Chapter Forty
Olivia
T he elevator doors close but Maxwell keeps a straight face.
As the elevator ascends, I jump hearing the first gun fire and scream, “Why did he do this?”
A whisper comes from his mouth, “Because he loves you, Miss Olivia. He wants you safe.”
My heart hammers in my chest, “He—He loves me?”
He nods and the elevator door comes to a halt, the doors open, and he pulls me out. We are on the same floor the girls and I were held on before the auction started.
“Come, Miss Olivia. You will be safe here.”
My feet freeze in the hallway, and I think about my next move. “How can I live with myself if something happens to him, Maxwell? How do I go on with the regret that I had the power to be there, standing by him through it all and instead, I’m tucked away as a coward, letting him fight my battles for me.”
“Olivia, please don’t do this.”
I shake my head, backing away toward the elevator. “I found love in a man who was my father’s enemy. A man who could have easily been as foul and ruthless as the others, but instead cherished me. He looked after me. He has done what every woman has always dreamed of her man doing. If I am going to take on his kingdom with him, I need to be out there, fighting with him.”
I turn, running toward the elevator and hitting the button that closes the door.
Maxwell almost made it to me, but the doors closed right before his hand could catch the sensor.
Hitting the first-floor button, I take a deep breath and brace myself for the possibilities of what I am walking into.
It may be too late.
***
D ING.
The elevator door opens. A cloud of smoke and what smells like shell casings linger through out the first floor. Bodies lay on the floor, and I carefully try my best to step over each one.
My heels click on the floor loudly, so I slowly slide them off and sit them down on the tile floor so I am not heard walking.
A lifeless face gets my attention. It is Timothy, the man who tortured me in my father’s basement.
His gun lays just inches from his hand. Looking around to make sure no one alive is around, I grab his gun and check the clip to make sure there are bullets left. Thankfully, it has a few rounds left, so I tighten my grip around it and hold it close by my side.
The floor is empty other than the bodies that lay on the ground dead.
Where is Hayes - I whisper to myself.
Looking around I see some white masked men and some men of my fathers. Blood soaks the floor and walls of the first floor as the bodies turn cold.
Thankfully I do not see Hayes or Alan. Regretfully, my father still seems to be alive, too.
BANG.
Something gets my attention from the stairs, and I tip toe as quietly as I can, taking a step at a time until I reach the top. Leaning my back against the doorframe, two male voices are heard.
I try my best to keep my figure hidden and listen to who they are.
“It’s just you and me, Ashton. Let’s get this over with.” Hayes’ voice rings like hymns in my ears.
He is alive.
“I’m going to enjoy this,” my father sneers, and it makes the hair on my arms stand.
It sounds like something is knocked with a loud punch and I ease my head inside to see what is going on; Hayes has run himself headfirst into Ashton, knocking him to the ground.
“Is that all you got boy?” Ashton roars. “Your father taught you nothing.”
My father pounds his fist into Hayes’ skull and blood spills from his mouth and nose.
“I am going to enjoy killing you just like I enjoyed killing your father.” Another punch hits Hayes’ face before I hear my father say, “Next, I will kill her. She won’t live to see tomorrow. I should have killed her when I killed her mother.”
That must have given Hayes an adrenaline rush, because he jumps out from Ashton’s hold and lands a few more punches into his face.
Both men are now bleeding from their mouth and nose.
“You are done, Ashton. You cannot live in sin this long without consequences.”
Ashton throws Hayes down on the ground and grabs a gun I now notice laying on the ground, raising it to his face.
“Stop!” I jump into their view and both men stop abruptly and stare at me.
“Olivia! Go!” Hayes screams at me and takes his eyes off my father who now has his gun raised at me.
“I should have done this a long time ago. You have been nothing but a mistake.” His last words ring with the bullet being fired and I brace my self for the impact.
At least the last eyes I will see are of the man I love. That brings me peace.
I am knocked to the ground by something bigger than me. Opening my eyes, I feel my chest, but I feel nothing. No blood, no pain; it’s like the bullet missed me.
“Miss Olivia.” Maxwell’s voice gets my attention, and I notice he is the reason I fell to the ground.
Hayes kicks Ashton’s guns from his hand and I run over to Maxwell, placing my hands on his chest.
“Maxwell, No!” My screams echo through the room.
“Miss Olivia, I am so proud of you,” he grunts out. “It has been a privilege keeping you safe. I will continue doing so in the afterlife.” His eyes glaze over while the last breath leaves his lungs.
My hands are painted red from the blood oozing out of his chest, while anger boils through my veins. This is the last time someone dies because of this man.
I stand with anger, grabbing my pistol and aim it at my father’s head.
Both Hayes and my father stop fighting as they look at me.
“Do you even know how to use that thing?” my father questions me.
I put my finger on the trigger.
His Adam’s apple rises and falls.
The so-called King is scared.
“Olivia, put that down.” Ashton’s face falters.
“Sorry to tell you, daddy. The na?ve little girl you thought you were raising is long gone. I am no longer afraid of monsters, because I was raised by one. They do not need closets to hide in. Instead, they will make you believe they are the best people in the world while raising you for slaughter.”
My hand stops shaking. “The rightful Queen is here to take her throne.” Without a second thought, my finger puts weight on the trigger and my father falls to the ground, his blood rushing out of his skull.
Hayes runs to grab me before I fall to my knees, my hands shaking and tears flooding my cheeks.
Alan comes running into the room, falling to the ground when he notices his brother is dead. He picks his head up and holds him in his arms.
Our cries can be heard throughout the entire building.
My heart shatters into a million pieces. For this life, for the life I thought I once knew, for the women at the Hope House, for my mother, and for Maxwell. They paid the ultimate price for the sins of my father, just to keep me safe.
I cry into Hayes’ chest as he holds me, my bloody hands making a mess all over his shirt.
“I love you,” I whimper into his chest.
He rocks me and after letting me cry for a few minutes, he picks my chin up to look at him, “I love you, little doe. It is all over. You are safe.”
I kiss him softly.
“Where are all the girls?” I finally ask.
“At the Hope House. Would you like to go see them?”
I nod, “Yes please. But can we take Maxwell’s body back with us? I don’t want to leave him here. He deserves a proper burial.”
Alan sniffs. “Thank you, Miss.”
“Absolutely, we will bury him in the family cemetery. But first I need to go deal with Ellie,” Hayes states.
Alan’s voice is shaky, lowering his brother’s head to the ground, and stands. “Ellie is dead sir. She ran her chair into the wall so hard it broke her neck. My guess is she was trying to escape.”
I look at Hayes. “Well, that’s one less bitch I have to deal with.”
He chuckles and helps me stand. I give one last look into the eyes that wanted to keep me quiet, wanted to keep me locked away, and wanted to use my body for his own wealth.
Instead, I stripped him of every power he thought he had.
The man had a hand at giving me life, but I refuse to live my life the way he did. The way he wanted me too.
Instead, I vow to live my life with strength, as a survivor should. Because surviving a hell like this takes strength that comes from a woman.