To ruin an Omega

Chapter 196: Stepmother Dearest 2

FIA

“All of it.” Tears streaked down her face now, cutting paths through carefully applied makeup. “I will pay for all of it.”

I said nothing.

“Hazel was raised wrong.” The words tumbled out faster now. “I will admit it. I raised her a spoiled brat who thought life should be handed to her. It is why she is the way she is. But she doesn’t deserve to be punished for my sins.”

She reached for me.

“Fia. For your father. For old time’s sake and any good time you had at all. Forgive Hazel. Do not pursue the attempted murder charge. Beg the elders to drop the pack endangerment charge.”

“Why?” I looked down at her. “Because you have tears running down your eyes and you are on your knees? What is so special about something that has come natural to me here all my life?”

“What do you want me to do?” Her voice pitched higher, desperate. “Tell me. I will do anything.”

“I don’t want anything from you.”

She slammed her head against the floor. The sound made Garrett flinch. Her hands grabbed at my legs, fingers digging into the fabric of my pants.

“There is nothing special about my tears or getting on my knees.” Her voice muffled against my shin. “I just ask for mercy. If not for Hazel, for your father’s sake.”

I ripped my legs free from her grip. “You never had mercy on us once.”

She looked up at me.

“If not for the fact that my mother was a fish out of water,” I continued, “An Omega with no family and nowhere to go… At least for the fact that I was a child… You could have had mercy. But no. No, you made sure I knew my place in this world and how much better off your daughter was always going to be.”

My hands curled into fists at my sides.

“Yesterday, you gloated about murder in my ear because you wanted me to hurt instead of calling your daughter to order.”

“Please—”

“You are begging me because I hold power over you right now.” I leaned down slightly. “Hazel also has a murder charge. Milo. What about his family? Will you cry and get on your knees like this for them?”

“Milo betrayed you.” Isobel’s face twisted. “He shattered his mate bond to you and broke your heart. Why would you care about him?”

I caught the flex of Baruch’s hand in my peripheral vision. A barely contained reaction to hearing his brother’s name thrown around like it meant nothing.

“Perhaps because I am not you,” I said.

“But I will beg.” She grabbed at me again. “I will ask for forgiveness. I would do anything.”

I let the silence stretch. Let her hope build in the quiet.

“Okay.”

Her head snapped up. “What?”

“I will let the charge against her go.” I kept my tone even. “I will beg the elders for leniency. The Milo situation can be explained away. I can tell from how sane you still are that his family isn’t here. And if there is no proof of foul play in the charge Milo caught because of Hazel or the sentencing. There is a chance this can be put behind her.”

Hope blazed in her eyes.

“But will you sacrifice for her?” I asked.

“Yes.” The word came out breathless. “I will use everything I have to make amends to you. To Milo’s family if I find them. Till the end of my time.”

“Good.” I straightened fully. “Confess about what you did to my mother in the same graphic detail you used when you whispered it in my ear. With the pillow. Until she stopped struggling.”

The color drained from her face. “What?”

“Too hard?” I tilted my head. “Does your motherhood have its limits?”

“It doesn’t.” She swallowed hard. “But how do I know you will keep your own word?”

“I will go first.” I shrugged. “Once I do that, you follow suit. That is all the push you need.”

“That is…” She nodded quickly. “Good.”

I watched the light return to her eyes. Watched her drink in the possibility of winning this with tears and a promise to confess. She probably thought she had me. That I would hand over my cards and give her the higher power. That tears and maternal desperation could move me.

Foolish. But it showed me how terrified and powerless she now was. She has not a card to play against me.

I smiled. “The hope you have in your eyes is lovely. But goddess, is it foolish.”

The light died.

“What?”

“I’m not making any deal.”

She stared at me.

“I want Hazel to die,” I said clearly. “And she will.”

I leaned down until my mouth was close to her ear.

“I promise you, stepmother. You will hold your daughter’s beheaded head.”

When I pulled back, Isobel shuddered, her whole body trembling.

“I do not need your confession.” My voice came out cold. “I do not need your penance. All I want is your suffering. And I promise you. Oh, I promise you, stepmother. I am going to enjoy this. Like you enjoyed watching me and my mother suffer.”

I reached down and wiped the tears from her cheeks with my thumb.

“We are done here. Scurry away before a new charge is added to the noose on Hazel’s neck because of you.”

Something snapped.

Isobel’s face contorted. “You bitch! I should have killed you before you even grew. What a great mistake we made to trust that fuckass Alpha to ruin and end your life.”

Baruch moved toward her. She slapped his hand away hard enough that the sound cracked through the room.

“I will leave on my own accord.”

She stood slowly, unsteady on her feet. Her gaze locked onto mine.

“You had a chance to fix this chasm between us. But no.”

She laughed. The sound was sharp and bitter.

“My daughter will live regardless, you know. And you will be reminded at the end of the day. Your bitch of a mother is still six feet under.”

“Time will tell,” I said even if I had the urge right there to slit her throat.

Isobel turned back to the hidden passage. She disappeared into the darkness beyond the bookshelf as the panel swung shut behind her with a heavy thud.

The room fell into silence.

My heart was pounding. All I felt now was certainty. It settled into my bones, cold and absolute.

There would be no mercy. Not for Hazel. Not for Isobel. Not for father. Not for anyone who had spent years making sure I knew exactly how worthless I was supposed to be.

They had made their choices. Now they would live with the consequences.

Or die with them.