Beyond The Fairy Tale: A Monster

h was a tight knot of hunger, but my mind was clear. As I walked up the stairs,

around the grand staircase. Waiters in crisp uniforms moved through a crowd o

over the main archway: Cong

. The cruelty of it was so pr

hadows of the hallway. He had th

e was holding two glasses of cha

me a glass. I j

for my mother. To keep the board of directors happy. It doesn't mea

ce with cold, precise certainty. I had found an ally. Maria, a maid whose younger brother I had helped get i

rough the edges of the party, a ghos

y with a sui

one? So tragic. She clearly

nd already pregnant, I

ong. From the other side of the glass doors, I saw Liam and Scarlett. He had his back to m

riumphant purr. "Once we're married and th

reply was the death senten

calm and final. "I'll handle her

docile until the marriage was secure, the heir

back from the doors, turning to flee. The sound of a champagne

ng so

re venom. "He's mine now, you know. He always was. You're just a pet he keeps

oser, her eyes gle

red of you," she hissed. "

hit the low stone railing. My feet left the ground. For a heart-stopping seco