Wreck Me - Page 210

I fold my hands over my lap, and she says, “I have seen the videos.”

A shiver runs down my spine, and I lift my eyes to find hers etched in sadness.

“I’m deeply sorry for what you went through and what you lost.”

“Thank you,” I say in a meek voice. The damn bastard. If I knew she didn’t know about what they were doing, I would have ratted him out immediately.

“I imagine you’d like to hurt Felix just as much as I do. Believe me, I thought of getting him killed a dozen times ever since he got caught.”

“He has to pay for what he did.”

“I will have him killed if that’s what you want.”

I blink at her, mouth opening in incredulity.

“But I want you to think about what keeping him alive and imprisoned would do to him.”

That would be a long torture. Ignoring the blinding fury for a moment, I’d rather let him live. Death would be too merciful.

“My generation was built on ingrained respect. We didn’t question. We followed. We knew it was never about what we wanted, but about duty. I knew since I could barely talk that I would lead this family. Even with my birthright, I was a woman, and that came with its own hurdles. I had to gain respect and establish my authority. I had to sacrifice my humanity, and my heart to become the undisputed leader of the Family.”

She must see the confusion written all over my face. I have no idea where she’s going with this.

“My daughter was the only one I truly loved. I despised my husband. Oswald was weak in my eyes, always wanting attention and for me to acknowledge him. But I couldn’t, and after we had Cassandra, I sent him away. Then you kids came, and I should have paid more attention, but grief blinded me. I digress. Must be the old age mellowing me. I failed.”

She heaves herself from the armchair on her cane. I follow down the long hallway adorned with priceless paintings until we reach the vault.

“These treasures have been in the Family for centuries. I want you to choose a piece. Whatever you like.”

“This is not what I want, Grandmother.”

“What is it you want?”

It is the first time she has asked, but the answer is at the tip of my tongue.

“To be free.”

“Freedom, my dear, is the world’s biggest illusion. Don’t be naive and fall for it. We are born in chains, and they will disentangle when we die, and not a moment sooner. If you want to be free of this family, of the responsibilities, then I would say I have been truly mistaken about your character.”

“Grandmother, with all due respect, you don’t know me.”

“You used to love spending time with me, and I loved that too. You were my favorite. I saw myself in you. Both you and Kaden have that sense of responsibility ingrained in you, like the capacity to sacrifice your hearts for the greater good.”

“True, but I’m not you. I would never marry or have a child with someone I don’t love.”

“Love. I don’t know much about it, but in my position, it was something I had to forsake.”

Her hand trembles on the cane. I see the strength it takes to appear in better condition than she is. Her face loses color, and her body appears frailer every minute.

I rush to her, and she waves me off.

“Felix wanted to break you, but he couldn’t. He will pay dearly for it because I took what he wanted the most: power. The initiation I had in mind, the one he should have followed, he didn’t because he’s weak. And like every weak person, he enjoys tormenting others and establishing fake power. I told the seniors none of them would lead this family, so this is why I had you come here weekly. It was to test you, youngsters, and you didn’t fail, none of you did. This family was built on trust, respect and following the rules. None of the seniors were a good fit, but they were more cunning.”

A fit of coughing rocks her chest. I freeze when I see the stain of blood on the tissue.

“You and Kaden would have been the perfect leaders. I agreed to your union because you complement each other. I had to think about the well-being of the Family so it wasn’t a hard decision to send my own niece away. But you showed me you are a unit even without me forcing that on you.”

She looks impassively at the tissue in her hand, continuing, “You will have to lead because you were destined to do that. Make things right again. Start a new generation on the values this family was initially built on and create a legacy that will outlive you.”