Rebellion of a Kingdom by G.N. Wright

Chapter 35

ELLE

Afather is supposed to be a girl's first hero. The man she will measure every other man in her life against. The man who loves her unconditionally and protects her fearlessly. The man who teaches her how to be strong and independent. The man who doesn't let anyone hurt her. The man who gives her the world and everything in it.

My father is not that man.

Jonathan King is cold, calculating and completely heartless. It’s something I saw growing up but was too young or naive to fully understand. He never spent any time alone with me, was never interested in anything I was doing, and didn’t pay any attention to me until the summer I was taken. At the time, I was thrilled. I felt excited that he was finally taking an interest in me. Inviting me to join their elite parties and constantly introducing me to his friends. He would brag about how well I was doing in school and all my extracurriculars. It never crossed my mind to think it was anything other than fatherly love.

I was an idiot.

Jonathan King cares for one person and one person only. Himself. When he sees me, he laughs maniacally, “What? You expect me to be scared of her?” He shakes his head like this is all a big joke, but when he sees he is the only one laughing, he stops, straightening up.

“What’s the matter, Father? Not up for some daddy, daughter bonding time?” I ask as my lips curl in disgust.

“Not unless you want to replace your friend on the table there.” He tosses back without pause, and the sick thing is that he’s completely serious.

Unable to stop myself from wanting an answer to the only question that has ever truly mattered, I step forward and ask. “Why’d you let them do it, Dad?”

He rolls his eyes in disappointment but answers me anyway. “Your mother was supposed to be mine, but when I got her, she was already tainted.”

I can’t hide my anger at his words, “Yeah by that sick fuck, you call a friend.”

“Semantics.” He waves his hand in dismissal. “Women like her are only good for one thing. I wanted an heir, and she was going to give me one. Only, I got you instead.” His words sting, but I don’t let it show. “I was a man, surrounded by powerful men with sons set to take the reins and all I had was a pair of pussies living under my roof.”

“That was a good enough reason to sell me. To let your friends’ rape and butcher me. Just because you wanted a son?” My words are laced in disbelief at what I have always known, but still hurts to hear. I can’t stop the lone tear as it tracks down my cheek. Asher sees it and steps closer to my father, but I shake my head slightly, as I wipe it away.

Jonathan doesn’t miss it though, and he scoffs. “You're pathetic, just like your mother, only good for one thing and you couldn’t even do that right.”

“I was a fucking kid. I wasn’t supposed to know what’s right. You were the parent, you were supposed to protect me, yet someone else's father had to be the one to save me.” The tears continue to stain my cheeks, but I don’t let the cry escape my throat.

“You think you are above us, yet you used your body to gain Michael’s attention. Leading him to ruin his life and mine.” He shakes his head, “it should have been simple. I found out about the boy your mother abandoned and I went straight to Elliot. He wanted revenge and I wanted power, so I gave him you.”

“What power could that have possibly given you?”

“God, Elle, I thought some of myself would have rubbed off on you, but you're just as weak and naive as your mother. You’d be surprised at the price someone like you can fetch. You’d have made us both a lot of money and gained us a huge amount of favor. But Michael just couldn’t resist being the fucking martyr.”

“My brother would have ruined your plans.” Asher speaks up from behind him, “he wanted Elle from the moment he had her, and Greg always gets what he wants.”

“Even better.” Jonathan spits, “you were too fucking stupid to make a move on her and bring the families together. I had no other choice.”

“There’s always a choice.” I answer bitterly. He really thinks the only way for him to gain power was to hand me over to them. His own flesh and blood tossed away like trash, just because I wasn’t an efficient heir.

“We don’t have much time.” Lincoln interrupts from behind me and I startle, having been unnerved by the interaction with my father. From the emotions he was evoking in me. What the fuck am I doing? I am Elle King. Not the heir he wanted, but the heir he fucking got. It’s time he got to know exactly what kind of daughter he has.

I slowly walk towards him, as I speak. “You think your words have any effect on me daddy? That you can cut me down.” I shake my head with a humorless laugh, “I’ve already been down, further than you can imagine until I bathed in the pits of hell. You thought I was an easy target. Just a lamb you could send off to slaughter?”

I glance at Cherry as she silently watches us with fear in her eyes. She is already fully acquainted with the Elle King that stands in this room. It’s time my father is too.

I bend down until I can look him right in the eye, hand slipping to my thigh, but he is too focused on my words to notice.

“But I'm not a lamb, Daddy, I'm a wolf.”

I slice his throat before he can even take his next breath. Letting his blood splash onto my skin. I don’t know when the sprinklers stopped, but it’s now that I register that we are no longer being showered in water.

I look at Ash, who stares silently until a proud smile spreads across his face. He looks past me to Lincoln and when I do the same, I find an eerily similar expression to Ash’s on his face.

Lincoln shakes his head slightly before saying, “we really need to go.”

“I know.” I reply turning to where Cherry still lies, “just one more bit of business.”

I stalk towards the table and check her over, the injuries she sustained from me are still evident, but clouded in fresh ones. Blood pours from her neck and stomach where there are two fresh wounds and the bruising around her thighs tells me exactly what was going on before we got here. I should feel sorry for her, but I don’t. I can’t bring myself to feel one ounce of compassion at her being in this state.

She almost cost me everything. She took the thing that mattered most to me and handed it over to the Donovan’s. without a care in the world. She doesn’t deserve anything from me, but I give it to her anyway.

I lean over untying her wrists and then move to her ankles. I can feel Asher and Lincoln’s stares on my back as I free her, but I don’t look their way. Once she can move, she sits up and pushes to the side of the table. She moves to stand, and I help her, as her legs almost give out on her.

When her eyes meet mine, she opens her mouth to speak, but I beat her to it. “If you dance with the devil then you are going to get burnt.” I plunge my knife into her side. Right between her ribcage and straight into her heart. She’s dead instantly, her eyes barely reacting to the shock. I push her body off mine and let it drop to the floor, as I meet the guy's widened eyes.

I wipe my knife on the table and place it back on my thigh. “Now we can go.”