Chapter 5

Silas stared at me. “Raven...”

“Why?” I hit his chest with both hands. “Why are you doing this to me?”

He didn't answer.

I kept hitting him until my arms had no strength left. Then everything went black.

...

I didn't know how I got home. When I opened my eyes again, Silas was sitting beside me. The moment he saw me awake, he pulled me into his arms, but I immediately pushed him away.

“Don’t.”

His hand froze.

“The pictures of your father were leaked by accident,” he said. “I never wanted that to happen.”

I stared at him in disbelief. “An accident?”

My voice shook with anger.

“Do you know what your little accidents have cost me?”

Silas went quiet.

My voice cracked as I asked, “How many people have to die before you stop calling everything an accident?”

Silas's face tightened.

He reached for my hand. “Raven, I’ll take care of everything. I’ll give Riley and your father proper funerals. I’ll make sure they’re buried with respect.”

I pulled my hand away. “They don’t need your respect! They needed you to protect them when they were alive.”

...

The next morning, I went downstairs because I wanted to personally take Riley and my father's ashes to the cemetery. I had barely reached the dining room when I stopped.

Vesper was sitting at the table, calmly feeding a small tortoise. Beside her was a white porcelain container, and something about it immediately made my stomach twist.

I walked closer. “What are you feeding it?”

Vesper looked up and smiled. “Oh, this? Silas said my tortoise wasn’t getting enough calcium, so he had some bones ground into powder for it.”

My eyes moved to the container.

Then I saw the two urns beside it.

My blood ran cold.

No!

I grabbed the container, my hands shaking violently. “Where are Riley’s ashes?”

Vesper immediately looked toward Silas. “Silas...”

Silas walked over. “What happened?”

I pointed at the container. “You fucking ask her.”

Vesper's eyes filled with tears. “I really don’t know what she’s talking about. I was just feeding my tortoise.”

I stared at her. “You knew.”

“I didn’t.”

“You knew exactly what you were doing!”

I couldn't control my anger anymore. Riley was dead. My father was dead. And now their ashes were being treated like nothing.

I raised my hand. “You disgusting liar!”

Before I could reach Vesper, Silas shoved me away.

My back slammed against the coffee table, and pain shot through my body.

I looked at him in disbelief.

He was standing between me and Vesper, his expression cold.

“Raven, enough.”

I slowly pushed myself back up. “Move.”

“No.”

“I said move.”

“I’ve tolerated your behavior because you’re grieving, but you’re going too far now.”

I pointed at the container, my hands still trembling. “Silas, look at me.”

He didn't answer.

“Look me in the eyes and tell me what was in that container.”

His jaw tightened. “Raven...”

“What was in it?”

Vesper quietly stepped behind him and grabbed his arm. “Silas, please don’t fight with her because of me. I really didn’t know. I thought it was just calcium powder. I would never do something like that to Riley's ashes.”

I looked at her.

I wanted to tear that innocent expression off her face.

“You knew.”

Vesper shook her head. “I didn’t.”

Silas pulled her closer and looked at me. “Vesper didn’t know what was inside the container.”

I let out a broken laugh. “So you believe her?”

“Yes.”

“And you don’t even care enough to check?”

His expression hardened. “You’re the one who tried to hit her.”

“Because she was feeding an animal with something that could have been Riley’s ashes!”

“You have no proof.”

“Proof?” My voice rose as tears filled my eyes. “Riley is dead, Silas! My father is dead! And now their ashes are being treated like garbage in your house, and you’re standing there asking me for proof?”

Silas's face darkened.

“Apologize to Vesper.”

I shook my head. “I’m not apologizing.”

“Raven.”

“No.” I wiped the tears from my face. “I’m not the one who should be sorry.”

Silas stared at me for a long moment before slowly raising his hand.

Several men immediately stepped forward.

His voice was calm, but there was no room to argue. “If Donna refuses to admit her mistake, she can kneel outside.”

My eyes widened. “What?”

“She can stay there until she understands what she did wrong.”

Two of Silas’s men immediately came up behind me and grabbed my arms. I looked at Silas in disbelief, unable to understand how cold he could be after everything that had happened.

“You’re really doing this?”

He didn't even bother looking at me.

“Silas, you actually want me to kneel and apologize for trying to protect Riley’s ashes? For Vesper, the woman you chose over our daughter?”

He said nothing. Instead, he turned and walked upstairs with Vesper beside him, leaving me on the floor as if I were nothing more than an inconvenience.

Vesper glanced back at me, her expression carefully arranged into innocent concern. “Silas, maybe you shouldn’t be angry with Raven anymore.”

Her voice was sweet, but I knew that tone. Vesper had spent years standing at Silas’s right hand as his second-in-command. She knew exactly how to manipulate him, and she knew exactly how to look harmless while doing it.

Silas’s expression immediately softened when he looked at her. “Don’t worry about her. Come on. I bought something new for your tortoise. I’ll show it to you.”

Vesper smiled and slipped her arm through his. “Okay, Silas. I just hate seeing you upset because of me.”

I watched them disappear upstairs together.

My chest felt completely empty.

So that was it?

One of the men grabbed my arm and dragged me toward the front door. I dug my heels into the floor and refused to cooperate.

“I said I won’t.”

The soldier kicked the back of my knee, and pain shot through my leg as I fell hard onto the cold ground. I sucked in a sharp breath, then forced myself upright and straightened my back.

Fine.

If Silas wanted me to kneel, I would kneel.

But I would never bow my head to him.

The cold air cut through my clothes as the hours passed. I stayed there with my knees pressed against the stone, my body still weak from the toxin exposure, but I refused to move. I kept my back straight even when the pain became unbearable.

The front door finally opened.

I looked up and saw Vesper walking out with Silas. She was holding her little tortoise and smiling as though nothing had happened.

She stopped in front of me.

“Raven. I know you’re still upset, but I really don’t want you and Silas to keep fighting.”

I didn't answer.

Vesper crouched slightly, holding the tortoise closer to her chest. “My tortoise’s birthday is today, and I wanted to do something nice for him.”

She looked at Silas and gave him a small smile. “Silas said Donna knows how to handle dangerous chemicals and explosives, so maybe she could help us with the celebration.”

I stared at her.

“You want me to celebrate your tortoise’s birthday?”

She nodded, looking almost embarrassed. “I know it sounds silly, but I thought maybe doing something normal would help everyone calm down. I mean, I’m grieving too.”

I almost laughed.

Vesper had been Silas’s second-in-command for years. She had ordered killings, handled weapons, negotiated with rival families, and stood beside him during some of the bloodiest conflicts in the mafia world.

Yet now she was pretending to be too innocent to understand why celebrating a tortoise’s birthday seven days after Riley’s death was cruel.

Silas finally looked at me.

“Vesper is being kind. She’s willing to let what happened today go if you help her with the celebration.”

“I’m sorry, Raven. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Then she glanced at Silas as if silently asking him to protect her.

Silas’s expression hardened. “Raven, this isn’t a discussion.”

I stared at him.

“You really don’t care, do you?”

“Riley’s and your father’s ashes haven’t been buried yet. Don’t make me deal with another accident.”

My heart stopped.

He was threatening me again.