Page 7 of Sweet Deception
He took a sip.
“She was the only one I had,” I hissed. “The only person who ever...”
“Lied to you.”
His interruption was quiet. Almost... gentle.
That made it worse.
“I hope you rot,” I said.
“Already am.” He tilted his glass. “But so are your enemies. Your family included.”
I froze.
“My father...”
“Drugged you.” His gaze pinned me like a knife. “Kept you helpless. Sent you to me as a pawn.”
“You’re worse.”
“I’m honest.”
No.
No, he wasn’t. He was brutal. Cold. Calculating.
But honest? No.
There had to be something more. Some ulterior motive. He was too precise to be just a sadist.
“You didn’t kill her for justice,” I said. “You killed her for power. To prove I belong to you.”
His lips twitched. The ghost of a smirk. “You’re learning.”
I hated him more in that moment than I had yesterday.
And yet, deep beneath the rage and grief, was something uglier.
Relief.
I had answers now.
All the missing pieces, the weakness, the slow decline, the therapy that never worked, finally made sense.
My father had caged me in a broken body.
Gleb had forced me to see it.
Did that make him my savior?
No.
But it made him necessary.
And that was worse.
He leaned forward, elbows on his knees.
