Chapter 32 The Deal With Lara
Serena
The hallway spun. I pressed my palm flat to the wall to keep from sliding down it.
Inside the room, someone exhaled. A long, shaky sound.
When Sin spoke again, his voice was quiet.
“I didn’t kill them because I wanted to.” Each word sounded dragged from somewhere deep and dark.
“I killed them because I couldn’t stop. The worst mistake of my life. I never understood it, the need to see her lose control, to break under me…..”
A chair scraped back, hard, the sound grated my teeth.
Mrs. Rivers’ voice was shaking now, it was barely controlled.
“That’s why you’re never seen in public. That’s why the family buried you. That’s why we pay therapists obscene amounts to keep you medicated and monitored.”
“He’s not going back on the meds. Not after what they did to him last time.” Saint sounded hurt, like he was the one who’d been dragged through hell, not Sin.
I pressed my ear closer to the doorjamb, my heart slamming so hard I could feel it in my fingertips.
What the hell had “they” done to him?
Mrs. Rivers spoke next. “You will go back on the meds full-time, Sin, or you can drop the Rivers name and move out.”
Sin’s laugh was a short, bitter, jagged sound.
“I keep Riverdale Corps running in the background. I’m the force behind it, shielding us from the dark forces. You can’t let me go that easily.”
Mr. Rivers broke into derisive laughter. The sound made the hairs on my arms stand up.
I’d never heard the man laugh before. It sounded wrong. Disturbing.
Like something mechanical trying to imitate joy.
“You think you’re not replaceable?” he sneered. “You think you’re this unmovable pillar in the family? Go off the meds so I can show you a few tricks, clown.”
“Honey,” Mrs. Rivers cut in quickly, “you know those words trigger him.”
“I don’t care.” Mr. Rivers’ voice hardened again, like cold steel.
“And hey, listen up, boy. The arrangement with Lara is still ongoing. I want her sitting next to you on the high table at my birthday party. I want her face pressed against yours in all the magazines. It is not up for debate.”
The room went quiet again. I could almost hear Sin breathing, slow, ragged, like he was trying not to explode.
“You want me to parade her around like a trophy while I’m dying inside because the only woman I can stand to touch is the one I can't have?”
“Sin—” Mrs Rivers started to say.
“No.” He cut her off. “I'm done with this conversation.”
When I heard the footsteps, I bolted. The door creaked open wider and I knew it was too late now.
“I knew you were listening.” It was Lara, not Sin.
I had no idea she'd been inside to start with.
I spun, no longer afraid that I'd been caught eavesdropping.
“Sin has shown you one percent of his true colours, hasn't he?” She laughed.
She looked utterly beautiful today in her peach coat and coffee brown skirt which hugged her figure.
“I knew all of his colours before he showed them.” I said smartly.
She came closer, unbothered that others in the meeting might be listening. The smile on her face tightened.
“Let's make a deal.” Her voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper, unbothered that the family meeting was still happening ten feet behind her.
“Tell Sin to never look at you. Never speak to you. Never touch you again.”
She lifted her phone, waving the custom rose-gold case, the screen already glowing with a recording app timer frozen at 17:42.
“Or the whole world hears the whole conversation.”
The hallway suddenly felt colder.
One tap and it would be everywhere. On X, TikTok, Instagram, tabloids, the Rivers boardroom, every single gossip site on and off the net.
She came closer and leaned in, her breath warm against my cheek.
“You think you’re special to him?” she whispered. “You’re just the latest shiny toy. He’ll break you like he broke the others. And when he does?”
“Nothing will happen. I'm not the weak girl you think I am.” I said before she could finish.
Her smile sharpened. “Maybe because I haven't told you yet that I know it was Sin behind the mask. They both share you, I know. It's very obvious from the way they both look at you like you're the only thing worth breaking for.”
She snorted, pinching her nose.
“But I'm not worried,” she added, “It's me who will become Mrs Rivers soon.”
I took a startled step back, then another.
“Deal or no deal?” She asked, smiling triumphantly, because she knew she had me under a chokehold.
I wasn’t going to do it because I was terrified of her.
I was going to do it because I didn’t want to be the reason the family fell apart.
If that recording went public, Sin’s voice admitting he’d killed two girls, the family’s cover-up, the hidden heir, the “complicated childhood”.....
It wouldn’t just be a scandal. It would be jail.
For Sin.
For the whole empire if the authorities dug deep enough.
I would never forgive myself if that happened.
“Deal,” I ground out. The word tasted like bile on my tongue.
Lara’s smile widened. It was bright, victorious, and beautiful in the cruelest way. If I punched her right now, would it be termed ‘uncalled for?’
“I always knew we’d make good deal-breakers.”
She patted my cheek once condescendingly, then turned on her heel.
“Bye, for now,” she called over her shoulder.
I hated myself as I went back up to my room. The tea was already waiting for me, but I'd lost the appetite for it.
How could I possibly be drinking tea with this dark truth hovering over me?
Those girls had plans. They had dreams.
Was this why Mrs Hale wouldn't stop warning me?
She knew? Of course she knew.
But I was falling for the twins. They made me feel alive which was crazy, because Sin had nearly sent me over.
Now that I knew the truth, there was still one thing left. What were Sin's triggers? He'd gone abroad to study, was there something he'd experienced over there that broke something inside him?
I'd made the deal with Lara, and there was no going back.
The only way to save the Rivers family from Lara's wicked threats: staying away from Sin, and that also meant staying away from Saint.