Page 191 of Ruin Me With Lies

I’m confused.“How so?”

“Soraya’s been extremely attached to me since birth,” he says.“There wasn’t much I could do without taking her along, or she’d become a relentlessly shrieking nightmare for her mom or the sitters.Which meant she spent a lot of time on my lap in board rooms, urgent meetings, and high-level briefings.Listening with rapt attention, as if she actually understood what was being discussed.

“This carried throughout her entire childhood.Meetings with her at my side became standard.But even when she got to the age where shedidunderstand everything, she never asked questions.Never showed real interest in anything.Until Torin foldedyouin.”

He pauses to take a drink of Perrier.“Suddenly, she’s asking questions about Vegas.About its new king.She was fifteen at the time, so I didn’t think much of it.You were new, and already pushing boundaries—the type no one wanted to manage.No one wanted to administrate your detail.Soraya, however, was very interested.And it gave me the perfect opportunity to get her more involved, so I assigned her Vegas Operations.”

“Wait…” I sit forward.“She’sbeen in charge of me all this time?”

“For a while.”He takes another drink of his sparkling water.“It took me some time to recognize her obsessive interest in you for what it really was.Her mother, though…she saw it instantly.And purposely didn’t cue me in.”

“Because that’s when she started seeing me as a pawn,” I deduce.“The ‘war’ is between JB and Soraya, isn’t it?”

Pavlov tips his head in confirmation.“You catch on fast.”

“Am I allowed to ask what the war is about?”

He doesn’t answer directly.“How much did she tell you about her brother?”

“Just that he hated her.And kept trying to kill her.”

He nods, then prefaces, “From here on, I’ll be referring to my wife as ‘JB’.She’s the love of my life.My entire fucking universe.But during this patch in our marriage, I didn’tlikemy wife.”

“I understand.”

“Good.”He continues, “We tried to keep them apart as much as possible.But Sevyn saw his sister as his toy, something to hurt for his own amusement.Knowing his condition, JB showed bias, leniency, and excessive attentiveness toward him.Even when Soraya was the one left hurt or bleeding.Sevyn was skilled at manipulating JB, twisting situations to make her blame Soraya for not being more ‘understanding’ of his psychopathy.

“The constant blaming and neglect toward Soraya created a rift in their relationship.One that was slowly turning into a chasm.This created a clear divide in our family.She backed Sevyn.I backed Soraya.Dysfunctional, but still, we managed.”

With a long pause, he looks up at the artificial sky.“On her sixteenth birthday, something went down with her and Sevyn.It’s her story to tell.But the incident ended with Soraya rendering Sevyn paralyzed from the waist down.”

He briefly presses the pads of his thumbs to his eyes.“Blinded by rage and grief, instead of comforting Soraya, JB punished her.And whatever thread of intrinsic mother-daughter bond Soraya might have had left for JB, it snapped.Burned to ashes.

“By the time JB came to her senses, started seeing things clearly without Sevyn’s lies and emotional manipulation clouding her…it was too late.Her relationship with Soraya was irreparable.”

He sighs, as if the weight of that damage is just as burdensome on him now as it was then.“JB tried to make things right, but Soraya made it clear they were sworn enemies.I won’t get into all the moves Soraya made to instigate the war with JB, but just know that things have been…violently dysfunctional between them ever since.And becauseyouare the only person besides me that Soraya’s shown attachment toward, JB took over Vegas Operations.And has been using you against her ever since.”

He pauses to take another slow sip of Perrier.This is clearly difficult for him to rehash.“You ended up on the Kill List because Soraya did something recently that JB saw as unforgivable.That prompted Soraya to go dark with her team.And when the assassin sent to kill you turned up dead, we knew it was her.”

“Well, damn.”While I was eager and ready to die, this girl who I didn’t even know existed wasn’t ready for me to cease existing.

“JB knew that would keep happening as long as Soraya was off-grid.Because if there’s anyone who knows how to evade and defeatTHE O...it’s Soraya.”He runs his fingers back through his graying hair.“But JB wouldn’t accept defeat, so she changed the game.Decided if she couldn’t kill you, she would toy with you instead.When Soraya became detectable again, inyourvilla—that was her way of accepting JB’s new terms.Agreeing to the amended punishment.And planting her flag on where she stood.Withyou.”

Allowing it all to sink in, I sit back, eyes drifting to the hyper-realistic view of rolling green hills.Soraya knew me.Knewme.All this time.Everything about me.Everyone around me.

And all those sweet early years of me running wild inTHE O, taking every advantage they had to offer,shewas in charge.

In hindsight, I can pinpoint precisely when JB took over—when she contacted me that first and only time over video to threaten me with death.After that, every little line I toed warranted a dire warning or a consequence.All this time it wasn’t even for shit Ididdo.

After leaving me a few minutes to process, Pavlov asks, “How does knowing this make you feel?”

I shift my attention back to him.“What?”

“Knowing all this.Knowing Soraya’s been obsessed with you since she was fifteen,” he clarifies.“How does it make you feel?”

The game’s never on pause.“Feel?Like a K-pop idol.Would love it more if you told me she had pictures of me on her bedroom wall.”

“She did,” he confirms.