It was a sinner's suicide for anyone to work at Coopers Incorporation. It was no surprise that people aimed to stray far from the Devil known as Mr Elijah Cooper.
Cold, demanding, and rough, he ruled over everything with an iron grip and a calculati...
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Nora's P.O.V
I was bleeding. Again.
Steven had stabbed my thigh, then bandaged it—only to rip it off and do it all over again. The blade burned, searing into my flesh, and I screamed, but it didn’t matter. No one was coming. No one could hear me.
He crouched beside me, wiping the blood off his knife with a sickening patience. "Your mother screamed too, you know," he murmured, voice calm, almost amused. "She begged me to spare you. She kept calling your name, thinking you’d somehow save her."
I froze. My breath hitched, a cold, hollow ache spreading through my chest.
"I had to kill her," he continued. "She suspected me. She would’ve ruined everything."
He said it like it was nothing. Like taking her life meant less than swatting a fly.
I stared at him, shaking with rage, with pain, with something darker curling in my gut. Hating someone and killing them were two different things. But I didn’t care anymore.
I was going to kill him.
Blood on my hands didn’t scare me anymore.
The thought burned in my mind like a fever. My fingers curled into fists, nails biting into my palms. The pain kept me grounded, but my vision blurred with the weight of his words.
My mother’s voice—her desperate, terrified screams—echoed in my head. She died calling my name. She died believing I could save her.
But I hadn’t.
A choked breath left me, part gasp, part sob. Steven just watched, tilting his head, drinking in my pain like fine wine.
He leaned closer, his breath hot against my ear. "You think the Coopers are the good guys? They’ve killed people too. Everyone’s hands are dirty, Nora. You have to be the villain if you want to survive."
Lies. At least the Coopers had never hurt me. And I didn’t need to be like him to survive. You didn’t have to destroy others just to keep breathing.
But before I could say a word, a cruel voice cut through the air.
"What’s the little pig doing? Hungry? Angry?"
My head snapped up. My stomach twisted.
Anna.
She stood in the doorway, arms crossed, a devious smirk curling her lips.
Disgust slithered through me. She’s working with Steven?
"You look confused," she said, tilting her head. "Let me guess—you thought I was on Elijah’s side, didn’t you?"
Of course, I did. She was family and friend. She owed him her loyalty.
"Why?" I hissed, rage bubbling to the surface. "Why would you betray him? He cared for you. He gave you everything!"
