Chapter 9 Playing Mind Games
Chapter 9 Playing Mind Games
Odessa's Pov
"Have you lost your mind, Odessa?" Grandfather snaps just as his nurse rushes to his aid, scared that his blood pressure may rise. She hovers over him with a pill bottle in her hand, but he swats her away with the wave of his hand as always, his angry eyes burning into me like I've just set fire to his legacy.
"Odessa, you've worked for this your entire life," Damien says, trying to sound protective, like he has any right to speak on my behalf. I finally get a good look at his battered face, and I have to stop myself from smiling. Hades and Nikolai must've had fun with him again. He's almost unrecognisable with a chipped tooth and cuts scattered on the face I once fell for. His lip is split in two places, and there's a purple bruise blooming across his jaw.
"And for my entire life, the company has been used to control me." I keep my voice calm, measured, like I'm explaining something to a child. "If I would take over MAM, I would require a capable partner to do it with. Not a cheating bastard."
"Odessa," Grandfather calls, gritting his teeth so hard I can see the muscles in his jaw jump.
"He cheats at home then he cheats at home, it's simple social economy." I don't even know if that made sense, but I don't care. "If I have to marry him to inherit the agency, then it's not mine to begin with."
Daphne rises to her feet, closing the distance between us in two strides. Her heels click against the floor like gunshots. My mom is quick to make another move again, stepping forward with her hand raised, but I hold her back. This one I want to handle myself.
"You think this is just about you getting married, huh?" Daphne jabs her finger in my direction, her voice dripping with false concern. "If you stay without a mate for too long, it'll drain you until you die, Odessa. Faster than ever."
"Then I'd rather die." The words come out flat, honest. I mean them.
The room goes quiet again. Even my grandfather stops breathing for a second.
"This is getting dragged out," he finally says, waving his hand like he's tired of the whole thing. "She's obviously reacting like every young person would. Take the day off, Odessa. Finish your thesis and give me a response on the day of the party."
He knows how valuable I am. We all do. The top plans and endorsements were all drafted by me. Every major deal from the past five years has my fingerprints on it. This agency would be nothing without my contribution and that of my parents, and he can't afford to lose me. Not really.
"And what if I don't change my mind?"
His eyes go cold. "It will be announced to the investors then."
I know what his plan is. Have Damien get on my good side before the party, a few flowers here and there, some grand gesture to beg for forgiveness. Maybe a speech in front of everyone about how he's changed. But I know where I would be. Out of reach. Far away from all of this.
I agree to my grandfather's condition, not because I plan to change my mind, but because I need time. Time to think. Time to plan. I immediately head to my room to pack a few things I'd need to head back to the dorms, my hands moving on autopilot as I grab clothes and shove them into a bag.
My mom stays back, still exchanging a few words with the rest of them. I hear Daphne's voice rise again, blurting something about me not being my grandfather's only grandchild. The implication hangs in the air like smoke.
I could only smile at the absurdity. I've seen Sarah more as a friend than a cousin, especially since her birth was broadly illegitimate and she was brought to the family's chateau at three. But now? Now I see her for what she really is.
It's already way too late to go back to campus, the sun has fully set and the streets aren't safe this time of night, so I decide to sleep over. I don't change out of Rowan's jersey, the fabric still smelling faintly of him, something woodsy and clean. I sit on my old desk and turn on the computer, waiting for the screen to flicker to life, using the password I could remember.
\[Can someone die and be reborn?\] I type frantically, my fingers shaking against the keyboard. Then I suck in a breath and delete it, trying again. \[No... reincarnated? Or go back in time?\]
What I get are blogs, kdramas, and Chinese novels. Nothing real. Nothing that explains how I'm sitting here in 2040 when I should be ash scattered across a parking garage.
I sigh and lay on my bed in defeat, sinking into the mattress like it might swallow me whole. This is my fate now. Whether or not this is a dream, whether or not I'm going insane, I've been given a second chance and I'll make sure they all pay. Every single one of them. I'll burn that agency to the ground if I have to. I'll watch it crumble and dance on the ashes.
Slowly, I drift into a deep sleep, the kind where you don't dream, where you just disappear for a while. I don't know how long I'm out, but eventually I feel soft pats on my head, fingers gently caressing me as I breathe. There's a familiar masculine perfume I pick up, distinct from Rowan's scent on my shirt. Something older, something that makes my chest ache before I even open my eyes.
"Good morning, baby," I hear his voice but I don't want to believe it. It's probably a dream, some cruel trick my mind is playing on me, but his touch is so real.
I sit up immediately, my body freezing when my eyes land on his bright smile. The same one he had before he left and never returned home. The same crinkles around his eyes, the same messy hair, the same laugh lines that I spent my whole childhood tracing with my fingers.
"D-Dad...?"