Chapter 38 Not Your Daugther
Kira’s POV
The massive doors swung open and the guards didn’t even have time to announce us.
I stepped through first, chin high, shoulders back, feeling Adrian’s heat right behind me like a shadow that could swallow the whole room if I let it.
Then my eyes landed on them.
Every single one of them.
The snakes that claim to be Arabella’s family.
I couldn’t tell them apart from the monsters who murdered me to take over my mother’s fortune. Same fake smiles, same greedy eyes, same stench of lies. My stomach twisted, but I forced air into my lungs and let it out slowly.
I have almost died twice already.
Once in my old body. Once in this one.
Arabella let me have this body fully with one single promise…revenge.
And I plan to collect it in full so I can live guilt free.
When I collapsed yesterday, I didn’t just black out. I fell straight into a meadow that smelled like summer and honey. Flowers everywhere, white and purple and gold, swaying even though there was no wind.
And there she was. Arabella. Sitting in the grass in a simple white dress, hair loose, looking… peaceful. Actually peaceful. Not the broken girl I’d expected.
She smiled at me like we were old friends.
“I’m done, Kira,” she said, voice soft. “I’m tired. I served my purpose well. I kept this body alive long enough for you to take it. Now I want to go.”
She knows my name? Does that mean a part of her had been present this whole time?
I tried to ask her what she meant, but she shook her head.
“I only have one request… Punish them for me. All of them. They smile pretty, but they’re rotten inside. Don’t let their tears fool you. They are the worst of them all…monsters wearing people’s faces.”
I asked a thousand questions… ‘How do I act so people don’t discover I’m a fake, what do I say, who do I trust? How do I blend in when I don’t know the first thing about your world?
She laughed, gently and said, “It’s your life now. Your body. No manual. Live it however you damn well please. You’ll figure the rest out. Just punish them for me.”
So that’s exactly what I’m doing.
I walked straight to the head table like I owned the place and let Adrian pull out the chair for me. I sat. Every single person in that hall stared like they’d seen a corpse climb out of the grave and ask for wine.
Good. I like that they are disappointed.
My gaze caught Adrian’s cousin’s, he smirked, an awkward little twist of his mouth that reminded me of a croaking toad.
They were all in on it. They all murdered Arabella.
Adrian cleared his throat, his voice cutting through the room. “Ariston…” He gestured to an older man with Abby’s eyes, the same eyes now staring out of my face. “You all demanded to see my mate. To see your daughter. So here she is… Princess Kira Draven.”
I felt that name slide down my spine like ice and fire at the same time. Good thing he thinks it’s just a name I fancied. He has no idea I’m a completely different woman living in his dead bride’s skin.
I remembered walking in on him choking his mistress earlier and my fist tightened under the table. So that’s his style…knock women up, then try to strangle them when they get clingy?
They’re all on Abby’s list. Every single soul in this room. Except one.
And I’m going to make them choke on what they did to her.
Gasps filled the hall. Chairs scraped as people shifted on their seats. Someone actually dropped their glass.
Adrian sat beside me and immediately slid his big hand onto my thigh under the table. Heat shot straight between my legs. I wanted to chop the hand off. He saved me, yes, but he also stood by while they crushed Arabella’s soul piece by piece. He’s on the list too.
He will pay. They will all pay.
I flicked his fingers away with a scowl on my face.
Two seconds later he dragged my entire chair closer until our thighs touched and dropped that same hand again, this time dangerously high. His lips brushed my ear.
“Flick me off again and I’ll shove my fingers so deep inside you you’ll scream for the whole table to hear.”
I bit my lip hard enough to taste blood. Your turn is coming and it will be slow and painful, big guy.
Ariston shot to his feet, face purple. “Your majesty, why are you calling Arabella by another name? Did you replace my daughter with some lookalike to cover up that she died under your roof? Is that what this is about? I demand to know!”
I turned lazy eyes on him. “Sit down, Daddy. You’re causing a scene.”
He spluttered.
Before he could explode, a woman…blonde, tears already shining…came running. She collapsed at my feet, arms around my waist, sobbing loud enough for the kitchens to hear.
“My baby! My princess! I thought we lost you forever. Can you ever forgive me for being such a bad mother to you?”
Oh she was the mother? I stared down at her for three full seconds.
Then I started laughing.
Not a cute giggle. A full, throw-my-head-back, tears-streaming-down-my-face cackle.
The entire hall went dead silent, watching me like I had lost my mind.
The woman straightened, confused, mascara already running. “Arabella?”
I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. “Mrs Selene Ravaryn…right?” I said, voice sugary enough to rot teeth. I stood so we were eye to eye now.
Adrian stood behind me like a wall of muscle ready to murder anyone who blinked wrong. Like that would get him off the list.
Arabella told me everything about her…how deeply she despises the woman.
Everyone thinks her father is the tyrant of the Northern kingdom, but the real monster is her mother, Queen Selene.
He’s nothing more than her puppet, dancing to every vicious command she whispers behind closed doors.
She hated Arabella from the moment she was born, simply because people dared to compare their beauty, even when Arabella was still a child.
Driven by jealousy, she made her own daughter endure things she wouldn’t have dared inflict on her servants, turning the entire family against her.
“You want me to believe that you, Selene, were worried about my wellbeing?” I asked loud enough for the people outside the door to hear.
Ariston jumped up again. “You will not speak to my queen—”
Adrian’s growl rattled the chandeliers. “And you will not speak to THE queen like that. Sit.”
Ariston’s ass hit the chair so fast the legs scraped the floor.
I leaned in so only Selene could hear me. “I’m going to make you pay, Mother. In the most humiliating way possible. And look how gorgeous I am now, huh? Does my beauty still make you choke on air?”
Her eyes flashed pure hate, but she managed to keep the mask in place.
I smiled, lifted my hand like I was fixing my hair, and whipped the little bread knife I’d palmed off the table, and slashed a perfect line across her perfect cheek.
Blood sprayed. She screamed. Some guy I didn’t even notice rushed forward yelling “Mother!” and helped her back to her seat while throwing me a death glare.
I pouted, big innocent eyes. “Oh nooo, did I hurt you, mommy?”
Selene clutched her face, sobbing loud, dramatic. “Why would you do this to me? I’m your mother!”
The cut was already closing…they all heal anyway, but a thin pink scar stayed behind. Permanent enough to ruin her symmetry for the rest of her life.
I grinned. “Oh dear mother, don’t worry it’s not that deep. Besides, It’ll only scar a little. But you’ll heal…mostly.”
King Ariston opened his mouth to say something, but Adrian cut him off with a huff. “Ladies and gentlemen, don’t you all agree with me that the reunion can happen later? Can we just eat now? I’m starving.”
I settled back in my chair like nothing happened. Then, I turned to the eyes that had been staring at me since I got in without speaking a word. It must be him. The only family Arabella ever knew.
Adrian clapped three times and servants rushed in with the food.
However, Ariston wasn’t done. He slammed both fists on the table. “That is NOT my daughter! Arabella would never act so unruly!”
“Wow. So that’s all it takes? I stand up for myself once and suddenly I’m not your daughter?” I said, voice smooth and mocking.
The hall went dead quiet. Because they all knew.
Queen Selene, holding a napkin to the fresh scar marring her cheek, snarled at the only one who still hadn’t uttered a word, the man who hadn’t stopped staring since I stepped inside…and gave him a harsh nudge.
“Go on, Ronan. Check. You know Arabella better than anyone. Don’t disappoint us this time.”
Prince Ronan…tall, quiet, sad green eyes…stood slowly. He walked toward me like he was approaching a bomb.
I stood too.
The second he was close enough I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him tight. He stiffened, then his arms came around me careful at first like he was testing the waters, then more gently.
“You’re not my sister,” he whispered against my ear, so low only I could hear.
“She wanted me to give you one last hug with her body,” I whispered back.
He jerked away like I’d burned him. His eyes were wet like he wanted to fall to the floor and wail.
Their mother snapped, “Say something, Ronan! Is she our princess?”
He looked at his parents, then back at me.
His voice came out clear, steady, and loud enough for every soul in the hall to hear.
“No,” he said. “She’s not our princess.”
The silence that followed could have crushed stone.