Page 28 of Judgment Day

This woman had carried my heart, owned my goddamn soul since I was seventeen years old, and with two simple sentences, she’d smashed them into the ground. All that brokenness sank heavily to the pit of my stomach, leaving me too weak to bend down and pick up the pieces.

“He’s dead, Sadie. Dead!” I felt sick. “Do you even realize what you’ve done?”

She spun around. “I did what I had to do to survive in a worldyouleft me in.”

“You call this survival? Are you even listening to yourself right now? You killed a man! A brother. A friend.” I shoved a hand through my hair, tugging on the ends. “Lyric was thrown into the same world. Except, she lost everything.” My hand fell to my side. “Her friends and family thought she was dead for years. I left her alone for weeks at a time because I was too busy trying to figure out a way to saveyou. She had no one. And she’s out there making sure other girls don’t suffer the same fate while you’re taking them by the hand and leading them to it.”

“I. Am. Not. Lyric.”

“No. You’re not. But you’re not Sadie either.” I shook my head. “I don’t know who the fuck I’m looking at right now.”

I needed to leave. I couldn’t be here, doing this, with her.

When I opened the door, Chandler was waiting on the other side. I supposed with all the shouting, Anniston sent him to see what was going on. He’d be king consort soon. This would be his palace.

I met his eyes, respecting the role that he’d been forced to play, a role that should’ve belonged to Liam, but was torn away because of the woman in that room. “Do whatever you need to do. I’m done with her.”

SEVENTEEN

He called me a monster.

I only wanted him to see me as a queen.

Twelve years ago, Grey told me to run.

So, I did.

I ran until my lungs burned.

They caught me anyway.

I had no idea whotheywere, just that they were strong and wore hooded robes and Venetian masks that covered their faces.

I spent the next week in a palace, trapped in a room with no windows.

Then they took me to a church, where I was drugged, then woke up cloaked in nothing but a white silk robe. They brought me to a large, open space where the floor was a golden marble with a blood-red ‘O’ formed out of a serpent in the center. The walls were the same golden color with tall white columns placed near arched openings that led to long hallways. Above us, there was a circular balcony, where other men watched in silence.

It looked a lot like the church where we said goodbye to Liam, but nothing about it felt holy.

Ten men sat in a row behind a wooden table. In shiny, gold letters across the front was the word Tribunal.

One by one, other girls like me stepped into the open space, and one by one, they were claimed by one of the ten men. And then it was my turn.

I remembered it like it was yesterday. They called it Judgment Day—the day I officially belonged to King Winston Radcliffe—the beginning of the end.

For months, all I felt was the pain of losing Grey. It hurt so badly I wanted to die. And then I found out I was pregnant, and suddenly, I had something to live for.

I took back what they’d stolen from me. I had the life of a queen… and a mother.

I couldn’t blame Winston for sharing my secret. It was only a matter of time before Grey discovered the truth the same way Liam had. I never meant for the prince to get hurt. I only wanted to scare him into silence. It was his own fault for calling them. He never should have involved Grey.

This wasn’t the ending I’d wanted. If only Grey had listened instead of judged. If he’d just understood. We could have been powerful together. We could have ruled it all.

It was that girl.Lyric. I knew it was. She’d somehow seeped inside and taken up space that once belonged to me.

Now, I’d lost my kingdom. My king was gone. Any sympathy I’d hoped to gain with his daughter walked out the door with Grey. Once he told everyone the truth, they would see me as he did.

I had no idea how to find my son. But I was sure Grey did. He’d torture Winston until he told him. And then I’d lose him, too.

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