Page 134 of Cruel Devotion

An unreadable expression covered his face.

Will you finally vote? Or will you keep your neutral position?

In these past days, Duck and Chen had had many different exchanges with Monique. However, Hu always remained silent in the shadows.

But that simply meant that he was assessing her.

A whole quiet minute passed.

Impatient, I spoke, “The outcome of this Council rests on your shoulders. Get on with it.”

Chen jumped in, “Mountain Master, you cannot bully or force people to quickly vote.”

I sighed.

For another minute, Hu stood silently.

Goddamn it.

I ran my fingers through my hair.

And then finally, he took another step forward. “I don't usually vote. . .”

Monique's bottom lip shivered.

I hated her being in this position.

Hu gave Monique a sad smile. “But. . .this is important.”

Oh. He's going to vote.

“Monique, I've been watching you in this little bit of time.”

In that moment, I noticed two crows flying over and squawking. Usually, I would have stared up at them.

Instead, I put my attention back on Hu and hoped for the best.

“Your presence has brought a change to the Four Aces, a change that's been hard for me to ignore.”

Fuck. This could be bad.

Hu hated too much change. It always made him uneasy.

Hu pointed to Monique. “You've challenged Lei a lot, and. . .made us reconsider our own ways. That's not something that should be taken lightly.”

My heart pounded in my ears.

“The role ofMountain Mistressis a significant one.” Hu folded his hands in front of him. “But. . .you're not ready for that no matter what Uncle Leo, Chen, or even Duck think. Those are quite big shoes to fill and Lei's mother did it effortlessly and with pure grace. You will have quite a challenge to go up behind heras well asface our people in the process. They will not accept you in the beginning.”

Those words hung heavy in the air, threatening to suffocate us all.

Fuck this.

I began to step forward.

Chen placed his hand on my arm and stopped me. “You can't interrupt, Mountain Master. And this ishisvote, not yours.”

Seething, I clenched my fists and stayed there.

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