The Mistress's Watch, My Vengeance

e my father's last gift t

enda, during a video call where she thanke

me, using the years of painful, humiliatin

f stress lately," he said,

ealing from my family's foundation to fund her life.

ed cruelty of his deception was a mortal

ut of my study, leaving him stamme

call to the on

y voice dangerously

pte

Warr

of my day, the moment I could finally shed the "Iron Queen" persona. But today, the sile

use that was unequivocally mine. He was on a video call

something vaguely floral and unfamiliar, hitting me. I watched

o bright. "Yes, of course, I'll make sure it's expedited. Ju

alculation, in his eyes before his smile re-cemented. He

loor. I didn' t sit. I just stood beside him, a silent senti

in view. "This is my wife, Julia. Julia, this is Kenda

ed back, a dazzling, almost aggressive smile. H

I s

pe smartwatch, rose gold with a sapphire face, designed by my father. A one-of-a-kind piece. A gift he' d given

red. The polit

aid, my voice flat, almost toneless. E

imperceptible shift in her eyes. Cameron' s easy charm falter

ound. "Just a little something Cameron gave me.

an cold. L

ze locked onto the watch, then back to Cameron. Hi

the new grant," Cameron interjected, his voice too loud, too

He was asking for an exorbitant sum for her, the woman wearing

gy, went unnervingly quiet. Only the image of t

ce steady, betraying none of the tremor

ok into it. I knew

ith the laptop, his panicked apologies muffled by the closing do

It was a piece of my father, a pi

fingers flying across the keypad. One num

y voice a dangerous