Page 194 of Poison Aches

“Then your world as you know it will cease to exist.”

And just like that my hackles rise.

The hairs at the back of my neck rise.

I stare at her, unable to believe how a person can be so malicious to her own child.

“What do you mean?”

“You love hard, huh?” she counters. “Let’s see what you’ll do when everything and everyone you love is destroyed because of you.”

A bad feeling takes root in the pit of my stomach.

I don’t like the half-smile on her face that doesn’t reach her sharp eyes.

And suddenly, it hits me square in the chest.

“How’s your grandmother and brother, by the way? Have they seen your face on the internet yet?”

My lips fall open.

This woman…

“You wouldn’t,” I gasp.

“Oh, but, sweetheart,” Beverly whispers as she steps even closer to me.. “I’m the ruthless mother that abandoned her newborn baby in the middle of the night, how can I be so weak as to be threatened by that same child now?”

I try to shake my head.

“But… she’s your mother!” I murmur, my body now trembling. “And he’s your son!”

“And you will do as you’re told if you want to keep them safe.”

She means it.

The glint in her eye is sure and determined.

This lady is not opposed to harming her own family.

“Why are you doing this?”

“I don’t owe you an explanation, but I need you to be clear about one thing,” she says calmly. “Melissa jumped the gun on bringing you here and then everything went to hell last night. But even that unexpected adjustment won’t stop anything.”

“Unexpected?”

“The fact that you were given power to choose the next heir of the Easton Outfit!” she grits out. “That has never happened before! The Easton family are the most ruthless, long-standing underbelly Outfit in the world, with power beyond anything ever seen and yet you, a little girl from nowhere, was given power just like that?”

She looks confused and angry. I chuckle.

“It seems you miscalculated then,” I say lazily. “Without knowing all the details you assumed your daughter dodged a bullet and now that this has happened, you are regretting it.”

The look she gives me tells me I’m spot-on.

“How do you even know them?” she demands, but I remain silent. “Well, whatever the case may be, you will do as you are told.”

“Do what?”

“Choose who we tell you to choose.”

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