She stopped until we were almost face to face.
“I hate you.” Her voice dropped to a whisper filled with venom. “I've hated you since the day I found out you were Father's legitimate daughter. You had everything. The family, the name, the love. And what did I have? A dead mother, no home, and no one.”
A bitter laugh escaped her lips.
“So why should you get to keep any of it?” She smiled sweetly, her eyes filled with malice. “I'll take everything from you. Your home. Your fiance. Your future. And when I'm done... you'll have absolutely nothing left.”
Agatha picked up one of my forensic case files and flipped through it with a bored expression before letting out a mocking laugh.
“You really wasted all this time on something so worthless. No wonder Apollo never takes any of it seriously.”
Without the slightest hesitation, she ripped it straight down the middle.
Sheets of paper fluttered across the floor.
“No!” I rushed toward her, panic rising in my chest. “Stop! Those files took me years to finish. Please don't destroy them.”
She ignored every word.
With a careless sweep of her arm, she sent an expensive microscope crashing off the workbench. Glass shattered across the floor as the machine broke into hundreds of pieces. Then came the DNA models, the evidence boards, the preserved samples. Everything I'd spent years building was destroyed within minutes.
Agatha smiled as she watched my expression crumble.
“You look heartbroken.” She picked up another research journal and slowly tore it in half. “It's actually satisfying to watch. I hate seeing you happy, so watching you lose everything feels wonderful.”
My chest tightened painfully.
Those weren't just books.
They were years of work.
“What the hell is wrong with you?!” My voice shook with anger and disbelief. “You know how hard I worked for all of this! What gives you the right to destroy them?”
Agatha rolled her eyes before casually unclasping the diamond necklace around her neck.
She tossed it onto the marble floor at my feet.
The diamonds sparkled beneath the lights.
“There.” She shrugged carelessly. “Apollo gave me that three days ago, and it's worth a few million. Take it and consider us even.”
She pretended to think for a moment before smiling sweetly.
“Oh, that's right.” Her smile turned cruel. “My dear sister's far too proud to accept charity. If this isn't enough compensation... I suppose I'll just have to destroy a little more.”
She reached for the last storage box.
Panic flooded through me.
“No!”
I ran toward the final locked cabinet.
Hidden beneath stacks of forensic journals...
Was the only thing I truly cared about.
A small wooden music box.
My father had given it to me before he died.
Inside was the last voice recording he'd ever left behind.
Whenever I missed him...
I'd wind it up and listen.
It was all I had left of him.
I hugged the music box tightly against my chest.
“Don't touch this.” My voice cracked as tears blurred my vision. “Please... you can destroy anything else if you want, but not this. It's the only thing I have left of Dad.”
Agatha noticed immediately.
“So...” Her smile slowly widened. “This is what really matters to you.”
She walked toward me.
“Give it to me.” She held out her hand without hesitation. “If it's so precious, I want to see exactly how broken you'll look after I destroy it.”
“No!” I shook my head desperately, clutching it tighter. “Please... it's all I have left of Dad. Don't take this away from me too.”
Her eyes turned ice cold.
“Dad?” She let out a bitter laugh. “He was never my father. He abandoned my mother, abandoned me, and spent every day loving you instead. While you happily called him Dad, I grew up with nothing.”
She grabbed the music box.
“I hate hearing you say that word.”
I held on with everything I had.
“Let go!” she snapped before shoving me backward.
I crashed onto the floor.
The music box slipped from my hands.
“No!”
At that exact moment, Lila came racing into the room.
My ragdoll cat hissed louder than I'd ever heard before and launched herself at Agatha. Her claws raked across Agatha's wrist, making her scream in pain. The music box flew from her hand and landed outside the open balcony doors.
I didn't stop to think.
I ran downstairs as fast as I could.
Thankfully, the music box had landed safely in the bushes below.
The wood was scratched but it hadn't broken.
I hugged it tightly against my chest.
Thank God!
When I hurried back inside...
The smile disappeared from my face.
Lila was locked inside a steel pet carrier.
She cried the second she saw me.
Apollo sat on the sofa, his expression darker than a storm cloud. Agatha sat beside him with thick bandages wrapped around her wrist while tears streamed endlessly down her face.
Apollo looked up at me. “So this is the fucking animal you raised.” His voice was as cold as ice. “Look what it did to Agatha. Is this how you've trained it?!”
I immediately dropped to my knees beside the carrier and wrapped both arms around it. Lila pressed herself against the bars, crying softly.
“No.” I looked directly into Apollo's eyes. “Lila attacked because she was protecting me! If you want someone to blame, blame me instead. Leave her out of this. She didn't do anything wrong.”
Agatha burst into fresh tears.
“Sister...” Her voice trembled pitifully as she lowered her head. “Why are you lying again? I only went upstairs because I thought your research was important. I wanted to help organize everything after the mess, but your cat suddenly attacked me.”
She sniffled before looking at Apollo.
“I never blamed Sister.” Tears continued rolling down her cheeks. “But now she's blaming me instead. Maybe I shouldn't have tried helping her at all.”
“You liar!” I shouted, unable to hold back any longer. “You destroyed everything! You smashed my equipment, tore apart all my research, and even tried to destroy Dad's music box. You did all of it, and now you're pretending to be the victim!”
“Enough.”
Apollo's voice sliced through the room like a blade.
Silence fell instantly.
He slowly rose to his feet, his gaze never leaving mine.
“If those files really meant that much to you...” His expression remained unreadable. “...then you wouldn't have gone completely fucking insane over them. I think it's better if every last piece of that laboratory disappears. You clearly don't deserve it.”
My breathing stopped.
Apollo looked toward his men.
“Burn the laboratory.” His order was calm, almost indifferent. “Destroy everything. Leave nothing behind.”
Then his eyes shifted toward Lila.
“And that fucking cat...” His voice turned even colder. “If it dares attack someone under my roof, it doesn't deserve to stay alive.”
“No!” I threw myself over the carrier, shielding it with my body. “Please! Lila didn't do anything wrong. She was only trying to protect me. Please... don't hurt her.”
Apollo didn't even spare me a glance.
He simply gave a single nod.
Several De Sangue soldiers immediately stepped forward.
They grabbed my arms.
“No!” I struggled with everything I had, but my body was far too weak to resist. “Please let her go! Don't take her away from me!”
One man ripped the carrier from my embrace.
Another tore the music box from my hands.
My fingers burned as they were forced apart.
“No...” My voice broke into sobs. “Please... give them back! They're all I have left!”
I dropped to my knees.
The cold marble dug into my skin, but I didn't feel it anymore. I crawled toward Apollo one painful step at a time until I reached him, my trembling fingers clutching the leg of his pants.
“Apollo...” My voice cracked as I looked up at him through blurred eyes. “I'm begging you. Please don't do this! My father's music box... That's all I have left of him. And Lila...” My gaze shifted to my frightened ragdoll cat crying inside the carrier. “She's been with me through every horrible day. You can destroy everything else if you want, but don't take her away from me. I'll do anything. I'll kneel forever if that's what you want. I'll apologize, disappear, and never stand in Agatha's way again. I just... I just want Lila back.”
