Chapter 3
I hid my face in Mom's embrace while she gently patted my back to comfort me.
"Katherine, you lunatic, I'm going to kill you." Dad's eyes were wild and bloodshot as he thrashed against his restraints.
Mom ignored his shouting, picked up her dagger, and walked over to Susan.
"I think I heard you call my Scarlett a bastard," Mom said.
Susan, delirious with pain, could only shake her head desperately.
With a swift flick of her wrist, Mom slashed the dagger twice, once to each side of Susan's face.
Two long gashes split open on her cheeks, and blood gushed out uncontrollably.
Then, still toying with the dagger in her hand, Mom slowly moved it toward Susan's pregnant belly.
Dad could only watch in horror, yelling frantically.
"Enough, Katherine. What the hell do you want?" he shouted.
Mom finally fixed her gaze on Dad.
She scoffed, "What else? She tried to get rid of my daughter, so now I'll make her lose her son. Isn't that only fair?"
"No, Katherine, please, I'm begging you. Spare her, spare the baby," he pleaded.
"Begging me?" Mom gave a soft, mocking laugh. "Raylan, is this your way of begging?"
Dad's face burned red, then turned deathly pale. He slumped forward, elbows on his knees, his face buried in his hands.
He begged, "I promise you, we'll get divorced. I'm begging you, just don't hurt her or the baby."
"Divorce? Now you want that? It's way too late.
"Honestly, I think making her a widow is a much more direct solution," Mom replied coldly.
Dad's head shot up, his eyes wide with disbelief at Mom.
"You're insane," he yelled.
She shot back, "That's right, I'm insane. The moment you tried to hurt Scarlett, I lost it."
Dad glared at Mom, his voice low and menacing as he spoke through clenched teeth. "Katherine, don't push me. So what if you've got the Sinclair family backing you?
"I've got three armories at my command, enough to blow the whole Delta sky-high. Even the Sinclair family wouldn't walk away unscathed."
Everyone in the room stiffened, a chill running down their spines.
But Mom just gave a cold, dismissive smirk, pulled out her phone, and made a call.
"By nightfall, those three armories owned by Raylan will either be mine or gone for good," my mom ordered.
On the other end, a voice answered respectfully.
"It's all set, Miss Sinclair. Just like you ordered," a man replied.
Mom hung up.
Dad had already been stripped of his gun and dagger, completely defenseless.
"Katherine, my armories are locked down tight, with armed guards everywhere.
"Who do you think you are? You really think you can just make a call and take them from me?
"I've got thousands of men protecting those places. Even if you bring the whole Sinclair family, you'll just get your ass handed to you," Dad replied.
Mom sneered, pulled out her phone, and slapped it down on the stone table.
On the screen, bright red numbers started counting down.
Dad's face changed. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Mom took a slow drag from her cigarette, letting out a lazy smoke ring.
"I've changed my mind. You get ten minutes. Get ready to kiss your armories goodbye.
"Your time runs out at sundown," she said.
Dad's veins popped on his forehead as he stared Mom down, looking like he was ready to tear her apart.
The countdown on the phone kept ticking.
Susan clutched her shattered arm, screaming in pain.
"Raylan, she's out of her mind. Just hand over the armories already.
"Our son is destined to become the King of the Delta. We can't afford to lose him," she shouted.
Dad's breathing grew heavier. "Katherine, what the hell do you want from me?
"If that's what it takes, fine, we'll get divorced. I'll walk away with nothing. Everything's yours. Why do you have to be so ruthless? Why won't you stop until there's nothing left?"
My mom let out a cold laugh. "I gave you a chance, but you threw it away yourself.
"Raylan, have you forgotten what I warned you?
"If anyone lays a finger on what's mine, I'll kill them myself.
"If anyone so much as hurts my daughter, I'll wipe out their entire family," she shot back.
Raylan's whole body started shaking. He finally snapped, yanked out his phone, and punched in a number with trembling hands.
"What's going on at Armory One?" my dad demanded.
The line was dead silent for a heartbeat, then a thunderous blast erupted on the other end, rattling my eardrums.
Then came a barrage of screams and gunfire, chaos exploding through the speaker.