My Husband Sent His Twin to My Bed, and I Made Him King Chapter 07
The icy seawater hit Arthur’s face like thousands of steel
needles soaked in salt.
Arthur Sterling came to with a violent spasm on the deck of a smuggling freighter.
He tried to struggle to his feet, only to realize in horror that his legs were completely numb.
His feet had been sealed inside a heavy square block of concrete.
Concrete shoes.
In the mafia world, it was the oldest and cruelest way to execute
a traitor beyond redemption. Once they were pushed into the sea, they dropped straight to the bottom and never saw daylight
again.
“No… no!” Arthur let out a ragged, slurred scream from deep in his throat.
“You’re awake, Arthur.” I stopped in front of him at an unhurried pace.
Beside me stood Asher, an obsidian rose pin–the symbol of Sterling family power–fastened to his lapel.
“Audrey… please… I’m the family heir! You can’t do this to me!” Arthur desperately tried to crawl forward.
I crouched down and grabbed his jaw.
“The heir? No, Arthur. Right now, you’re just a corpse waiting to sink into the dark.” I looked him straight in the eyes. “Before I send you down, I need you to understand exactly why you’re going to die.”
Arthur’s pupils contracted violently with pain and fear.
“You think this is unfair, don’t you? You think all you did was
skim a little money and take a vacation in St. Barts, so how did it end like this?” I leaned close to his ear. “Because you owe me a
life, Arthur.”
I let go of his jaw and poured the liquor over his head, down to the last drop.
“Do you
remember the sound a crystal ashtray makes when it hits a skull? That dull, cracking sound of bone splitting.” I spoke each word with cruel clarity. “Because Chloe scraped her knee, you slapped me across the face in front of everyone at our wedding in New York. The day after we got married, when I demanded the family give me justice, you stormed into the bedroom and smashed my head open without a shred of mercy.”
Arthur froze. “You… what the hell are you talking about? I
never touched any ashtray! That never happened! You imagined
it!”
“Shh… I’m not finished.”
“Later, we were forced onto the Starlight for our honeymoon. You were on deck calling Chloe, and when she didn’t answer, you thought she was dead.” My voice began to shake uncontrollably, fear and hatred carved into my soul boiling to the surface. “You blamed everything on me. You wrapped your hands around my throat and shoved me off the yacht. The water that day was just as cold as it is now, Arthur. I know what it feels like when a great white tears into your thigh. I know the despair of watching your own flesh ripped from the bone. I didn’t even
get to leave behind a whole body.”
Arthur shook his head like a madman, terror filling his eyes.
He looked at me as if he were staring at a ghost.
“You’re insane… Audrey! You’re a monster! A devil! You’re completely out of your mind!” Arthur screamed.
“This is just karma, Arthur.” I rose to my feet and looked down at him coldly. “Now it’s your turn.”
Asher, silent until now, stepped forward and elegantly drew his gun, lining the barrel up with Arthur’s knees.
“Shut your filthy mouth. The fact that you got to live this long with the same face as mine is the greatest insult I’ve ever
suffered. You don’t deserve that face, and you sure as hell don’t deserve to use that disgusting mouth to say her name.”
Thump! Thump!
The two muffled shots vanished beneath the thunder.
Arthur’s kneecaps exploded, blood and flesh spraying everywhere. He didn’t even have the strength to scream anymore. He could only hang there with his mouth open, dragging in desperate, broken breaths like a dying animal.
Asher slowly lifted his foot and brought it down hard on the concrete block shackling Arthur’s feet.
“Go to hell, brother.”
The heavy block dragged Arthur’s ruined body over the rail–less edge of the deck.
Splash!
His body plunged into the churning black sea, kicking up a huge burst of white spray.
These waters hid some of the Atlantic’s most vicious predators.
Great whites that went into a frenzy the moment they smelled blood rising through the water.
From below came the dull, warped sounds of tearing flesh. The sea seemed to boil as dark red foam rolled up to the surface.
The once–untouchable heir of an old–money dynasty was torn completely to pieces in the same abyss where I had once known only despair, leaving nothing behind.
I let out a long breath.
Asher came up behind me.
“It’s over, my queen.” He kissed my hair.
“No.” I leaned back against his broad, warm chest, gazing into the darkness ahead, a victor’s smile curving my lips. “Our empire is only just beginning.”