Empire of Hate (Empire #3) by Rina Kent

“Wait…he’s not here?”

“No, miss. He left early in the morning. I saw him coming out of your room.”

“You must be mistaken…”

“Of course not, miss. I saw him leaving the room when I was on my way to get my cup of tea with milk and he motioned at me to stay quiet, then he gathered all of us to tell us to serve you as if you’re him.”

My head is unable to wrap itself around all the information tossed my way. Why would he do that after all he said?

“He had a box in his hand, too. And it’s the only thing he took with him. I told him I would pack his bag, but he said there was no need.”

The box…?

I run upstairs to the room and sure enough, the box isn’t in the rubbish bin where I threw it. And neither is the necklace/key.

Did Daniel personally throw away the box?

A sense of panic floods the back of my throat and I start searching for it like a maniac. Please don’t tell me that box is gone.

Fresh tears spill from my eyes as I drop to my knees, searching underneath the console and the bed.

I’m supposed to be getting it together, but losing that box is no different than losing a part of me. I didn’t mean it about completely getting rid of it.

Just when I’m about to have an epic meltdown. I find a folded paper fallen by the side of the bed. My heart skips a beat as I slowly open it and find Daniel’s messy handwriting.



Nicole,

The mansion is yours. I told my English solicitor to transfer it to your name and signed the appropriate documentation.

I also asked Zach to give you an apprenticeship in one of our biggest hotels in London. You have a formidable talent and as much I hated sharing it, the world deserves to have the experience of eating your cooking.

Jayden’s education will also be taken care of.

Make London your home again as you always secretly wished.

You don’t have to worry about Christopher or the custody case anymore. The cunt got what was coming for him and won’t be bothering you going forward.

And neither will I.



I’m sorry you loved me.

Daniel





32





DANIEL





My fixation with Nicole started the day she nearly died in my arms.

She was the weirdest fucking little shit I’ve ever met, and that says something considering I used to think of her as an “I’m better than you and your grandma” kind of snob.

At school, she was prim and proper. Always smiling, always looking down her nose at the peasants who dared to be in her vicinity.

Always…far.

But that day, she was herself. A thief, a sneak, and someone who liked to hide.

That day was the first time I actually met her.

Strange, outspoken, and generous despite her weakness. She gave me her precious snow globe. I know because she sometimes brought it with her to school and stared at it when no one was looking as if it was a part of her.

But then she decided to give me that part of her.

She gave me the snow globe and the girl trapped inside it. That girl takes her shape in my head whenever I stare at that snow globe.

It’s a reminder of the little girl who smiled up at me with pure awe and adoration while she was slowly dying.

But her manipulative side ruined it all afterward. Or maybe it was my fragile pride that couldn’t take the idea of being wounded by her disinterest over and over again.

I felt played.

Stomped upon.

And the first thing I had in mind is taking revenge. I wanted her to suffer as much as I did, but I had no effective method for that aside from ignoring her.

In doing that, I had hoped I’d manage to move past her intrusive eyes, her unmatched beauty, and addictive presence.

I had hoped wrong.

Nicole is the only woman I wanted with the same force that I hated her with. And if I weren’t kidding myself, I would call it more than wanting her.

So much more.

However, she existed in another world than mine, like a queen. You can look at her on her throne, you can reach close, but you can never touch her.

She was also a bitch, not only to me but to everyone. She wore her mean girl persona as a crown and made sure everyone saw her adjusting it over those blonde locks.

No one had access to the Nicole that lurked within, not even her mother, her stepfather.

No one.

I got close once, so close that I kissed her and unleashed all the desire I’ve been suppressing for years.

But it was soon gone. Soon dissipated.

Then I thought she cheated on me. Don’t judge—my dick-oriented brain categorized it as such since I didn’t fuck anyone after her. I even went through all the trouble of making everyone—Astrid included—believe that I shagged something other than my hand so they wouldn’t think I was broken.

But when I thought she willingly slept with Christopher, it fucked me up worse than when I first saw my father fucking a woman who wasn’t my mother. Worse than thinking Nicole somehow got ecstasy to fuck another man.

It was the first and only heartbreak I’ve ever experienced, and the pain I had from it still beats inside me like a different being.

So I moved on, or pretended to, for a whole eleven years.

I made it my mission not to look for her, ask about her, or even mention her name. Whenever Astrid did in a fleeting manner, I would change the subject faster than her next words are out.