Look through my eyes

Chapter 31

Ticktock, ticktock

The clock in my mind has never sounded so good, never felt as much a part of me as it does today.

Soon, soon, soon

Soon it would all be over; soon everything I planned and everything I ever wanted to do would finally be over.

Finally.

My smile grows as the governor looks at the little camera. His serious face stares and stares and stares and stares and my smile grows with every second.

Faster than I would have anticipated, the governor grabs the baseball from his desk, throwing it with precision only a former player can have, smashing the camera.

The little red light disappears.

Shocked by the attack, the governor rises, striking my arm, making me drop the gun.

In a matter of seconds, the cards were turned over.

In a matter of seconds, months and months of preparation....

His low laughter fills the silent office. The gun in his hands was pointing at my head.

"Hands on the desk, now!" I move my hands, placing my palms on the desk without taking my eyes off his. "Did you really...?" His laughter makes me grit my teeth. "Did you really think this would work?"

I remain silent, feeling my heart pound in my chest, completely blocking out the sound of the clock.

"You may have found it easy to corner, Sara, but I've been in this game my whole life. I'm actually surprised she wasn't caught sooner. I must admit her performance has convinced me on many occasions, but please. No one can be that perfect. But that you think you would have me so easy..."

A small smile leaves my lips.

"So what? You'll shoot your daughter?" His eyes turn dark—the eyes of someone who has spent most of his life hiding the cruelty of his soul.

"As far as I know, I only have one child. What difference will it make if I do?" My body begins to shake with rage. "Do you think I didn't do research on you? Do you think I let my carefree son bring unknown people into this house? Sophia Young: " he breathes my name, and my throat closes up. "I must admit, I knew I remembered the last name for a reason. Using your mother's middle name wasn't very smart; anyone who did further research could have figured it out."

"But you didn't." I say, a smirk of superiority appears on my face, but he scoffs.

"Sure, I did. Nineteen-year-old girl, international business major, no parents, no friends beyond my son's group, strategic—I owe you that, but what? There's nothing in your miserable life that has made me more interested in you. You're the typical girl who needs to get good grades to prove something, but you and we all know that won't get you anywhere. You have no connections, and you have no neck in the world. Your grades won't do you any good beyond that; you will always end up begging for work. Being your mother's daughter is the only minimally relevant thing about you."

The hole in my chest grows, my smile has completely disappeared from my face.

"I must admit, I'm very disappointed; your mother was..." My father's sigh makes me ball my hands into fists, and at the movement, he points to my head again after his hands have dropped minimally. "She was everything good in this world."

"And yet you left her-" the words were no more than a whisper.

"She didn't want this; she wanted me to leave my perfect future for what, a life together?"

"Wasn't that enough?" I ask, taking a breath at the answer I know he will give.

His laughter fills the place.

"Of course it wasn't; she thought that together we could get by with her meager job, but me? I had everything in my power to be successful, but her illness... It was going to attract people's sympathy, but a sick wife gets boring after a while. Sara was nothing like her, but at least she knows how to keep her mouth shut, and her foundations do appeal to the masses. But look at you, confessing in front of a camera? Are you that stupid? Did you really think you'd get away with it? You would have taken the damn money!" he laughs again.

His little electronic watch beeps, a set alarm. The governor turns it off by pressing a button before looking at me with disdain.

"Well. As much as I've enjoyed this quality time, he scoffs." I have a really important meeting," he says, wagging his finger to take the safety off the gun.

My smile grows, his body tenses, analyzing my body.

My shoulders relaxed, my fists were already gone. I lean back on the swivel chair. I placed my hands on the hands of the chair.

"Oh, I don't think so. Your little meeting got cancelled; didn't you get the memo?" His jaw tenses, and he opens his mouth, searching for the words.

"What do you know about my meeting?"

"All I know is that with a little phone call, a few pictures sent to the right email, and a mild threat gets anyone to back out. Good thing you don't have to stoop to begging them to do business with you anymore, the answer is pretty clear."

The anger returns to his eyes; his eyes flick from side to side as his nostrils grow.

"Do you know what you've done?"

"Destroy a multi-million-dollar deal on smuggling illegal weapons and making new drugs?" I touch my chin, looking up at the ceiling for a few seconds before smiling at him. "It's disappointing how fast it was to get everyone to cancel your meetings this week. You can take that week off; you don't want to get sick before your elections." His mouth drops open, surprised. "You get it already, don't you? Even your death wasn't going to be enough. This," I say, pointing to his house. "I need to take everything from you. Your family, your house, your money, and your job. Everything you worked for, I couldn't stop until I saw you on the ground."

I smile as Elijah lowers his hands, still with his mouth slightly open.

But he raises his hands again, the gun pointed at my head.

"So what if you've blown a few deals? Don't you think I can get more? There are thousands of people willing to work, and I have enough money to make them work like fucking slaves. My family? I could hardly call Sara my family; Oli will stand by my side and do everything I ask of him until he himself follows my legacy. My job? Can't you see? I will be the fucking governor forever; even after all the old fanatics die, I will be the governor of their children and of their grandchildren, because they are so blinded they won't see the problem. Do you know about these deals? One bullet can fix it."

The sound of the safety on the gun echoes through the office. My heart is pounding so hard that the sound reaches my ears.

"Aren't you happy? You'll see your damn mother; will you say hello to her for me?"

He pulls the trigger, and a great sound echoes in the room.