Page 83 of Cruel Devotion

I should have been focused on Yan but I found myself gazing at Monique to check her reaction.

There, she sat with her full lips slightly parted, her beautiful brown eyes searching for something—perhaps a sliver of doubt in Yan's, a speck of clarity amidst the muddy waters of intrigue and deception. It pained me to see her caught in this crossfire.

We'll have to talk about this and more later?

“But as I was rushing to Father's side,” Yan continued, “I remembered all the ways he had manipulated everyone. You. Me.”

Slowly, everyone else began to return to eating. Meanwhile, Chen typed into his phone.

Yan gazed down at her bird’s nest soup and then put her view on Monique. “Do you have siblings?”

Monique looked at her. “I do. Three sisters.”

“Did your father ever have you practice fighting against your sisters?”

“No.”

“Mine did.” Yan sighed. “I remember one day when I was ten years old, I did my best and put all of my energy to beating Lei. I showed no mercy. Do you remember that day, Lei?”

I did my best to not think of that moment. “I remember.”

“You were eight.”

I gritted my teeth.

“You laid on the ground, bruised and beaten.” The humor on Yan's face cracked. “I screamed and celebrated, so happy that finally I beat my brother. And do you remember what Father did?”

“I remember.”

Yan spread her hands out. “Tell the table, Mountain Master.”

“It is your story.”

She stared at Monique. “Father slapped me so hard I fell to the ground and then he stomped my left arm and then my right. Broke them.”

Monique widened her eyes.

“I learned that day, that I was never to beat my brother becausehewas the one to rule the East.” Yan's voice cracked. “Father only ever truly favored one of us. He never cared about me the way he cared about you. All those years, I just wanted to be his favorite. To earn his respect. His love. But in the end, it was always about you.”

A wave of guilt washed over me. I couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy. Yan had suffered too, just like I had.

We were both pawns in our father's grand scheme—both scarred by his abuse.

Still, I leaned back and watched her, knowing that this sad voyage down memory lane would get somewhere eventually.

“Father confirmed that fact, when he told me he was giving the new Mountain Mistress, Lotus Blossom.Mymother's home.” Yan's voice grew stronger, more defiant. “In that moment, I thought to myself, why save him?”

Chen and I exchanged glances.

Some relief came.

I cleared my throat. “You're saying that you won't get in my way?”

“Not when it comes to our Father.”

I raised my eyebrows.

“When it comes to Father. . .do what you want. I will be at that final feast, watching with a huge smile on my face, hoping you break his arms the same way he did mine.”

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