Chapter 4

The pill was bitter.

But I was happy.

My third father had once told me this compound had no antidote.

Once I swallowed it, they would surely believe I was dead. And Helen's people would come for me afterward.

My third father froze for only a few seconds before rushing forward and shoving his fingers into my mouth.

"Are you insane?! Do you even know what that was?!"

He pried my jaw open, his fingers clawing at my throat.

After I vomited it up, he immediately bound my wrists, pierced my artery, and let the black blood drain out.

Only when the blood flowing from my body turned bright red did my third father finally breathe.

"Iris, it's just an heir title. Is it really worth dying over?"

My fourth father looked even more shaken. He now truly believed I wanted to die — his voice was trembling. "Iris, stop doing this. Listen — yesterday the four of us talked to Bianca. She's willing to forgive you. After today, you can come home. Ethan will make you co-heir. We'll treat you like we used to, okay? Please stop trying to end it."

Hearing this, tears fell from my eyes.

Both fathers thought I was moved.

But the next second, I dropped to my knees before them. "Third Father, Fourth Father — I'm begging you. Stop interfering. Just let me go."

My third father exploded. "Iris, you don't understand what we're—"

"I understand." There was no point in hiding it anymore. "But I don't want to go home. I want to find my mother."

I poured out everything — Helen's call, the news that Mother was alive — all of it.

Their expressions grew more complicated with every word.

Finally, my third father helped me to my feet.

"Iris, listen to me. Your mother is truly dead."

When Mother died, it was my first father who found her body by the lake. My third father used every ounce of his medical knowledge trying to save her. He failed.

After the four of them delivered me from her body, they sat vigil over her for seven days and seven nights.

They watched her body grow cold, stiff, and decompose with their own eyes. They watched her vanish from this world.

My third father told me that phone call was most likely a scam, or a delusion born from trauma.

It wasn't.

I was certain.

It was real.

But no matter what I said, they wouldn't believe me.

My third father sighed. "If you really don't want to go home, then stay here with me. As long as you behave, I won't let anyone hurt you again."

I was about to shake my head.

Then urgent footsteps sounded outside the door.

A moment later, my first and second fathers burst in, panic written across their faces.

"Julian, Liam — have you seen Bianca? She's missing!"

Both fathers in the room went pale. "She was supposed to be at the estate preparing for the gala. What do you mean, missing?"

My second father Marcus's voice was strained. "It's my fault. This morning she said she wanted to personally go to the bar to bring Iris back. She asked me for the bar's address. I was busy with training, didn't take her — she went on her own. It's been two hours and she still hasn't—"

He stopped mid-sentence.

All four of them seemed to remember something at once, and their eyes locked onto me in unison.

Facing those familiar accusatory stares — the four fathers' righteous certainty, the four brothers' silent complicity — my heart sank.

Before they could even voice their suspicion, I was already shaking my head.

"No! It wasn't me!"

"How wasn't it you?" My fourth father stepped forward and grabbed my throat. "No wonder you've been trying to die all morning — it was to cover your tracks. Where did you hide Bianca?"

His grip was crushing. Between that and the cuts already on my neck, tears came almost instantly.

But I kept shaking my head. "I don't know. I haven't seen Bianca."

When I wouldn't confess, my fourth father's fury surged again.

"Still lying? Guess I'll have to teach you a lesson before you'll talk."

He grabbed my throat and dragged me into the bathroom.

Shoved my head into the full bathtub.

Up and down.

Over and over.

Water flooded my nose, choking out every breath.

Just when I thought I'd drown, my fourth father stopped. He slammed me onto the tile floor and tilted my chin up with the tip of his shoe.

"I'll ask you one last time. Where is Bianca?"

The truth was on the tip of my tongue, but I swallowed it.

*Iris, when will you learn?*

*They'll never believe you.*

*Since they'll never believe you, you might as well push them over the edge.*

*Make them kill you.*

With that thought, a smile spread across my face. Casually, I said: "Bianca? Oh — I already killed her."

Sure enough, the moment those words left my mouth, all eight faces went white.

The most unhinged was my first father, Ethan. His eyes turned red. "What did you just say? Iris, how could you—"

"How couldn't I?" I threw my head back and laughed. "Her mother killed my mother. She stole my place as heir. All my honors at school became hers. She became the campus Queen. Isn't that enough reason to kill her? And I didn't just kill her — I dumped her in the slums and let the dirtiest, most disgusting men have their way with her. You always thought she was so pure, so pristine? She's dirtier than I ever was now!"

"Are you angry? Then kill me!"

My words pushed all eight of them past the breaking point.

The fathers' eyes blazed red.

My first father called for restraints.

My second father brought in his former black-market boxing sparring partner — a man who knew exactly where to hit for maximum pain with minimum lethality.

My third father injected me with a drug to keep me conscious at all times, ensuring I'd feel everything, unable to pass out no matter how excruciating it became.

They made sure I couldn't escape into unconsciousness.

With that done, my fourth father gave the signal.

The pain began.

I held on at first, but as the blows intensified, I couldn't even scream anymore.

The worse it hurt, the happier I felt.

*Soon — if they just don't save me this time, Helen's people will come for me. I'll get to see Mother.*

The four fathers, desperate to find Bianca, ordered the men not to hold back. The four brothers followed them out — Cade was the last to leave, turning back once at the doorway, but he still left.

They'd barely stepped outside when a housekeeper came running.

"Mr. Sterling — Miss Bianca — she's been found!"

My first father tensed instantly. "Where?"

"Alive." The housekeeper caught her breath. "Miss Bianca got lost on the way to the bar, then stopped at a mall for a while. That's why she never came back. She's heading this way now."

My second father blurted: "She's alive?"

The housekeeper looked confused but nodded. "Yes, sir. Alive."

All four faces went white at the same time.

They exchanged glances, about to speak.

Then my agonized scream — raw and violent — tore through the door behind them.

Everyone spun around and threw the door open.

My scalding blood splattered across their faces.

One of the men was holding a blade — buried squarely in my chest, right where my heart was.

**[PAYWALL]**