Page 105 of Revenge & Ruin

ISABELLA

“Ialways thought out of the two of you, Leon would be the bigger disappointment.”

My mother’s words pierce through me with unrelenting venom.

It was all too much. Her lies had felt like a betrayal before, but to see her now, looking at me like I’d seen her do to anyone she felt was beneath her.

She’s never looked at me like this before.

I was her equal. Or, at least, her protégé. She didn’t look at me like this.

For so long, I’ve been spared of this. For so long, I have bent myself over backward and done unspeakable things to gain her approval. For so long, that was all I ever wanted to do.

I would have been proud to have become her heir, to uphold her beliefs and to honor our family legacy. To help my brother lead the Prince’s Hand to prosperity.

But there was always a stark difference between what she was capable of and how far I was willing to go. And that difference is here, now, in her icy gaze with the backdrop of a burning building behind her.

“Teo, please.” I flinch slightly at the sound of Cas’ sobbing.

He had left. I had begged him to stay, but he had kissed me and gone anyway.

When I turn to look at him, I foolishly hope that maybe, maybe, he stayed for me.

But there’s no expression of kindness on his face. His dark eyes are fixed on my mother, fingers flexing at his side as if he hasn’t quite decided how he wants to kill her.

I think I might be sick.

“Go, Teo. She’s not going anywhere.” Leon suddenly straightens up at my side.

I’m not sure why this surprises me so. I may have never been on the receiving end of our mother’s ire. But Leon certainly has. Multiple times, often due to me.

When I look at my brother’s face, it’s clear that it’s not the betrayal that angers him. It’s the embarrassment of not seeing it before, of not acting against her sooner.

How long had my brother resented her? How long had I willfully ignored his warnings and encouraged him to take her advice and be grateful for it?

It’s all too much.

And suddenly, Teo moves again, and it’s far too much.

He’s going to die in there. He’s going to die, and it will all be my fault.

I watch his figure retreating back to the house, and the panic is overwhelming. I launch forward after him. Only for Leon to catch me again.

“He’s going to die,” I wail helplessly into his arms.

Mother laughs.

It’s long, and it’s bitter, and it pierces my skin like a careless blade. Its sole intent is to prolong my suffering.

“You foolish girl,” she sneers once the laughing has subsided. “Is that not the point? Or have you truly turned your back on this family?”

I have never wanted to harm my mother before now.

The fury with which I lunge for her almost takes Leon off guard, and I make it a few feet before he pulls me back.

“You’re a monster.”

“You have betrayed us,bambina.You got too close, didn’t you? He was your target, and you whored yourself out to him.”

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