Chapter 41
Chapter Forty-One
OPHELIA
I haven’t answered Ares’s calls or texts. Even when Atlas sends a sketch of me, I delete the image and throw the phone at the wall. Apollo tries to reach me, too.
I hate them.
They used me.
I’m so disgusted with myself for falling into their trap. They must have known what they were doing all along. I was right to push them away at the beginning. All it took was some flirting with Ares and some sweet words from Atlas to change my mind.
I’m so stupid.
I believed their lies.
Let them see me.
Touch my body.
Now, I wish I could carve them out of my brain. If it were possible, I would erase every memory.
It’s well after eight o’clock when I’m flipping through the channels on the television. My uncle is doing one of his side hustles on the South Side, and I have nowhere else to be. I haven’t left his house for over two weeks.
Not since my dad disowned me.
Alexander isn’t home much, so that’s an added benefit. I can sit around and eat ice cream, watch Netflix, and mope. Most days, I don’t even bother to shower or brush my hair. Today marks the fourth day in a row of wearing the same pajamas.
I stop scrolling through the channels when I spot one of my father’s clubs pop up on the screen. Kallidromo, the old warehouse my father converted into a nightclub, is on fire. Flames lick the front and sides of the building, smoke billowing out from every angle.
brEAKING NEWS flashes across the bottom of the screen. It’s a live feed from the Beacon Bay News Network.
The pretty blonde reporter surveys the firefighters extinguishing the inferno. “Local favorite Kallidromo has had its share of problems over the years.”
That’s an understatement.
I told my dad to sell that club years ago because it’s cursed. We’ve had everything from police raids to shootings at the club. Once a month, my dad runs an auction in the basement. I threatened to sell myself there when Dad first threatened to disown me.
Maybe I should have.
Then, I wouldn’t have a place to live, trapped at my uncle’s house like some refugee.
But if not for his charity, I would have nowhere to go.
Constantine offered to let me stay at his house.
He still collects a paycheck from my dad.
Plus, he still likes me, even though we pretend the sex never happened.
The camera sweeps over the burning building, and the reporter continues, “The Beacon Bay Fire Department suspects arson. We’re looking for the owner and local businessman Belen Drakos, but he’s unavailable for comment. He could have been in the building when it set fire.”
“No!”
I rise from the couch with tears in my eyes, hugging my middle to stop the tremors rocking through me. My dad might have given my birthright to Athena, but I would never wish harm on him. He’s still my dad, even if he doesn’t want me to be his daughter anymore.
I run to my bedroom and change into jeans and a T-shirt. My hair looks like a raccoon crawled into it and made a nest. So, I brush through the tangled mess and pull it into a high ponytail. Inspecting myself in the mirror, I shake my head.
Boy, do I look bad?
Like I’m homeless.
Or escaped an asylum.
But mostly, I feel lost. I have been a zombie for the past few weeks, and my life has no real purpose.
I grab a set of car keys and dial my uncle, who answers on the second ring. “Did you see the news?”
“I just heard,” Alexander says, breathing hard into the receiver. “It’s only a matter of time before the police show up, asking questions about Belen’s whereabouts.”
I exit the house and click the key fob of a black Mercedes. “Do you think my dad was in the building?”
“It’s likely.” Alexander sighs. “He spends most of his nights at Kallidromo.”
“Is it possible he set fire to the club for an insurance payout?”
It wouldn’t be the first time.
“Doubtful,” he says immediately to dismiss the idea. “Your father would never do something that stupid on a Saturday night.”
On an auction night.
It’s the first Saturday of the month. Some men who attend will pay millions. The women come to the club looking for quick cash—anything to get themselves out of debt and have a better life. And my father receives a large cut of every transaction.
“He’s dead, isn’t he?” I barely get out the words as I drive off the property and onto the street, headed toward my old house. “I know it.”
“The timing is rather convenient,” Alexander says, his voice deep and angry. “Your father changed his will last week. And the only person who stood to gain from his death swindled you out of your inheritance.”
That fucking bitch.
Seeing through the window with all the tears in my eyes is hard.
So I blink them away, clutching the leather steering wheel.
My house is only a few blocks from Uncle Alexander’s.
I fly between the tall hedges that line the long driveway and race toward the house.
Four cars are out front: Ares’s Camaro SS, Atlas’s G-Wagon, Apollo’s Audi A8, and Athena’s Porsche Cayenne.
The wheels screech when I slam on the brakes outside my old house, intentionally hitting Apollo’s car.
Fuck him.
I park the car and leave the engine running, my Glock tucked into my waistband beneath the oversized shirt, and enter the house. Before I left, the place smelled like Athena, but now it feels even less like my childhood home.
On the way to the sitting room, I catch a whiff of Chanel. Several loud voices float out from the room as I silently approach, straining to hear their conversation.
I poke my head inside as Athena says, “Good job, Atlas.” She cups her son’s face with a smile. “You did well letting Belen catch you in the act with Ophelia. I couldn’t have timed it better myself.”
What the fuck?
The four of them planned this. Was the letter written in my mother’s handwriting even real? Did she forget it? Or worse, force my mother to write it before she died?
“And you, Apollo.” Athena slides her arm across his neck and kisses his cheek. “My little mastermind. Your father would have been proud. If not for you, we wouldn’t have uncovered the truth.”
About what?
“Ares,” she lilts as her heels click on the floor. She hugs him, and since he’s so much taller than his mother, her head hits his chest. “You were always so sneaky. I’m so glad your talents paid off.”
He kisses her cheek. “Anything to help, Ma. Dad deserved better than what he got.”
They are obsessed with their mother, and I can see the adoring looks in their eyes. While I thought they were mine, they were always hers.
“My darling boys,” Athena says with a smile as she stands between them. “You did such a good job keeping your Ophelia under control. Now everything is ours.”
Dad is dead.
They killed him.
The authorities haven’t recovered his body from the fire, and this bitch is already plotting what to do with his money.
Fuck this shit.
I enter the sitting room with my gun pointed at her head. “You conniving bitch. I knew you were full of shit, but my dad wouldn’t listen to me.”
“Oh, honey.” She covers her heart with her hand, a fake smile on her lips. “Don’t take it personally. I did this for you, not to you.”
“Bullshit.” I inch closer to Athena. “You think I won’t shoot you? I could empty this clip in seconds and still sleep tonight.”
“You can’t kill me,” she hisses. “Then you’ll get nothing.”
I narrow my eyes at her.
“If you kill any of us, you get nothing. It says so in the fine print of the will.”
My hand shakes as I keep the gun raised. “I want nothing from you.”
“I own everything,” she says harshly. “And if anything happens to my sons or me, the entire estate goes to charity.”
This can’t be true. My father doesn’t donate money, so why would he start now?
I turn the gun on Ares, my hands shaking from the anger coursing through my body. “I was right about you all along. You were never interested in me.”
“You’re wrong, Little Dragon.” Ares steps closer, and I point the gun at his head, keeping him at a distance. “As my mom said, this was never about you. We only wanted to hurt your father. He took everything from us.”
My finger hovers over the trigger, but I can’t pull it and unleash my hatred because I still care about him. “But you used me to do it.”
Atlas nods when I glance at him. “It’s not what you think, goddess. We did this for you as much as for us.”
Apollo folds his arms over his chest, and I swear I catch a look of pity in his eyes. I don’t want him to feel sorry for me. I want him to hurt as much as I do. “You were collateral damage,” Apollo says. “I’m sorry, Ophelia. But you’re still family. You can come back home.”
Not a chance.
“I’m going to contest the will,” I tell Athena, ignoring her sons and their stupid fucking faces. “You won’t get away with this.”
I spin on my heels, and as I’m about to leave, she says, “With what money, Ophelia? Everything that should have been yours belongs to me.”
Maybe there’s a loophole we can exploit to invalidate the will. There has to be something. I will not let Athena and her piece of shit sons steal my inheritance, not when I worked so hard for it.
I turn around to look at her, clutching my gun in my trembling hand. But even with the nervousness coursing through my body, I can get a clean shot.
“This is what your mother wanted,” Athena says. “Don’t do something you will regret.”
“The only thing I will regret is letting you live.” I raise the gun and aim at the space between Athena and Ares.
“You may have my father’s money and clubs, but you don’t have the respect that comes with my last name.
If you want a war, I’ll give you one. I’m taking back what’s mine. You’ll never own this city.”
She’s right about the will. My uncle has already gone over it dozens of times with his lawyers. Athena had this all planned out and knew what she was doing. So until I can get the proof I need to take back my family’s empire, I need her breathing.
I fire the gun.
She yelps when the bullet lodges into the wall behind her head. Ares’s teeth grit in anger, and he looks like he wants to tackle me to the floor.
“I missed on purpose,” I tell Athena, already plotting to get my revenge. “The next time I point this gun at you, it’ll be a kill shot.”
I leave the dining room in a hurry, the tears stinging my eyes, and get the fuck out of this house.
They’ve won for now.
But I’ll be back.
This isn’t over.