Page 84 of Make Me Yours

EPILOGUE

STELLA

He’s gone. Stephan Silver is gone and out of my life forever.

Watching the police drag my uncle out of the house, though not until after Kane and his men beat the living shit out of him, his arms are handcuffed behind his back since they couldn't exactly cuff his wrists, and a look of intense fear glazed over his bruised and bloody eyes, was just enough to let me once again breathe. The fact I got to shove Kai’s gun into Stephan’s mouth and watch him beg for his life is what I call justice.

For years, I dreamt of this day. I prayed and prayed for a day when I no longer had to endure his threats and abusive tendencies, but I never really believed that day would come. Evil always wins. That’s what I was taught. Evil won against my mother, making her feel the only way out of her pain was death. Evil won against my father, guilt making him believe he was the only one to blame for her weakness. Evil tirelessly won against me, reminding me time and time again that my circumstances were my own fault.

I grew up believing good people were a rarity and would rarely make it out alive in these situations, but this time, evil has lost.

Evil was defeated, and not by good, but by justice.

A fate worse than death, at least that’s what it will be for Stephan, who no doubt will be prosecuted and sentenced. Ridiculed, mocked, and probably even tortured. That’s what prison does to traitorous men like him. Death would have been a fate too kind for his kind of monster.

When I heard the door thrown open, I knew I had been saved. Without turning, without a single word, I knew it was my unlikely prince charming who rescued me. When I finally turned to find Kai’s gun pointed at the back of his head, I was relieved. I almost went as far as nodding my head in agreement, giving him permission to pull the trigger and spray his bloodied brains all over me.

How easy it would have been to get rid of him once and for all at that moment, but I couldn’t let Kai become a monster for me. No, despite what he thinks of himself, Kai is nothing but a broken boy who hides behind this mask of coldness. Deep in his eyes, I saw fear. Fear of what it would feel like to end someone's life. I’m not sure what happened to his father. All I know is he’s dead, and he wishes he were the one to have ended him.

I, on the contrary, had those thoughts running through my mind so often, it didn’t seem like much of a surprise. I was standing in this spot, ready to do the same.

I walked over and took the gun from his hands, reaching forward, and bringing it to eye level with my uncle. For the first time in my entire life, I saw something other than hatred and utter disdain when he looked straight into my eyes. I saw fear. Profound, alarming fear.

Instead of weakening me, the look of worry in his eyes gave me a surge of power I never would have known I had in me. I suddenly felt capable in that moment of ending him, of making him pay for the hell he’d put me through, and it scared me to death.

How easily could I become a monster just like him?

After all, we shared the same dirty blood running through our veins. It only made sense I was capable of the same atrocities he was.

I brought the gun down and rested it against his lips, urging him to open wide. He did, without hesitation. There was nothing I wanted to do more in that moment than pull the trigger, but still, I couldn’t get myself to stop shaking.

“Stella,” I heard Kai whisper my name, but I didn’t move a muscle or look in his direction. Instead, in that moment, I realized something I had never given any thought. I was nothing like him. Nothing like my mother, nor like my father, not even anything like Sebastian. I was a Silver, but only in name.

I had friends, real friends who cared for me, who loved me. I had compassion. Even now, as I stared down at him, I knew deep down I would not pull the trigger. Maybe it was stupidity, maybe I was weak, but regardless, I felt it deep within my whole being. Despite everything, I knew the only way I’d truly win was to be a better person and leave all of this pain and grief behind.

“I only have one question,” I whispered, leaning forward further, and running my fingers not on the gun over the large bloody gash on his forehead. “Why? What did I do to you? Why do you hate me so much?”

Suddenly, his fearful expression softened, a wicked smirk teasing the edge of his lips. I removed the gun from his mouth, but kept it pointed at him. “You’re such a weak and pathetic girl. Even now, as you stand here with all the power in your little fingertips, you can’t fucking do it.”

I bit down on my tongue to hold back the tears that were fighting to be released. I couldn’t let him see he still had the upper hand on me, even then when I was the one with all the power in my hands. “That’s a dumb thing to say when the gun is still pointed at you, dear uncle,” I muttered, but the way his smile widened when my voice broke only proved he didn’t think me capable.

“Yes, well, you’re going to have to pull the trigger, dear, because you’re never getting an answer from me.”

My body trembled in anger as a look of satisfaction, triumph almost, appeared in place of his earlier stoic expression. He taunted me, doubted my strength. I will always be useless to him. Worthless, pathetic, weak. Incapable of standing up for myself, of disobeying him, of being my own person.

“You know I’ve always been such a good listener and done what I’m told, uncle.” My fingers itch as they tightly wrap around the barrel of the gun, my pointer finger quivering while I contemplate doing what needs to be done. “Rot in hell,” I mutter under my breath as I pull the trigger.

The sound of the gun going off was louder than I expected, and so was the recoil from the force of the shot. Looking down at the blood splattered along the hardwood floor, I knew he wasn’t dead. His screams were a dead giveaway. His bloodied hand also looked very much intact, so I shot it once more, along with another bullet to his knee.

I could have just killed the one person who has made it his life's goal to hurt me, to break me. I wouldn’t find it in me to feel even an ounce of remorse for taking his life. After all, he took everything from me. My childhood, my peace, my sanity, and my choices. Today I stole it all back with just a few pulls of this trigger, and as fucked up as it may be, it felt good to take something from him.

Stephan Silver might not be dead, but I took his hand, and his ability to walk on his own. That’s enough for me. I get the ultimate revenge. To live out my life the way I’ve always wanted, without any say so from him.

One by one, the strings snapped. My limbs relaxed, once and for all, free of his hold. Like a broken doll, I fell to my knees, the adrenaline coursing through me accompanied by the shock of what I’d just done, didn't let me cry. They’d be alligator tears after all. Meaningless.

???

After watching the police cast him away, I’m finally able to breathe. The constricting feeling laced around me is all but gone, as the only person who has ever caused me any actual harm is taken away. Taking a deep breath, I stare down at my unsteady hands, and the gorgeous ring that hasn’t left my finger since I put it on. The filigree glistens in the light along with the gorgeous yellow diamond. It’s the only reminder that this is all real. It’s my anchor, my silver lining in this nightmare.

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