The Empress Who Buries Her Past

e petition on his desk as if it were a venomous snake. With a guttural gr

re of disbelief and fury. "Do you know what this would do to Johns Development

age, over my pain. He was oblivious, or perhaps willfully ignorant, to the depth of my hurt. I watched him, still crad

t, "then let's solve problems your way, Ale

ker of suspicion in his

n on the photo of the boy. "He's your son, Alec. I'll raise h

r knees, clutching his legs. "No! Alec, no! You can't! He's my son! You can't let her take him

the emergency room, years ago, when the doctors told him I might not make it, when the possibility of losing his silent par

filled with a venomous rage. "You would insul

pain and fury. "What about my right to be a mother? What about the years I sacr

y back was against the wall, when this company was about to collap

eathless. I had been the one poring over ledgers, renegotiating contracts, pulling all-nighters

liatory. "Alec, don't. Cydney was always there for you. She just... she just had ot

w, his fingers digging into my skin, forcing me to look at him. His gaze

utter it, Billie, still clinging to Alec's leg, subtly shifted. Her dress, somehow, rode up, revealing

touch now gentle as he knelt by Billie. "My poor girl, look what she's done to you." He looked up at me, his eyes

dismantled my life? The humiliation was a suffocating weight. The word "no" was still

"I'll call the hospital. I'll tell them to pull the plug o

lungs in a whoosh. My father. My sweet

my voice raw with disbelief. "He's yo

's suffering. It would be a mercy. Unless, of course, you'd l

his devotion. He' d promised to cherish me, to protect my family. Now, he

am trapped in my chest. Slowly, painfully, I sank

e a bitter taste on my tongue.

ge, despair, and utter humiliation. "Please, Alec.

bly. A flicker of something, perhaps a momentary pang of conscience,

manded, his voice like i

reaking. "I'm sorry for everything!

g on her lips. She had done it. She had brought me to my knees. The "white m

ly by my ragged breathing and Billie' s smug sniffles. I felt the weight of thirteen years

with his care." He lifted the phone to his ear, his back to me. "Yes, this is Joh

looming in my chest. But then, Alec' s face, which had been turned away from me, suddenly co

ce a disbelieving gasp. "A

e, were clear enough. The confirmation of the worst