My Crown, His End: A Vengeful Heart

A heavy boot slammed into the back of Easton's knee, forcing him to the ground with a grunt of pain. He fell hard, pulling a gasping Gisele down with him.

"Shut your mouth," the guard who had kicked him—a man I now recognized as one of my father's most trusted lieutenants—snarled. "You will show the Young Miss respect."

Easton stared wildly around the room, at the familiar faces of the men he had handpicked, men who had sworn loyalty to him, now holding him at gunpoint. His empire, built on a foundation of control and intimidation, had crumbled in the span of thirty seconds.

"What is this?" Gisele shrieked from the floor, clutching Easton's arm. "Easton, why are your men doing this? Make them stop!"

Her panicked cries seemed to snap him out of his shock. His eyes, cold and venomous, scanned the faces of his betrayers. "You want to mutiny?" he spat. "Do you have any idea what the penalty for that is in this house? What could she possibly offer you that I haven't already given you?"

"She can't offer them anything," I said, my voice echoing in the tense silence. I walked over, my uninjured hand cradling my broken wrist, and looked down at the man who had been my entire world. "Because they were never yours to begin with."

He had been so careful, so paranoid. Over the years, he had systematically transferred any personnel I had personally recruited, anyone whose loyalty might lie with me over him, to remote posts. He thought he had isolated me, leaving me surrounded only by his own devoted followers.

The truth was far more devastating. The vast majority of our personnel, from the elite guards to the cleaning staff, had been placed here long before I ever met him. They were my father's people. Sleepers, waiting for a command they had never received, until a few days ago. All this time, Easton and I had been preening over our self-made success, two mice celebrating in a cage the cat had built around them.

"Stop wasting your breath, Easton," I said, kicking a nearby stool over and sitting down, leveling my gaze at Gisele. "It's time to settle our accounts."

I picked up a fallen guard's pistol from the floor. The weight was comforting in my good hand. I idly ejected the magazine, checked the rounds, and slid it back into place with a sharp, metallic click.

"Let's start with you," I said softly, my eyes on Gisele. "You called me a substitute. A stand-in. Explain."

Gisele whimpered, pressing herself into Easton's side. He shielded her with his body, his hand instinctively going to the scar above his eyebrow, a nervous tic he had whenever he was lying.

"Adria, stop this madness," he pleaded, his voice taking on a desperate, placating tone. "It was just words. Gisele was upset, she was just trying to hurt you. You know I love you. Ten years, Adria. Think of everything we've built."

I flinched. The lie was so practiced, so smooth. I had heard it a thousand times, and believed it every single time. Until now.

I pistol-whipped him across the side of the head. He crumpled, dazed, and I yanked Gisele out from behind him, her shrill scream cutting through the air. I pressed my thumb into the fresh wound on her shoulder, eliciting a gurgling cry of pain.

"I hate liars," I whispered in her ear. "So you're going to prove to me that he's telling the truth." I eased the pressure slightly. "You have a choice, Gisele. Tell me the truth, and I'll send you to a hospital. Lie, and you'll bleed out on this marble floor. So, who dies today? You... or him?"

Her terrified eyes darted to Easton, who was struggling to sit up, blood trickling from a gash on his temple. He was trying to maintain a brave face, his back ramrod straight, but the frantic clenching of his fists betrayed his fear.

I glanced at the grandfather clock in the hall. The funeral was in one hour. Time was running out.

I pressed the muzzle of the pistol to Gisele's forehead. Cold sweat beaded on her skin.

"Can't choose?" I asked sweetly. "Don't worry. I'm happy to choose for you."

My finger tightened on the trigger.

"Wait!" she screamed, her voice a ragged gasp. "It was him! It was all him! He planned everything! I have proof! A video! He told me everything!"

The moment she said the word "video," the color drained from Easton's face. For the first time since I'd met him, I saw pure, unadulterated fear in his eyes. He wasn't just afraid of losing control, or losing me. He was afraid of dying. He was afraid of what was on that phone.