Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 112567 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 563(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112567 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 563(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Trembling, she dropped the phone.
The device fell to the ground and kept on ringing.
“What’s wrong?”
Her bottom lip quivered. “Someone is calling me from my dad’s phone, but. . .he’s dead.”
“Shit.” I lowered and picked it up. “Then, that’s my father probably checking to see if you are okay.”
Only you would use her dead father’s phone. Have you no sympathy?
“W-what should we do?” Monique asked. “After seeing what Leo did. . .I don’t think I could talk to him without pissing myself.”
“You will never have to talk to him again.” I took out the keys for the handcuffs. “Take these off and then I’ll go on the balcony to talk to him myself.”
With shaking fingers, she grabbed the keys from me and began unlocking the cuffs. “Are you sure?”
“I’ve never been more sure.”
The phone stopped ringing.
Trembling some more, she finished unlocking the cuffs, the metal rings opened and fell away from my wrist.
Her phone rang again.
You persistent bastard.
“I will be right back.” I stormed off, turned the phone on, and placed the device next to my ear. “Hello, Father.”
Chapter fifteen
A Duel of Death
Lei
Humor laced my father’s voice. “You are answering Monique’s calls now?”
I sneered. “Why would you think it was alright to call Monique on her father’s phone?”
“Two reasons.”
Frowning, I stepped onto the balcony. A breathtaking view lay before me, yet I could not take any joy in it. “What are the two reasons?”
“First, I did not think you would be tracking her father’s phone so it seemed like an interesting way to contact you.”
Why the hell did I not consider that? I should have checked to see if anything was missing.
If I were to beat my father, I needed to be several steps ahead of him.
My frown deepened. “And the other reason?”
“How else would I have gotten in touch with Monique?”
“Do not call her again.”
“Ooo. Tell me more, son.”
“I am no longer your son—”
“A mere declaration will never erase my DNA from your blood—”
“Monique prayed for your sins like you asked her to do.”
“I assumed she would. I believe she is the type of person that makes a promise and keeps it—”
“Now that your sins are forgiven, come to me to meet your death.”
“And you think that I will allow myself to die that easily?”
“I do not care—”
“You do—”
“I want this done—”
“Yes, Lei, but as I have told you many times before, with all things must come patience and—”
“Where are you?”
“In the most obvious place, my son.”
I noted that small clue.
Was he at the hotel, right under my nose?
Or perhaps he went back to the old apartment in Glory’s Chinatown where we had lived long ago.
My father interrupted my thoughts. “How is Monique doing? Does she understand why I sent her father to heaven?”
“We did not have the time to discuss your doing the Lord’s work, due to her drowning in heartbreak in sorrow—”
“Tell her that in the garden of the heart, love is the perennial bloom, heartbreak is the winter frost, and death is the cycle of seasons—all essential for growth.”
“I am not delivering any of your fucking messages to Monique—”
“Because already you are feeling protective of her?”
I tensed. “I know what you are doing and it will not work.”
“And what am I doing, son?”
“Trying to make sense of your killing Chanel by playing matchmaker.”
“You are wrong and right at the same time.”
“What?”
“Let me explain—”
“I’m not interested in talking to you. I only came to Glory to see your death through. That is it. Die. This is the one thing you can do for me.”
His voice lowered. “So, impatient for my death?”
“You took my best friend, Romeo for no reason. Then, you killed the love of my life—”
“Your love for Chanel made you weak. The West manipulated your emotions over and over—Romeo included—”
“They did not—”
“All deals that you have made with the West were for their benefit, none were helpful for the East. All your concerns have blindly followed the West. What kind of friend would take advantage of your romantic feelings? With Chanel alive, you never saw clearly. Romeo knew this. She did too—”
“You are making things up. They loved me like family—”
“Sure, when you were kids, they both cared and loved you.”
“Do not talk about them—”
“When you all became adults and took over the thrones, the game of power began—”
“Enough—”
“And all knew, including Chanel, that to keep you constantly drooling for her and in control, was to keep the East in the West’s possession—”
“That is not what happened.” I gritted my teeth.
“The West dangled Chanel in front of you always like cheese to a mouse, making you turn left and right at their ease—”
“You did not have to kill them! I don’t care about any of that.” I trembled. “T-they’re gone. . .forever.”
“She was your biggest weakness, Lei. I tried to talk to you about it many times. I did my best to give you alternatives—”