𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀 𝐒𝐔𝐂𝐂𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘. 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐀 𝐑𝐔𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍.
It's the beginning of a new age when Jaylah Imperatrix seemingly returns from the dead to reclaim her throne. And in perfect timing.
In her absence, evil has be...
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Act 3 Chapter 63 ALEXANDER
I had never felt so numb in my life as I returned to the Azuliné Moriare the next morning.
Everything else was a blur as I strode to the table at the end of the long room. Even in the early morning, this godforsaken place was full of customers. My life had been smashed to smithereens and here it was as if nothing changed.
But there was the proof that I hadn't imagined it all: Igor Razkoff, as drunk on wine and revelry as ever.
I slammed the playing card with the glittering fox under my fist on the table, making him jump. "Why didn't you tell me they were dead?" No matter how many times I said it aloud, it felt as if I was talking about someone else's life. It didn't feel real.
Contrary to his flinch, my stepfather did not seem surprised to see me back. "You...you were still so hopeful." He sighed. "I thought you might take my advice and leave the city after all."
"Why would I do that?" I expected to feel seething anger. But I was just tired. "I'm not like you. I don't leave situations like this, no matter how hard they are." No, I stayed for far too long and let them gnaw at my flesh until I was bleeding and raw.
"And yet I am still here." He played his turn in the dice game.
"So why are they gone? If you did all you could, why are they nothing but maggot-infested corpses rotting away somewhere in the ground?"
It pleased me to see him flinch at my harsh language. "Their owner's wife was relentless in her attempts to block me from them through the law. I figured once I could get enough prestige, enough money, I could ruin them and get away with it."
"Or you could have killed them as I did," I said stiffly. "Like a real man."
That seemed to prod at some hidden insecurity of his. "Do not speak to me about being a real man."
The upper hand was mine and I couldn't resist. "Does it pain you to know that I was more successful in a single night than you were in weeks? Are you angered that I don't have to stay within the confines of the law like you?" I gave him a smile that felt more like a sneer. "No, I know what it is. Your own incompetence haunts you because you couldn't save them while we were still together. That's it, isn't it? The fact that you were stupid enough to be caught first. You could never protect them like you promised."
"Oh?" His eyebrows shot up. The more detached and cool I became, the angrier he was. "Now that you have brought it up, why don't we speak of promises? Tell me, Alexander, while I was being taken away, what were the last words I said to you?"
The words were like acid in my mouth. "To never let them out of my sight. To keep them safe."
He bobbed his head. "Yes. It seems we have both failed in our promises, and yet the Gods have ironically chosen for us to live. To atone for our mistakes, perhaps." He took a long drink of the ever-present wine glass at his side.
