Encore of the Avenging Muse (Sylvia and Rupert)

Rupert kept peeling the apple, the blade moving slowly, almost lazily, but there was a chill about him that made it impossible to come too close.

"So, you want Edwin to marry a girlfriend who gifts women to her boyfriend's father? Then what, just stand by while she keeps sending you women to curry favor?"

Tristan stared at Rupert in disbelief, his fists clenched tightly.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Rupert didn't look up. His tone was calm, almost indifferent. "That woman-did she stop seeing you after a while? Because Edwin took care of it himself. You probably don't remember, do you? To you, women like that are just like clothes- out with the old, in with the new."

Tristan's lips trembled, but he said nothing.

"You came into the Garcia family when you were three. But Edwin? He was sent to the Garcias right after he was born. My mom raised him, day and night, like he was her own. To him, she was his real mother. After seeing his girlfriend betray him with his own father, he couldn't face my mom anymore."

Rupert's gaze sharpened, cold and direct. "Why do you hate Naomi so much? Besides her lack of family background and her daughter with a mysterious father, what else is it?"

Tristan's face drained of color, inch by inch.

He was breathing hard, glaring at Rupert, warning him not to say another word. But Rupert continued, pronouncing every word with care. "When you fell off your horse that time, Naomi was the first to help you. Afterwards, you started despising her even more. Not because she wasn't a good nurse, but because she saw someone she shouldn't have."

was the woman riding with you that

body

steady him, patting his back

daughter, or how she and her mother are doing in New Zealand. If Naomi weren't so naïve,

his eyes, but it

at the top

of women and the power to decide people's fates. Call it arrogance, but he'd earned it.

web-on the surface, it looked like wealth and success, but under it all, it was nothing

The things you hate most are often the hardest

and her daughter won't ever threaten you. They'll never set foot in the Garcia house Maybe they'll visit me now and then, but

big deal. Just another "mistake" every

and the apple peel snapped

laugh. "My mom was the love of your life? How many women

I never remarried after she died-what

the last strip of skin curling

up the apple, staring at the marks left by