Ruthless Empire (Royal Elite #6) by Rina Kent

I should’ve gone with her on those jogs instead of believing it was her ‘me’ time.

I should’ve noticed more.

But then again, I couldn’t have. Mum lived her double life so perfectly, it’s crazy.

Yes, it is. Crazy. My mum is a criminally insane person, and the weight of that realisation hits me like a brick wall.

But that’s not the reason for the heaviness in my chest.

It’s the fact that she lured Silver here. That she’s been watching her for years.

She noticed her the first time I did in that fucking park. She followed me, to make sure I hadn’t seen her kill William, and then she found her doll.

Her crying doll who’s even more beautiful than her previous plastic doll.

I led her to Silver.

I’m the one who made her stop seeing Silver as Cynthia and Sebastian’s daughter, but her long-lost doll.

It was me.

“You have to be careful,” Sebastian says. His face is hard, but he keeps a cool head. “From what we’ve learnt thus far, she’s unpredictable.”

I nod as we hurry to the pool area. He’s carrying his gun in case anything happens. He called Frederic during the drive, and his head of PR said he’ll meet us here.

“Doll?” Mum calls in a serene voice. “Come out. Stop hiding.”

I stop near the pool. A body floats in the water. Red water.

Blood water.

Her golden strands float around her while she remains unmoving.

Like that day.

Just like that day.

Run, Cole.

My father’s scratchy, drowning voice plays in my head like a distorted record.

“Oh, Cole, darling.” Mum smiles, her eyes kind. She’s always looked so kind and approachable. She’s never had a malicious look or action. At least, not on the surface. “Silver is playing hide-and-seek.”

“Silver!” Sebastian runs towards the pool, but I beat him to it and jump in.

It takes everything in me to ignore the blood changing the colour of the water as I grab her by the arm and wrench her to the edge.

Her face has paled. Her chest doesn’t move up and down.

She’s not breathing. Fuck.

“Silver!” My hand shakes as I pull my palm away and see the blood oozing from the back of her head, turning her blonde hair red.

I lay her on the tiles and press down on her chest.

Come on, Silver. Come on, you can’t leave me!

Please don’t fucking leave me.

“M-my doll?” Helen runs towards us. “Why isn’t she smiling?”

Sebastian blocks her way, pointing his gun at her head. “Stay the hell away from my daughter.”

“Sebastian, can’t you see? She needs me. My doll needs her master.”

“Not a move, Helen,” he growls.

“Or what?” She tilts her head to the side. “You’ll kill me? We both know you can’t do that. Let me see my doll.”

I continue pressing on Silver’s chest. Her lips are turning purple. With every second passing, she’s dying.

Every single second, she’s slipping through my fingers.

A shriek comes from Mum, but I don’t look at her. I don’t pay her attention. Then I hear her wresting with Sebastian for the gun, but all I care about is Silver.

Come on. Come on.

“Leave her alone.” Mum stands above me, holding the gun. “Let her go. You’re killing her, Cole.”

“You killed her! You did!”

“No.” She shakes her head frantically, stepping back. “I didn’t. It’s not me. It’s not —”

Her words are cut off as she trips. Her head bumps against the railing of the pool with a sickening thud, and then she falls down…

Down.

Down.

Her blood turns the water crimson.

She doesn’t float.

Neither Sebastian nor I move to help her.

I’m still compressing Silver’s chest, my own chest feeling as if it’s clearing out of oxygen.

She doesn’t open her eyes.

She doesn’t respond.

That day, the doll dies.





45





Silver





It’s strange how fast things can end.

One moment you’re there, in the middle of your happiest moments, and the next, everything ends.

Not really, though.

It’s been two weeks since everything went down. Since Helen turned out to be a psychopath who had an obsession with me.

Who hurt other women so she wouldn’t hurt me.

Who wrote books so she wouldn’t kill the other women as much as she wanted to.

A part of me died that day. The part that believed in Helen. The part who loved her and felt sorry for her.

As that part died, Cole revived me back to life.

I took my first breath of resurrection the moment after she died.

A death for a life.

We didn’t go to the hospital, though. Frederic brought the hospital to me — or rather, a team of doctors. He made them all sign NDAs that would cost them three generations of intensive labour if they were to disclose anything.

I ended up with a few stitches and a sore, scratchy throat, but that’s not the pain that’s stayed with me.

It’s everything else.

It’s the fact that I didn’t see Cole after that day.