“Yeah? What have I been doing?”
He throws his hands in the air. “You’ve been torturing us more than Coach for the championship.”
“So now we don’t want the championship?”
“We do, but we started this to have fun. Not all of us are going pro. Hell, not even half of us.” He releases a deep breath. “This is the last season we’ll ever be able to compete in football before it all become corporates and politics.”
Huh. I never looked at it that way.
“Nice talk.” I pat Daniel’s shoulder. “Let’s finish after I see Astrid.”
“Captain!” He runs alongside me. “You’re not hearing a word I’m saying. She needs time. Once she’s calmed down, she’ll come out on her own accord and talk to you.”
“What if she never does?” I meet Daniel’s eyes. “What if she spends distance away and realises that she doesn’t fucking want me anymore?”
He remains silent for a second too long. “Then it’s her choice. Another word you need to learn.”
I jab a finger at his chest. “That’s not going to fucking happen.”
Daniel tries to stop me again when a loud sound slices through the silence.
We both stop and stare at each other with wild eyes.
A gunshot just came from inside Astrid’s house.
52
Astrid
Everyone falls. Including the king and his queen.
* * *
I shriek as the gunshot reverberates all around us.
My fingers dig into Dad’s forearm as my frantic gaze slides over him, looking for any injury.
“I’m fine, Astrid.” He motions behind him to a hole in the wall.
My heartbeat skyrockets until it’s impossible to focus on anything but the buzzing in my ears.
“Put the shotgun down, Victoria.” Dad speaks in a calm yet firm tone as he cages me behind him.
Still, I peek around him.
Victoria stands at the entrance, her finger trembling on the trigger. For the first time in my life, I see tears streaming down her cheeks.
I always joked with Dan that she’s an unfeeling robot considering she doesn’t show emotions. But I should’ve known that those are the most dangerous.
“I stood by you.” Her voice is shaky and she seems on the verge of a nervous breakdown. “I was the perfect wife for you. I did everything from those dinners to those stupid wives’ gathering. How dare you throw me away?”
“We had a deal, Victoria,” he tells her slowly. “I told you the marriage was a contract. I provided a home for you and your daughter and paid your dead husband’s debts. In return, you play the wife’s façade. You agreed to those terms.”
“I thought you’d come around.” Her finger shakes on the trigger, and I shrink further behind Dad’s back. “I waited for you to come around. We could’ve been a real family…” She smiles in nostalgia then it drops. “If it weren’t for that slut.”
“My mother wasn’t a slut,” I grit out.
“And you!” She points both her gun and manic expression at me. “The Clifford name is my daughter’s right. You don’t deserve anything except for rotting with your whore of a mother. But you just refuse to fucking die.”
My lips part as I choke on air. My gaze slides from her to Dad. His jaw clenches but he keeps his calm. “So you did it. You hit Astrid at the party.”
“Yes, I did it. I went to pick up Nicole, and this little bitch was running in the street begging to be hit.” She laughs. “I slowed down about to stop, but then, I thought that if you joined your mother, we’ll finally be a real family.”
My eyes blur as I stare at the monster in her eyes. She planned to kill me. It wasn’t an accident. She did it on purpose.
Anger bubbles in my veins like a hurricane. Then it hits me. The old Mercedes Nicole drove the other day was the same Mercedes I saw parked near our house a day before Mum’s accident.
“You manipulated my mother’s brakes, didn’t you?”
“I did that, too.” She smiles like a psycho. “Henry was planning to divorce me and marry her, so I decided to erase her. Pity you didn’t go down with her like a good little bitch.”
I scream and push past Dad towards her. I’m going to murder her. I’m going to choke her with my bare hands.
Dad yanks me back as Victoria’s stance widens in menace.
“Let me go!” I cry, tears streaming down my cheeks. “Dad, let me go!”
“Yes, let her go, Henry.” Her voice is soft, motherly almost. “If you do, we’ll finally be a family.”
“We were never going to be a family!” Dad’s voice rises. “The only family I wanted was Jasmine and Astrid.”
“No…” A tear slides down her cheek. “You only felt duty towards her because she trapped you with a baby.”
“There was no duty about Jasmine. She’s the only woman I’d ever love.”
“No. Henry. We’re a family.”
He shakes his head, his voice steel. “Not anymore.”
“You!” She screams aiming her shotgun at me. “It’s all because of you. I’m going to kill you this time.”
I swallow, my limbs shaking until it’s impossible to control them.
Dad stands fully in front of me until I can barely see anything.
“Drop the gun, Victoria.” He speaks low. “Don’t make this worse than it already is.”
She shakes her head frantically.
“The police are on their way.” He enunciates. “It’s over.”
“No! No! That little bitch doesn’t get to live her life while I rot behind bars.”
“Mother…”
All our attention snaps to the voice coming from behind Victoria.
Nicole stands on shaking legs with Levi and Dan behind her.
They came.
Tears fill my eyes. Levi returned for me. He didn’t give up on me.
Our eyes meet for the briefest second and in his light blue ones, I see concern and longing. Desperate, intense longing that matches my own.
“Nicole?” Victoria stammers. “Go back to your room, darling. I’ll take care of this and come fetch you, okay?”
“Mother, stop.” Nicole’s voice shakes with every word like she’s finding it hard to speak. “Please.”
“But, honey. I’m doing this for us. For your future. You will be a Clifford soon.”
“I don’t want to be a Clifford. I love Dad’s name just fine.”
“What are you talking about? That’s what we worked for.”
“That’s what you worked for. I only wanted to be free of all these shackles and protocols and wearing masks.” She hiccoughs. “I only put up with this life for you, Mother.”
“But… how about your future and the doors the family name will open for you?” She pauses. “We’ll talk about this later after I finish this.”
Dan nudges Nicole, and she winces before stepping forward.
“Mother, please.” She reaches a shaky hand towards her mother. “Uncle Henry always gave us everything we wanted, you can’t hurt him.”