Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 120336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 602(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 602(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
I nodded at him. “May you get everything you deserve this evening.”
With that, I took a slow sip of wine.
Although we were at the table, the battle had begun.
There was a prize.
And one could not forget that the throne always demanded blood.
It was just a matter of whose blood would pay that price.
Chapter twenty-seven
Mind Control
Lei
The first notes of the orchestra’s new melody swirled through the air seductive, slow, and full of purpose.
It wasn’t the kind of music meant to fill the background.
This one demanded attention.
You have a surprise for us, Father?
The orchestra’s strings wept, the percussions thundered, and a flute sang over it all with a hypnotic voice.
Then they appeared.
Dancers—dozens of them—rushed between the tables like a silver and blue tide. Their dresses flowed and rippled like water under the moonlight as they twirled and leaped with impossible grace.
Gasps and cheers rippled through the air.
Even Moni widened her eyes and watched the dancers weave through the aisles.
But I wasn’t here to admire dancers.
I shifted my gaze to the man seated across from me—my father.
His expression was stony, his jaw tight, and his gaze right on me.
This feast was his creation.
Another illusionary masterpiece.
It should have been awe-inspiring.
Instead, it was a farce.
And this feast wouldn’t be so simple.
My father didn’t create moments like this without a reason. He thrived on control, on the illusion of magnificence to veil his moves.
This wasn’t a performance.
It was a pretty, shimmering distraction.
What are you doing behind the scenes, Father?
I smirked, letting my disdain show.
Meanwhile Chen gestured for two of our men to come over.
They rushed his way.
Chen kept his voice clipped and low. “Watch the dancers closely, and have more people check the perimeter. Something is off.”
The men bobbed their heads.
“I want no surprises.” Chen glanced the dancers’ way. “Make sure even the performers aren’t being used as a weapon by the Grand Mountain Master.”
The two men slipped into the crowd.
Chen continued to take in the new dancers with a calm face, but his hand reached for his glasses, adjusting them unnecessarily.
Once, then twice.
That was his tell that he was on edge.
Aunt Min grinned. “This is just superb.”
Moni’s ladies-in-waiting nodded.
And just when I thought Moni was fully enraptured with the dancers too, she leaned my way and whispered. “Whatever happens, I’ll follow your lead.”
My heart warmed, yet I moved her way and let the corner of my lips slip along the delicate curve her ear. “That’s not what we said. What’s your actual job?”
Several people clapped.
The dancers must have executed some spectacular move.
With a wide regal smile, Moni clapped too as if she were paying attention and then whispered back, “My job is to stay with Duck and Chen, but—”
“No buts.”
She tilted her head slightly. “I can do more.”
“You can’t and we’re not taking any risks.” I moved my lips over her ear again and breathed her in. “While my father may have convinced the world that you’re a monster, I’m not convinced.”
She pulled back and stared defiantly into my eyes. “Then, you should replay that footage again.”
Mmmm.
My cock jerked.
I like ‘Kickass Moni.’ I can’t wait to play with her in bed.
Her words hung in the air between us, sharp and defiant, but it was her eyes that caught me off guard.
They weren’t just the deep, brown endless pools I knew so well—they had changed. Beneath their surface was a newly rising promise of death, a dark determination that sent a shiver of both pride and worry through me.
Moni wasn’t the same woman she’d been before my father had dragged her into his nightmare. That soft, warm light I’d fallen in love with was still there, flickering like a fragile ember. But now, it was wrapped in a wildfire.
I let myself stare at her for a moment longer than I should have, taking in the slight lift of her chin, the set of her jaw.
She was breathtaking, this queen forged in the flames of hell itself.
But her fire alone wouldn’t be enough to burn him down tonight.
“Stick with Chen and Duck.”
She pursed her lips and went back to watching the dancers.
Thank you, Moni. I just need you safe and far away from him when we fight.
The orchestra’s strings went into a frenzy. The flutes fluttered with the percussion’s thunderous heartbeat.
Everyone else had their views on the dancers while my father’s and my eyes locked on each other.
The air between us crackled like a live wire.
Are you ready to die tonight, old man?
To test him, I shot my hand up fast to my wine glass.
His gaze flicked to my hand, and I saw it—the faintest twitch of his lips, the crack in his armor.
You’re unraveling. Good.
Nonchalantly, I lifted the glass to my lips, savoring the weight of it in my hand. The dark liquid inside swirled like liquid silk, reflecting the indigo glow of the chandeliers above.
It could have been wine, but to me, it was his blood.