---- Chapter 21 Jeremy Glass POV: The first lash was for the lies. The whip cracked through the stale cellar air, leaving a bright red welt on Joselin' s back. She screamed, a raw, piercing sound of agony. The second lash was for the betrayal. Another scream tore from her throat as the leather bit into her skin The third was for the locket. The fourth for the dog. The fifth for the fake charm. With each lash, | pictured a new cruelty, a new pain she had inflicted on Haylie. | was an instrument of vengeance, every ounce of my rage, my guilt, my self-loathing channeled into the whip in my hand. Her screams became weaker, devolving into pathetic, whimpering sobs. Her back was a bloody, mangled mess. | felt nothing. No pity, no remorse. Just a cold, empty satisfaction. This was nothing. This was a fraction of the pain Haylie had endured. Finally, | threw the whip aside. My arm ached, my knuckles were white. "Now for my father," | said, my voice a low rasp. ---- The guards dragged my father into the cellar. He was defiant, his eyes blazing with fury. "You' ve lost your mind, Jeremy. This is no way to treat family." "You are not my family," | snarled. | nodded to the guards. They forced him to watch as they replayed the video of his deal with Joselin, his cold, calculating voice filling the small space. He paled, but his arrogance remained. "It was a business decision. A necessary one." | laughed, a harsh, humorless sound. "You destroyed my life. You destroyed the only good thing | ever had. And you call it business?" | picked up the phone and dialed a number. "It's me," | said. "Leak it all. The financial fraud, the offshore accounts, the political bribes. Everything. Burn the Glass empire to the ground." My father' s face went from arrogant to ashen. "You wouldn' t dare," he whispered. "| already have," | said, hanging up the phone. "Welcome to the consequences, Father." | turned to leave, my work here done. The empire was in ashes. My enemies were broken. But it was a hollow victory. It wouldn't bring Haylie back. As | reached the top of the cellar stairs, a sudden, deafening ---- roar shook the building. | spun around. Flames, bright and orange, were licking up the wooden stairs. From the bottom of the cellar, | heard a sound that chilled me to the bone. Joselin, laughing. A wild, unhinged cackle. She had managed to get a hand free and had knocked over a lantern into a puddle of spilled gasoline. "If | can' t have you, no one can!" she shrieked, her voice echoing in the growing inferno. "We' Il all die together!" The flames surged, cutting off my escape. The heat was intense, the smoke thick and choking. For a moment, panic seized me. Then, a strange calm settled over me. | looked at the fire, at the two people who had helped me destroy my own life. And | smiled. Maybe she was right. "Alright," | whispered to the flames. "Let's end this." The fire consumed everything.