“You fucker,” I growl and kick him in his smug face. Blood gushes from his brow as it rips open.
“Zain, please,” she pleads with me.
Her desperate pleading cries tug at something within meCan’t stop though. “Quiet. I need to do this. Need to say my piece,” I grit.I circle him like a vulture. Hungry. Spiteful. Vengeful. “You piece of shit. This was supposed to bemylife. You adoptedme. Why, Pearson?You and Amelia never fuckin’ loved me,” I laugh sardonically. “What—” Vesper is too stunned to speak.
In time, songbird. Everything will slowly unravel.
“What the fuck!” he gargles through the blood, still catching his breath.
Vesper’s cries reach my ears. The soft crackle of the fireplace burns into my irises. “‘What the fuck’ is right,” I spit.
A glorious pool of blood trails on the hardwood floor. It seeps into the expensive rug in front of the fireplace, sopping up his tainted blood.His traitorous blood.
“Please, let’s talk about this. Leave my Vesper alone,” he begs, pulling on the nylon restraints and meeting my gaze with pleading eyes.
I offer a dry, mirthless laugh. “Your. Precious. Vesper.” I let out a sharp, staggered breath and enunciate each word slowly. Then I kneel down to his level. “You molded her into your ideal daughter. Yourperfectlittle image. Everything you ever wanted, huh?” My voice grows louder. “What the fuck was wrong with me?” I slam my fist into my chest.
His eyes lack remorse and instead hold disdain. “Even now, I can’t look at you. You taint everything you touch. You drove your mother to suicide! I had to protect Vesper so she didn’t gain your sickness. Vesper couldn’t know you,” he barks, spitting blood.
“What?” Vesper lets out a harsh breath. “You told me Mother was sick!” she cries.
I lift my chin and hold a stoic expression. “You’re lying,” I grit.
Fisting his lapel, I drag him to his feet before slamming him into the wingback chair, practically knocking it over. I crush his bound armsbehind him, pushing him back deeper into the chair. He winces and howls in agony and each pained cry brings me closer to answers.
Pearson heaves, attempting to catch his breath.
Vesper sobs harder.
He starts out softer this time, patronizing me. “We loved you, Zain but you needed help. Help we couldn’t offer. We just couldn’t do it. Do you still hear those voices? You were always suffering from delusions and episodes. You had no clue how to feel anything other than rage.”
I release him and glower.Amelia killed herself…because of me.
He sputters and continues. “We didn’t want to set you up for failure. We spoke to the Larks. Roland and Beatrice could never have children of their own. They were ecstatic to take you in, despite your problems. They thought they could fix you.”
I scoff and slam my hands on either of the armrests.
Vesper’s sobs turn eerily quiet behind me aside from her occasional sniffle.
Soon Vesper.
“Beatrice and Roland thought they could fix me,” I parrot. “I’m not fuckin’ broken!” I gesture to Vesper, who’s a sniffling, blubbering mess. “You have no idea how to raise a fuckin’ kid. She was far too easy to break.To own. To destroy.I had her wrapped around my finger. Your good little girl has fallen from grace.” I drag out my last words slowly, cynically.
“Zain…” Her pained cry breaks my insides, but I throw up my defenses, blocking her out and focusing solely on destruction.
Hurting her stings me, but I continue, unable to stop the madness. It’s like an avalanche. Shit is insurmountable.
“I was protecting her!” he snarls.
I push off of the chair and pace. “Protecting her,” I repeat. “You protected her so well I was able to fuck her, own her,claim her.And she was fuckin’ delicious,” I draw out, adding more fuel to the fire. I want him to hurt the way he hurt me. I want him to admit he gave up on me.
“You used me.” Her strangled voice wavers.
For a moment he’s silent, and I think he may apologize. I ignore Vesper’s harsh realization, despite the inner turmoil.
“No… You—” His pupils dilate with clarity.
I grin triumphantly. “I did,” I snap, “and I’ll show you exactly how much she loved it.” My eyes darken as I approach Vesper. She starts her hysterics, but it doesn’t faze me. I tamp it down. I know despite it all, she loves it. No one else can make her feel alive the way I do.
