Chapter 8
“Skye, having a rich family doesn’t mean anything. In the end, you still turned out to be a loser and couldn’t even keep your fiancé.
“Both your bodyguard and your fiancé were enjoyable.”
No one could stand that kind of insult. I was ready to fight back, but Naomi held me off.
“Skye, almost all the top fighters in the Blueclaw have trained under me. You’re no match for me.”
As I listened to Naomi’s cold warning, I looked at her like I didn’t know her anymore.
“Aunt Naomi, I’ll ask you one last time. Are you choosing your family, or are you picking Luke?”
Before she could reply, Luke let out à loud laugh.
“Don’t be naive! That choice was already made back at the wedding.
“Do you think I stayed with Queenie for nothing? I know every move your Blueclaw makes and exactly how it runs… There is no point in keeping you around.
“You’re no longer useful. If you won’t surrender, then you can just die.
“Attack them!”
Right away, a flood of Blueclaw members came charging at my mother and me.
I acted fast, slamming the door shut and locking it tight.
Stella thought she had already won, so she stood in front of the door, yelling insults nonstop.
But her shouting didn’t last long.
Ever since we discovered the connection between Luke and Naomi, we
had quietly gathered our people and placed them throughout the hospital.
Now that things had fallen apart between them, Luke wouldn’t just stand by while his sister was in danger.
He and Naomi were bound to team up and fight for control.
As we predicted, they did.
The way Naomi had watched me get hurt without stepping in made it clear that she didn’t care about me at all, let alone have any loyalty.
Once I rose to power, I knew she would always be a threat, no matter what Stella and Luke did.
They planned to strike while things were chaotic and eliminate us.
Our strategy was to let them try, so we’d have the reason we needed to take her out for good.
Soon, the shouting outside faded.
I slowly unlocked the door and opened it, only to see Naomi and two others on the floor, bleeding and pinned down.
As soon as Stella saw me, she tried to lunge forward.
“You shameless woman! You tricked me!” she screamed.
I didn’t react to her anger. I just smiled.
“You’ve been scheming to hurt me for years. I’m just giving you what you deserve.”
My mother sighed and waved, signaling the guards to take them away.
Right then, Matthew ran in, crying loudly.
“Mom, please–Stella’s pregnant with my child. Don’t hurt her. Think of the baby!”
Fabian and Hugo followed close behind.
“Please, don’t blame Stella. We’ll take responsibility. Just don’t kill her!”
My mother glanced at me, leaving the decision to me.
I stepped up and kicked Hugo hard against the wall.
“If I hadn’t taken you in, you’d still be a beggar.
“Hugo, I trusted you to protect me, and you stabbed me in the back!”
I drew my sword and sliced off his limbs.
“Send him to a beggar’s den.”
Seeing how firm and merciless I was, Fabian instantly regretted everything.
“No, please! Don’t send me to the beggar’s den! Skye, you wouldn’t hurt
me, would you?”
I smacked him hard across the face twice. He was so stunned that he
was unable to react.
“Fabian, from the moment I agreed to marry you, I gave you everything. As long as there is something you like, I’ll get it for you by the next day.
“You were just an unwanted illegitimate child. If I hadn’t chosen you, you’d have been thrown out and left to beg on the streets.
“But what did I get in return, huh? Tell me!”
Terrified, Fabian burst into tears. I ignored his sobs and sent him off to join Hugo.
Then, I turned to Matthew.
He was terrified and trembled all over, but he still looked at our mother and tried to plead.
“Mom, I only made one mistake. You can’t let Skye do this to me. I’m your only son!”
I gave him a sneer and dropped a truth on him he’d never heard before.
“Matthew, you’re not Mom’s real son.”
Shock filled his eyes. He didn’t even cry–just froze.
“No way. You’re lying!”
I threw the evidence straight at him.
“Mom couldn’t have children back then, so she adopted you from an orphanage just to bring joy to the family.
“She never told you because she didn’t want to hurt you.
“But what did you do? You turned on your family for an outsider! Matthew, I’ve got nothing more to say. You’ll face the same fate they did.”
Matthew picked up the document. After looking through it, he turned pale.
As he was dragged away, his lips trembled. He didn’t beg—just muttered an apology.
But I wasn’t someone who forgave those who hurt me badly.
Once they were handled, I turned to Stella.
She’d seen everything, and her fear was so intense that she wet herself.
I sneered and pulled out the switchblade she once used to stab me. She stumbled backward in panic. When I stepped forward, she suddenly shoved Luke at me.
Luke wasn’t ready for it. He slipped, hit his head on the sharp edge of the corridor, and collapsed. A deep gash split his head, and blood poured out.
Naomi froze when she saw that. She rushed to him, trying to stop the bleeding.
But it was too late. Luke wasn’t breathing anymore.
Stella had killed her brother. Her voice shook as she tried to speak.
“I–I didn’t mean to do it. He just got unlucky!”
Naomi’s expression darkened. She grabbed the dagger from my hand and stabbed it into Stella’s chest.
“He did all this for you! He wouldn’t have gotten involved if it weren’t for you!
“You cared so much about saving yourself that you ended up killing your brother! And now you’re blaming it on bad luck?”
Naomi shouted as she kept stabbing Stella with the blade.
Stella barely had time to cry out before her life ended, right next to her
brother’s.
With one final cut across Stella’s mouth, Naomi turned toward me. Her face was covered in blood.
“Skye, I owe you an apology for everything.
“But I can’t undo what happened. I’ll make it right with my life.”
Before I could stop her, she drove the dagger deep into her chest.
As Naomi collapsed, only my mother and I were left there.
My mother sighed and called it bad luck. Then, she motioned for me to go get some rest.
But I didn’t go to bed right away. I followed every lead and got rid of the ones who had helped Stella escape behind our backs. I searched every corner of the Blueclaw until I was sure everything was secure.
Soon after, word came from the beggars‘ den–those three men who
had been sent there had all committed suicide.
I listened to the report without even looking up.
“Alright. You may leave now.”
By then, I had full control of the Blucclaw and was recognized as a rising leader.
I didn’t forget what they did, but I wouldn’t let it weigh me down either.
I had a path ahead of me, but they were already finished.
