Page 134 of Ruthless Kings of Obsession

Then understanding hits like another bullet, making my already struggling heart stutter.

"Matteo," I whisper, horror flooding through me as his laughter confirms my worst fears. The sound echoes through the trees like a twisted prayer, like everything I've been fighting so desperately to prevent.

"Very good," he praises, blind eyes somehow finding mine with terrifying precision. Each word drips with calculated cruelty as he continues: "So cunningly smart for your age. Such a brilliant mind. It's almost a shame I have to go against Mr. Leighton's original orders about you being off limits."

"What?" The word emerges slurred as my thoughts grow more sluggish. Black spots dance at the edges of my vision while crimson continues spreading across frost-covered ground beneath me. Everything feels distant yet hyperreal simultaneously - the bitter cold air, the dog's desperate howling, the growing certainty that I'm watching my own carefully planned future slip away with each labored breath.

"The scorpion venom should be taking effect now," he observes with clinical detachment, like a scientist noting the progress of a particularly fascinating experiment. "Your heart will stop soon enough. Such an elegant solution, don't you think? The poison delivered via bullet, spreading through your system with every desperate beat of your heart..."

"You better pray it does," I snarl, though the words lack their usual bite as breathing becomes increasingly difficult. My fingers dig into frozen earth as I fight to stay upright, to maintain some semblance of control even as my body betrays me. "Because you don't want to deal with what happens if I survive. Don't want to see how manic I become getting what's mine back if you dare touch Matteo."

"Such spirit," he muses, genuine amusement coloring his tone. "Such delicious fury even in the face of inevitable defeat. But I'm afraid your husband is destined for widowhood. Though I must admit, I find it rather touching that he ordered that ring from Italy. Quite the romantic gesture." His smile turns sharp as a blade as he twists the knife deeper: "Shame you didn't check the mailbox before chasing random dogs into the woods. Could have died with at least that one final piece of happiness."

The news hits harder than any bullet, making my already struggling heart stutter painfully in my chest.A ring. Matteo ordered... wanted to...

But I can't complete the thought as everything starts spinning violently. The world tilts and shifts like a carnival ride gone wrong, trees blurring into meaningless shapes as my vision struggles to focus. I try to argue, to threaten, to promise the kind of vengeance that would make even The Blind One reconsider his choices - but my voice refuses to cooperate.

My body betrays me completely as I collapse sideways, managing to roll onto my back as I gasp for increasingly elusive breath. The night sky spins above me, stars blurring into streaks of light that mock my growing weakness.

"I do apologize that it has to end this way," The Blind One says, his voice growing distant like he's speaking from the bottom of a well. "Such wasted potential. But perhaps one of your surviving Kings will take up your vengeance once you're gone. Assuming any of them survive what comes next..."

His voice fades completely as darkness creeps in from the edges of my consciousness. Zander's voice still carries faintly from my fallen phone, growing more desperate with each unanswered call of my name. The sound breaks my heart even as my mind grows foggy - because I know exactly what this will do to him. To all of them.

The world blurs and shifts, time becoming meaningless as I drift between consciousness and oblivion. Blood continues spreading beneath me, staining frost-covered ground crimson while the dog's howls echo through the trees like a mourning song. At some point, Ren's face appears above me - his perfect features tight with panic as he shakes me, lips moving in words I can't quite grasp. Blue and red lights flash in the distance, casting strange shadows through bare branches that dance like demons come to claim what's theirs.

But none of that matters anymore. Nothing matters except the vow I make as consciousness finally slips away - a promise that burns hotter than any fever, stronger than any poison:

I will survive this.

The vow forms in blood and bone as darkness creeps closer, each heartbeat pushing poison deeper through my veins.

I will find them.

Every pulse carries my promise like a battle cry, turning scorpion venom into fuel for the inferno building in my chest.

I will make every person in this empire burn for daring to take what's mine.

Let them think their carefully engineered destruction has won. Let them believe their poisons and plots have claimed another victim. They don't understand what they've created - what happens when you push a Queen to the edge of oblivion.

For thinking they could separate me from my Kings.

The darkness grows heavier, but my fury burns brighter - an inferno consuming everything but the pure, crystalline certainty of coming vengeance. They wanted to break us. To shatter what we've built with diseases designed to destroy, with precisely targeted suffering.

They chose the wrong Queen to test.

My blood spreads across frozen ground like prophecy, each crimson drop a promise of retribution. The poison in my veins becomes weapon instead of weakness - teaching me exactly how to break them piece by carefully engineered piece.

They will all pay.

Ren's desperate voice fades in and out as consciousness slips away, but my resolve only grows stronger.

Let them think they've won.

Let them celebrate their victory while they can.

Because I'm not finished.

The darkness claims me completely, but my fury burns eternal — ready to consume everything in its path.

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