Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 93482 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93482 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
It took me a minute to realize what I was looking at. They were acceptance letters to some of the best art programs in the country, and some that were international. She had been accepted into all of them, and Mary Quinn had hidden that from her. But why?
Mary Quinn was absolutely the kind of woman who would see her daughter’s success as her own victory, so why would she want to stop her daughter from succeeding?
The answer entered my head just as quickly as the question had.
Control.
If Rose had gone to any of these programs outside of New York City, she would live on her own. She would get to experience life on her own without her mother hovering over her every single move. If Rose lived outside of New York City, she would be out of Mary Quinn’s grasp. That was clearly something she was not willing to allow.
Looking at these letters, one after another, all acceptances to these amazing world-renowned art programs, several of which practically begged her to join, had rage building in my core.
It was the same rage that grew inside me when I saw the cuts and bruises on Rose’s face, the same rage that built in me when I placed ice packs on her hand to lower the swelling.
I understood why I felt the way I did when Rose’s mother struck her. It was because Rose was mine. I was the only one allowed to inflict any kind of pain on her. I’d convinced myself it wasn’t due to caring for her or because of any type of affection for her. That would be disastrous to my plans.
It was possessiveness. Pure and simple.
So why was I just as angry at seeing that Mary Quinn had taken opportunities away from her? I should have been happy that Mary Quinn had done that. If she hadn’t, Rose wouldn’t have been here for me to control, for me to use to reach my goals.
So why the hell did this bother me now?
Why was I so angry that Mary Quinn had kept Rose in her place? I was sure she had some plans for Rose that required her to be in New York. She was probably intending to marry her off to someone to make a good match, or maybe she just wanted to keep Rose under her thumb. None of that should have bothered me. She had no pending nuptials. I had gotten Rose to agree to come to me anytime her mother raised a hand to her. So why did I find these hidden letters so infuriating?
Because I did care about her. The words echoed through my mind, and I dismissed them. I cared for no one. I did not feel affection, I would not feel love. The only emotions I could experience since the lies of a manipulative harpy banished me all those years ago were anger, fury, rage, and the anticipation of the sweet satisfaction of my victory that was waiting for me when I destroyed that woman.
There was no way I felt anything other than disdain for any member of that bitch’s family.
I looked down at the two safe deposit boxes and decided that I would not wait on any of this. I cleared out Mary Quinn’s safe deposit box and tucked everything into my satchel before closing and locking her box again. Then I took the bonds and files that I had transferred to my safe deposit box and added them to my satchel.
The blackmail material she had on every single family was now in my possession. Her wealth, everything that wasn’t tied to her husband’s name, was now in my possession.
Even if she didn’t know it yet, Mary Quinn had lost her social standing, lost the blackmail power that she had, and lost her hidden wealth.
The first, second, and third pillars of Mary Quinn’s power had toppled.
Soon, she was going to feel the world closing around her.
That was when I was going to topple the last pillar. I was going to use Rose and take away Mary Quinn’s family.
I was going to do what my father and many, many other men couldn’t do. I was going to destroy her.
As soon as I left the bank, I noticed that the air smelled sweeter. The world seemed a brighter and better place, so I walked back to the church.
The entire time, I hummed a happy little song as I enjoyed the new pep in my step.
Ding dong, the witch was dead.
CHAPTER 21
ROSE
As my parents and I walked into the church for mass, I immediately noticed the difference.
We were being stared at.
This was worse than when Luc interrupted Amelia’s wedding to Marksen, worse than when Harrison admitted publicly that he was illegitimate, and even worse than when Harrison told his ex-fiancée that he didn’t want to marry her and was instead going to marry his paralegal.