, and it's not as though she doesn’t care for the people in her and her father's home, but she also just buried the most important person in her life. She had no one.

No one but Roz, but that was the thing; Nova would be the only person who would ever know who Roz was.

She felt closeness to no other. Not the same as her father. The swarms of overwhelming emotions and condolences; it all made her feel a greater sense of loneliness. Losing a parent was something that not many could relate to, especially while so young.

Dane, his wife, and son were all in attendance. Although Billy, Dane and Megan's son, had wandered off somewhere, Dane and Megan had not left Nova’s side.

Dane knew how Nova was, and he also knew that this was too much for her. She needed her time to process what had happened, and then, and only then, would she be her typical bubbly and friendly self. Right now, Nova was a hollowed-out shell of the person she was. She had just buried her heart six feet under the ground. She needed time.

She wasn’t one for large crowds, not when she was too in her own head with thoughts and emotions. It was how she was when something big effected her life. She needed to be alone.

Carol, however, loved the opportunity to play her cards and wear the mask of a mournful ex-wife. She was eating up all the sympathy and support from those around her. Jonathon wasn’t a man who would speak poorly of others, so very few knew who Carol really was. She was a viper hidden within a pretty plastic casing.

Carol dabbed her eyes occasionally and quivered her lips when talking about how close she and Jonathon had become lately as friends.

She pushed the narrative that he was taken too soon, that she was just finally getting her long-time best friend back, and now she was robbed of that opportunity.

Nova watched her mother from afar. She knew her mother's manipulations and watched her spin her lies around the crowded four-bedroom home. She watched as Carol weaved tales as great as time and how her world was making sense now that she had Jonathon back in her life as moral support. After all, they had once been married and had a child together.

Carol spun that they were too young when they got married and maybe in another life, they would have lasted well into their golden years. There was too much pressure on them because they were so young, the business was taking off, and they had a child they never expected.

She told a tale of ‘perhaps’ and ‘what ifs,’ suddenly becoming Jonathon Thompson's mournful true love.

Nova couldn’t believe the audacity of her mother and her relentless pursuit of always being in the spotlight.

This day wasn’t supposed to be about anyone else but Jonathon Thompson, but now it was slowly becoming sad that Carol had missed an opportunity to figure things out with her lost love and best friend.

Watching Carol put on the show, the fit of tears and the tainted words of love and devotion, Nova finally snapped. She had had enough of her mother's ruthless tongue.

“Enough!”

Nova screamed, effectively silencing the room.

Carol's head snapped in Nova’s direction. She quickly looked around the room and saw that everyone was watching. Straightening her expensive designer dress, Carol approached Nova with a cautious smile.

“Sweetheart, it’s going to be okay. I’m here. I know how hard this is for you-- it’s hard for us all.”

Carol’s dripped with false sweetness and gentle comforts.

“Oh, shut the fuck up! YOU are the biggest fraud in this room.”

There was a gasp heard within the silenced room. Carol stretched a smile on her face, but her eyes were blazing with embarrassment.

“You have some nerve to even come to my father’s funeral and wake. But to make it worse, you come here to spout off your nonsense of how close you and my father were? You? The same woman who cheated on him throughout their marriage because you considered him too poor to stay faithful to?”

“Now, Nova--”

Carol tried to intervene.

“I’m not finished, you heartless bitch!”

There was another gasp; a few people muffled a chuckle, and a few others awkwardly cleared their throats, but no one else spoke. “You wanted to send me away when I was born. You wanted to abort me when I was still in your womb. You have done nothing but verbally and emotionally abuse me because you never wanted children, especially the Devil’s Daughter, as you have permanently dubbed me. You have never been a part of my father's or my life. Hell, you fought for shared custody to get money from my dad, only to relinquish your partial custody when you realized you wouldn’t get a dime. Now that he’s--”

Nova paused. A bitter sob was stuck in her throat. She would not cry in front of this bitch, though. “dead, you come, and you make his send-off about you? How shallow, how low and selfish someone must be to take a moment from the deceased to make it about them. YOU were never my father's true love. I was and still am. Ask anyone from the shop. Ask anyone from our church. He was vocal that he needed no woman, and he didn’t trust them anymore because of you. I was the only female in his life. Don’t you dare slither on into my home and spout off your poisonous lies. I hate you! It should have been you who died! You’ve done no good in this world; all you do is take. And if anyone needs proof of that, think back to the conversations you had with this heartless bitch while here. It was all about her. Did anyone see her come and check on her daughter? The answer is no. She is here for the image, the sympathy and his fucking money! Get out of my home!”

“Nova, I think you have had too much excitement today. Perhaps you should go and lie down.”

Carol’s face was pinched; she was angry and wanted to snap back and put Nova in her place, but there was a house full of witnesses.

“Oh fuck you! Get out of my house; you’re not welcome here.”

Nova stood firm. No one spoke while they watched the stare-down between mother and daughter.

Timothy, watching the entire performance, was embarrassed. Not because of Nova and her emotional response to Carol but because he witnessed Carol walking around and professing unrealized affection and love for a man she bitterly hated. What was her game here today? He wasn’t sure, but he knew this would embarrass him and shine a poor light on him and his image. He wasn’t upset with Nova. Everything she said was true, and he knew it. But Carol pushed too much and too hard to portray a false image.

“Carol,”

Timothy said, stepping next to his enraged wife. “I think it is time that we left. You’ve made enough of a show for one day.”

Carol stared at Timothy, feeling betrayed since he didn’t stand up for her. “I have done nothing wrong! Why are you defending this horrible brat.”

Another gasp was heard, and Carol’s face paled. She forgot herself for a second in her rage.

“It didn’t take long for your true self to peek through, now did it-- mother.”

Nova used her title bitterly. It was felt throughout the room.

“Carol, this isn’t about you. Nova has just lost her father, and she needs time to process.”

Timothy controlled his tone as he spoke quietly. He would have a stricter conversation with her in the privacy of their own home later.

“So, it is okay for her to lash out at me and embarrass me in front of everyone, but I am the bad guy. Typical.”

Carol scoffed, flicking her hair back in frustration.

“Nova, I apologize for any misunderstandings today. I give you my deepest condolences and hope we can work through this once everything settles.”

Timothy addressed Nova calmly. Nova nodded but glared at her mother.

“Thank you, Timothy. Now, take her out of my home. I do not want her poison in the well any longer than it’s already been.”

Carol gassed up to snap back, but Timothy intervened. Wrapping his arm around Carol’s shoulders, he effectively turned her away from Nova and left the house without another word.

The house remained silent for a few more moments before Dane cleared his throat and made light of the drama that had just taken hold.

“Ding, dong, the witch is gone?”

he joked, nudging Nova with a smile. A few of the shop guys heard and started to laugh. Soon, the laughter took hold, and the house filled with laughter and shared stories of Jonathon and baby stories of Nova.

With a sad smile, Nova thought, "This was how it was supposed to be." People who actually cared and wanted to remember the good times they had.

‘That was incredible to watch, Little Star.’ Roz said, perched on the top of the piano. It’s not that it mattered. No one else but Nova could see her there.

‘I’ve never snapped like that. It felt--’ Nova started.

‘Empowering! A backbone looks good on you, my little Queen. Don’t lose that edge; we’ll be needing it soon.’ Roz was buzzing with pride after watching Nova finally take a stand and speak her mind.

‘She will pay for what she’s done. I will ruin her. Nothing else matters to me now. Just vengeance.’ Nova’s words filled Roz with overwhelming joy and excitement. She’s wanted to torment Carol for too long now; Nova, knowing the truth about Carol’s pursuits with all the accidents associated with Jonathon Thompson’s death, has fueled a fire that should not have yet been awakening within her. Her desire for vengeance is starting to awaken those dormant Demon genes, and Roz couldn’t be more pleased. She wondered if Asmodeus witnessed the flash of the awakening Demoness within their little Queen just now. It was intoxicating to bare witness to.

‘Wakey-wakey, my little Demon Queen.’ Roz thinks to herself with a smile. ‘It’s time to play.’