Page 46 of Poison Aches

I’m not particularly moved by the name calling, though.

Rumors about just how horrible I am have been floating in the underbelly and in my own Family since before I was born. It doesn’t faze me anymore.

An abomination.

A curse.

A sin.

A cold beast.

The devil.

Whatever.

I’ve been called every name in the damn book by the people in the shadows that know who I really am.

Most have been on the receiving end of my particular brand ofpower… and it has nothing to do with the usual violence.

I go for what I don’t have.

The heart.

The existence of the ‘lovechild’ between the taboo female heir of a powerful Mafia family and a mere common foot soldier shouldn’t have happened, but it did.

Syrus’ status was elevated, while the in-family hatred for my mother—as well as her reverence and untouchable status—shot up several degrees.

What they don’t know is that what solidified her position was also the rot that crept in and put her life in danger.

I should’ve died at birth.

Unfortunately, I lived. The fucked-up organ in my chest kept groaning along, beating painfully, slowly, and annoyingly from moment to moment—and because of that, she lived as though a noose was already around her neck.

And now years later, I’ve taken over the role.

If only the Family knew that the heir they hate so much has numbered seconds, they’d wait in anticipation… but instead, they’ve all stupidly resolved to taking shots at me.

Like the leech screaming in pain right now, gasping for air in between the torture.

“You’re so dead!” he shouts and curses. “I know you must be in the network! But do you know what you’ve done? Do you?!”

No one says a word.

As a matter of fact, no one ever asked him a question. My men just went to work because the thing about pain is that it’s nothing when it’s not coupled with fear.

And silence while experiencing heights of indescribable pain will only produce unimaginable levels of fear.

So now hearing him say that means only one thing. He’s fucking afraid.

But that’s just the first part.

Kai gives a signal and the electricity is turned off.

The shadows step back from the asshole, leaving him panting, bleeding, and gasping while he hangs from the ceiling by the chains.

He realizes the torture has stopped, so he looks around with one eye swollen shut like a rotten peach and the other dripping blood.

Something like triumph disguised as hope flashes in his one eye.

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