Page 85 of Queen’s Gambit

“I feel so weak and helpless. I want to punch back and make him pay. Make Christov pay, but Frida…I don’t know how.”

“Just be you, and you’ll figure it out. You’ve always been a strong, vibrant woman. I look up to you. I wish I had half the gumption you have in one finger. You feel beaten down right now, but you’ll rise again. I have faith.”

“I love you, Frida. Thank you for always being my friend.”

“I love you too, Yuli. Now, come on, let’s get you dressed so you can face that lying ass that calls himself your father.”

She was right. It was time to dig deeper than ever before. From this moment on, it was war. My father might have started it, but I was going to finish it.

My father hated to wait for anything or anyone, so I’d taken my time getting ready, purposely going slower than usual. What better way to start my revolt? Reaching the bottom floor, I wandered into the sitting room and grabbed the first bottle of alcohol I saw, which happened to be Father’s precious and most expensive vodka. He only drank it on special occasions, and it was known that no one else was to touch it. Well…too fucking bad because today, I was drawing a line in the sand.

It swung from my fingers as I marched the rest of the way to his office. There was no knocking. I didn’t care if he was in there with ten dignitaries or dancing naked on his desk. I was entering on my terms. The door slammed as it hit the wall, and Father spun around to stare at me wide-eyed. He was on the phone, and with a roar that could wake the dead, I hurled the vodka at his head.

Father’s eyes bugged out just before he ducked down, and the bottle smashed into the picture behind his desk. Glass shattered and rained down in a million little pieces…just like my heart.

Father darted away, covering his head.

“I have to go,” he yelled into the phone while lifting his eyes to mine.

He looked like he was questioning my sanity. Maybe I had lost my mind. But he was the one who had driven me to jump off the sane cliff into a freefall of emotional turmoil.

“Yulianna, what the hell has gotten into you?”

Walking calmly over to the bookcase that held more than just books, I grabbed anything light enough to throw. Screaming like a banshee, I did just that. Crystal vases, statues, candles, and framed photos all flew across the room.

“Yulianna, stop this madness,” Father ordered, but I was just getting warmed up.

He stomped toward me, and I ran to the fireplace to grab the metal poker. Father stopped in his tracks and put his hands in the air.

“I hate you,” I screamed and swung the poker at the closest decorative bust.

It flew off its pedestal and smashed into dust as it hit the floor. Swinging again, I cleared everything off the fireplace mantle. The lone family photo he kept in here crashed to the ground. The frame broke as the glass cracked right down the middle like it was a physical representation of our family divided.

“Yulianna, enough.”

Snarling like a wild animal, I spun around and charged at my father. He began to backpedal as he pointed at me.

“Stop. I command you, as your father and the head of this house, to stop this.”

With the poker in hand, I raised my arm and swung for his head, only narrowly missing. I’d never seen Father scared, not like this, and in this moment of insanity, I found clarity. He was just a man, and he bled like everyone else. He wasn’t a god or immortal, and one day, I would rule this house whether he wanted me to or not.

Father tripped over the coffee table in the sitting area and fell, knocking over one of the chairs as he crashed to the floor. He rolled over and looked up at me, real terror in his eyes as I stepped on his chest and held the point of the poker to his throat.

“Hear me, Father,” I said with a deathly calm.

Staring into his cold and unyielding blue eyes, I wondered how one grew to be so malicious.

“You betrayed me. You broke my trust and sold me off to someone who I know wants to kill me. You may not believe that, or if you do, then maybe you don’t care, but he does. Marrying Eddie is the only thing I’ve ever begged you for and you just couldn’t let me have him. I’ll never forgive you for choosing money over my happiness. You had a choice…but I now see your heart and it’s as black as your soul.”

I pressed the sharp metal tip into his neck and wished that I could be more like Eddie and just end this now. My hand shook, and while it was tempting to free myself, I wasn’t a murderer.

The office door burst open, revealing my mother and two guards.

“Yuli, please don’t do this.”

Ignoring her, I turned my attention back to the man who had contributed to my existence but chose to sell me to the highest bidder.

“Do you hear me?”