Chapter 4

Jaimen stared at the death certificate, his mind refusing to process the words. Then, his disbelief curdled into a new, more monstrous form of rage.

It wasn't grief. It was fury at being defied, even by death.

"Christeen," he seethed, the name a curse on his lips. "That venomous woman. She let our daughter die just to get back at me."

He crumpled the paper in his fist. "She is a murderer. She killed my daughter."

He turned to his assistant, his eyes blazing with a cold fire. "Find her. I don't care if you have to tear this city apart brick by brick. When you find her, you won't bring her to the hospital. You'll bring her to the ancestral hall. She will face the Cline family's punishment for her sins."

Ivanna, ever the actress, began to sob. "Oh, poor Lily. That sweet, innocent child. How could Christeen be so cruel? Jaimen, this is all my fault. If it weren't for Timothy, none of this would have happened."

She threw herself at his feet, clinging to his legs. "Let me go find her, Jaimen. Please. She's my sister. Maybe I can talk some sense into her. It's my duty as your... as your partner."

Suddenly, she grabbed a crystal paperweight from his desk and moved to smash it against her own forehead. "If I can't convince her, I'll die to atone for my sins!"

"Ivanna, stop!" Jaimen caught her wrist, his heart aching at her display of devotion. He pulled her up, cradling her in his arms.

"It's not your fault," he said, stroking her hair. "It's hers. Only hers."

He looked past her, a cruel smile touching his lips. "And I know just how to make her come crawling back."

He took out his phone and dialed a number he hadn't called in years. It was my mother's, Golda Herring.

"Bring Mrs. Herring here," he ordered his men. "Now."

Ivanna stiffened in his arms. "Her mother? Jaimen, that old woman is crazy. She... she attacked me once, years ago. She said I was trying to steal you."

"Good," Jaimen said, his voice like ice. "Let's see how Christeen feels when she sees her precious mother paying for her mistakes. She wanted me to feel pain? I'll show her what real pain is."

An hour later, my mother was dragged into the office. The moment she saw Ivanna hiding behind Jaimen, she erupted.

"You!" she shrieked, her eyes wild with a pain I knew all too well. She lunged forward, her nails outstretched. "You witch! You killed my daughter! You killed my granddaughter!"

Jaimen stepped in front of Ivanna, grabbing my mother by the throat and slamming her against the wall. Her head hit the wood paneling with a sickening thud.

"Where is she?" Jaimen demanded, his face a mask of cold fury. "I've taken care of you for three years, put you in the best nursing home, given you everything you could want. All I asked in return was for your daughter to behave. Now, tell me where she is!"

My mother choked, clawing at his hand. A terrible, broken sound escaped her lips. It was a laugh. A laugh filled with so much grief and madness it made the blood run cold.

Tears streamed down her face, mixing with the blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.

"You're looking for Christeen?" she gasped, her voice a ragged whisper. "You fool. You absolute fool."

She looked him straight in the eye, her own gaze burning with a truth he refused to see.

"She's dead, Jaimen. You killed her too."