My Husband Sold Me To The Mafia King Who Turned Out To Be My Daddy Chapter 09
After Sinclair Group is wiped clean, I go with my dad back to the top floor of Whitmore Holdings.
Dad sits on the couch. Pours me tea. His voice comes out cold.
“Cora. The company’s yours now. So what do we do with those two pieces of trash — Damon and Vivian?”
Something dark flickers behind his eyes.
“Old-school rules? Break his legs. Dump him under a bridge. Let him beg for scraps. The girl? Ship her overseas. Trafficking ring. Say the word and it’s done tonight. Clean. No loose ends.”
I lift the teacup. Blow gently across the surface. The steam curls up over my face.
I think for a long time.
The old me — the one they carved up in that room — would’ve wanted them cut into a thousand pieces.
But I look down at the tea in my hand. And I shake my head. Slow.
“No.”
I set the cup down. My voice is flat. No emotion left in it.
“I don’t want their lives. Not worth dirtying my hands.”
Dad blinks. His brow tightens.
“Cora. You leave weeds in the ground, they grow back. Let them live, and one day they come back like rabid dogs.”
“They won’t get the chance.”
I stand up. Walk to the floor-to-ceiling window. Look down at the city.
“Dad. A guy like Damon? Vain. Selfish to the bone. Death isn’t the worst thing you can do to him.”
“I need to see them. One more time. In person.”
Half an hour later. I’m back at where we’re keeping them.
Not the basement this time. An abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city.
Damon and Vivian are curled up on the concrete like a pair of terrified rats.
The second Damon hears my heels, his head snaps up.
He thinks I’ve gone soft.
“Cora! Baby!”
He drags himself across the floor. Tries to grab my legs. One of my men kicks him back.
He doesn’t even feel it. Just drops onto his knees and starts kowtowing.
“I knew it! I knew you couldn’t do it! You came to let me out, right?”
“I swear on everything — I’ll change. I’ll be your dog. Whatever you want. Just please. One more chance.”
I crouch down. Look at his swollen, hopeful face.
I speak calmly.
“Damon. I’m not going to kill you.”
His face lights up. Tears and snot everywhere.
“Thank you, baby! Oh God, thank you—”
“But listen to me. Really listen.”
I cut him off. And I smile. The cruelest smile I’ve ever worn.
“I’m keeping you alive because dying would be too easy.”
“I want you to live. I want you crawling around at the bottom of society. A rat. Barely surviving. Every day.”
I reach out. Pat his pale cheek. Soft.
“I want you waking up every morning digging in a dumpster for food.”
“I want you walking down the street, and every time you look up, there I am. On a giant screen. On top of the world.”
“I want you alive to watch me. Watch me stand on top of every dollar you ever wanted. Watch me become everything you’ll never be.”
“And you? You’ll never come back. Never. Not one day of your life.”
Every word lands. Every word cuts.
The joy on Damon’s face freezes. Then it cracks. Then it shatters.
He gets it now.
Death is quick. What I’m giving him is a life sentence. Death by inches. Forever.
“No — no, you can’t be that cruel — kill me! Cora, please! Just kill me!”
He collapses. Grabs his own head. Sobs like a broken thing.
I don’t even look at him.
I stand up. Walk to the corner. To Vivian.
“Why did you dump Damon and go abroad three years ago?”
I look down at her.
She’s shaking. Stammering.
“B-because—”
“Because he was broke. Because he couldn’t give you the lifestyle you wanted. Right?”
She squeezes her eyes shut. Humiliated. Nods.
I laugh. Point at Damon — still sobbing on the concrete.
“Well. He’s broke again now. Worse than before. Buried in debt he’ll never crawl out of.”
“So? You wanna stick around? Pay his debts with him? Beg under an overpass side by side?”
Vivian’s eyes fly open.
She shakes her head like she’s been electrocuted. Scoots backward on her hands.
“No! NO! I’d rather die than be with him! He’s a loser! He’s trash! I never want to see him again!”
“You hear that, Damon?”
I turn. Look at the man on the floor. His face gone slack.
“You dumped me for her. You tried to end me for her.”
“And the second you had nothing? She ran faster than anyone.”
“That epic love story you two had? Makes me sick.”
Damon stares at Vivian. The woman who’s now scrambling to disown him.
Something inside him breaks. Completely.
I look away. Disgusted. Turn toward the door.
“Open it. Let them go.”
The men pull the warehouse door open.
“From today? I never want to see either of you again.”
I step out. Leave their sobs behind me.
From today, these two don’t even deserve to be a memory.
Sunlight cuts through the clouds. Hits my face. Sharp. But warm.
My dad is watching me. His eyes soft. Aching.
I take a deep breath. First real breath of free air in three years.
I walk over. Loop my arm through his.
“Dad. Let’s go home.”