CHAPTER 118: USELESS LEGITIMATE HEIR

"You are lying. Do you think I would believe you? You’ve killed people, George... and you expect me to believe you’d keep your promise?" Daisy spat the words, though her voice trembled at the edges.

George chuckled, the sound low and mocking as he took a step closer. "Sweetie, I’m not asking you to believe me. Belief doesn’t matter. What matters is survival. And right now, making a deal with me is your best chance." His eyes flicked to her stomach, glinting with cruel satisfaction. "Because if you don’t... the chances of me forcing you to get rid of that baby go way up. You understand what I’m saying?"

Daisy’s jaw was stiff. Her lips trembled as she pulled the blanket tighter across her stomach, as if that alone could protect the life inside her. "Wha—what should I do?"

"Ah... that’s how it was supposed to be from the start..." He straightened, moving deliberately to perch on the edge of the bed. His smile was thin, sharp, like a blade pressing against her throat. "I just want to crush a bit of Theo’s heart..." His gaze pinned her down, suffocating. "And you will help me, won’t you?"

Her chest heaved with silent breaths, eyes burning. Every instinct screamed to fight him, to scream, to defy but the image of Theo bleeding, broken, because of her stubbornness clawed into her mind. And worse, the thought of her baby never even having the chance to exist.

Her fingers clenched in the sheets until her knuckles went white. "If I agree... you swear you won’t touch him? You won’t touch my baby?"

George’s grin widened, the predator finally tasting victory. "Now that’s the spirit. See? We understand each other."

"Promise me first!" she screamed, her voice raw with desperation.

George tilted his head, savoring the panic in her voice. "A promise?" he drawled, dragging the word out like it amused him. "Fine. I promise not to touch Theo... unless you make me."

Daisy’s chest heaved. "And the baby?"

He leaned closer, his smile turning razor sharp. "That depends entirely on you, sweetheart. Do what I say, and your precious little family stays intact. Defy me, even once..." His hand suddenly shot forward, gripping her chin hard enough to make her flinch. "and I’ll make sure you regret it every time you breathe."

Her eyes filled with tears, but she forced herself not to cry out, not to give him the satisfaction.

"Do you really love me?" Her question came out shaky and out of nowhere but she really wondered how love could make someone cross this many lines.

"Tchh..." George flicked his tongue, smirking like the words tasted bitter. "Actually, I really, really thought I loved you..." he began, voice low, almost thoughtful. Then his eyes narrowed, and his tone twisted. "but when I heard you were pregnant, it felt revolting. Like something that belonged to me was touched, dirtied, claimed by someone else. The thought of it makes me sick."

Daisy’s stomach knotted. The venom in his words made her chest tighten, but she kept her head up. "You’re insane," she whispered, though her voice cracked.

George chuckled darkly, bending closer until she could feel the heat of his breath. "So... after careful thinking, instead of claiming you... I guess crushing Theo to the core is not that bad. I really hate the gut of him, I don’t know why..." he shrugged his shoulders casually, as though the thought amused him.

Her pulse hammered in her ears. "Because he’s everything you’re not," she spat before she could stop herself.

"Everything I’m not?" His laugh was jagged, humorless. "Of course he is. Perfect little Theo... a golden boy, rightful heir, untouchable. Do you know what it’s like to walk into a room and already be less, simply because of the blood in your veins?" His eyes gleamed with a venomous pride. "Bastard son. That’s all I ever was. Until fate decided Daddy dearest couldn’t produce a proper heir. Then suddenly, I was legitimate. Convenient, isn’t it?"

He leaned in, voice dropping to a hiss. "And just when I thought things had turned, I got chained to comparisons. Because I stood next to him. Because I dared to call him a friend. Theo this. Theo that. Hell, even when he breathes, it’s enough to overshadow everything I do. Do you have any idea what that does to a man?"

Daisy held his gaze, nails biting into her palms, her voice steady despite the tremor in her chest. "It makes you weak."

His eyes darkened, grin spreading sharp and dangerous. "No. It makes me starve. And I won’t stop until I watch him choke on everything he’s ever been handed so easily. That’s the only way I’ll taste peace."

Daisy’s fists clenched. "Why drag Theo into this when he never even wronged you? If you’ve got issues, blame your father, not someone who’s clueless about your hatred."

George’s laugh was low, grating, almost hollow. "You think he’s innocent just because he walks around clueless? That’s the problem, Daisy. He doesn’t even have to fight for it. He breathes, and people hand him everything. Praise. Trust. Recognition. The things I bled for... he gets by simply existing."

"He gets by simply existing?" The words pierced through Daisy’s heart like a cruel joke.

She shook her head, her voice trembling, but steady with conviction.

"You don’t know him at all. Theo didn’t have it easy! He fought for every scrap of happiness he had. You think praise and trust just fell into his lap? He bled for it too, George. Maybe not in the way you did, but in ways you’ll never understand."

Her fists tightened at her sides, nails biting into her palms. "You look at him and see privilege. I look at him and see scars. The only difference is... he doesn’t use his pain as an excuse to destroy everyone around him."

George’s eyes flared, his jaw tightening until a vein pulsed at his temple. Her words struck deeper than she realized.

"Shut up!" he snarled, the sharpness of his voice echoing in the space. He lunged closer, his grin now gone, twisted into something feral. "Don’t you dare preach to me about scars. You think I don’t have them? You think your precious Theo knows what it’s like to claw your way out of nothing... only to have people still look past you like you’re invisible?"

He slammed his fist against the wall, the sound cracking through the air like a gunshot. His chest heaved, fury spilling out unchecked.

"No," he spat, eyes burning into hers. "Theo doesn’t bleed for what he has. He doesn’t suffer like I do. And if the world won’t make him pay, then I will."