Kestrel patted my back. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
Daniel gave me a signature smirk. “Roll on the next debt, brother.”
I was firstborn.
This was my legacy.
After weeks of preparation, I’d agreed once and for all to prove it.
By killing Nila Weaver.
Chapter Thirteen
Nila
LIFE MOVED ON.
I learned to live with a broken heart and stopped jumping at shadows.
No one came to steal me back, and the threat of destroying my family’s life went unresolved. However, I had one question that never left:Are they just biding their time?
In my mind, I lived in a fake world of normalcy and safety. But somewhere out of sight, clouds were forming—growing heavier and more powerful every day.
I no longer trusted that the police could help or that publicity could keep me safe.
If the Hawks weren’t done with me, there was nothing anyone could do.
Hour after hour, I wondered why I stayed. Why I headed into the factory to work under crazy deadlines and demanding buyers. Why didn’t I just run?
The passion to create had gone.
I had no wish to sew.
I hated my listlessness.
I hated the coldness inside that no one could touch.
I lived in constant trepidation; serpents gathered in my gut, hissing with premonition. I missed Jethro with every fibre of my being. He was dazzling sunlight and now I lived in endless darkness.
I was dying without him.
But it wasn’t finished.
The debts weren’t done.
Vaughn wanted me to fly to Asia and hide. Father wanted me to enter witness protection and escape.
I didn’t want to do any of those things and worried about all of us—about what this had done to my family. But despite my worries, my clothing brand exploded overnight.
Nilawent from exclusive couture to being the most wanted garments in all major department stores. Vaughn became the face of menswear and even dabbled in design himself.
And me...
I went from Weaver Whore to a slave for the Weaver Empire. I didn’thave the drive I once did but didn’t have the heart to tell my family.
The only time I had to stand still was to wobble with a vertigo attack.
I was paraded before media.
