Page 64 of Unholy Nights

Emerald tenses in my arms, no doubt thinking about how close she came to becoming one of Emmitt’s victims. I press my lips to her temple. "I've got you," I murmur against her skin. "No one will ever hurt you like that."

The accusations continue mounting, each revelation stripping away another layer of Madeline's power. The Pierces revealing how she sabotaged their family business. The Bradfords exposing how she manipulated their daughter's social media empire to destroy it. Every prominent family in Emerald Hills uncovering decades of betrayal.

I watch it all from my throne, Emerald safe in my arms, as the woman who dared cage my phoenix finally faces justice.

"This is ridiculous," Madeline snaps, but her voice has lost its commanding edge. "These are obviously fabrications—"

"Like how you fabricated my entire childhood?" Emerald's voice rings out clear and strong, silencing the room. My chestswells with pride as she stands, though she keeps her hand in mine. "Like how you starved me? Isolated me? Tried to break me?"

"Everything I did was for your own good—"

"No." Emerald's fingers tighten around mine. "Everything you did was for yourself. Your image. Your brand. Your perfect little doll to dress up and control."

Madeline's eyes dart around the room, finding no allies among the faces she once commanded. "You ungrateful little—" She stops, that calculating look I've been waiting for crossing her face. "You think you've won? You and Cohen with your disgusting affair?" A cruel smile twists her lips. "Did he tell you about Charlotte? About what really happened to her? About all the other girls who—"

"I know everything." Emerald's voice doesn't waver. "Every dark truth. Every shadow. And I choose him. I willalwayschoose him."

"You think I haven't prepared for this?" Madeline's laugh holds an edge of hysteria as she pulls out her phone. "You think I'd let you destroy everything I've built?"

Her fingers fly across the screen while more accusations fill the air.

"My daughter's college fund—"

"Our merger documents—"

"All those charity donations—"

"Shut up!" Madeline screams, all pretense of control shattering. "None of you would be anything without me. I made this town what it is!"

"You're delusional," Katherine Ashworth says, stepping forward. "You're nothing but a social climber who clawed her way up by destroying anyone in your path."

Madeline's fingers still on her phone. "Destroying?" That broken laugh again. "Oh, I'll show you destruction."

The lights flicker, then surge bright enough to pop. Sparks shower from the crystal chandeliers as the electrical system overloads. One of her precious ice sculptures explodes from the sudden heat, sending shards flying.

"Mother," Emerald starts, but I pull her behind me.

"Stay back," I murmur, already scanning for the safest exit. Romeo's fighters are moving through the crowd, but this is escalating faster than even I anticipated.

"You want to see what real power looks like?" Madeline's voice rises over the panicked murmurs as she backs toward the control panel on the wall. "Let me show you what happens when you try to take everything from me."

She slams her hand on the panel and every display screen in the ballroom lights up with her face, multiplied dozen of times. "If I'm going down, I'm taking all of you with me." Her fingers fly across the keypad. "Every account, every document, every dirty little secret—it all burns."

"Step away from the panel," Richard Whitaker demands, but she just laughs.

"Or what? You'll call the police? Go ahead. Let them come see how Emerald Hills' finest all burn together."

The electrical system surges again, and this time actual flames spark along the wiring. The ice sculptures start melting, sending rivers of water across the marble floor as smoke begins filling the room.

"You're insane," someone shouts, but Madeline's eyes are fixed on me and Emerald.

"I should have known," she says, her voice dropping to something almost conversational. "The way you looked at her." Her smile is terrible to behold. "But she'll never be free of me. None of you will."

She pulls something else from her clutch—not a lighter, but a small remote. "You think you're so clever, Cohen? You thinkyou've won?" Her thumb hovers over the button. "I had this whole place rigged months ago. A failsafe. In case anyone ever tried to take what's mine."

"Mother, please," Emerald steps forward despite my attempt to hold her back. "This isn't the answer."

"Oh, but it is." Madeline's eyes are fever-bright. "You're just like me, darling. You'll see. When everything burns, you'll understand what it means to have real power."

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