Chapter 11
I looked toward the door and saw Hektor standing there. Kira tried to prevent me from approaching him, but I had too much to say. Finally, she sighed and retreated inside, leaving us alone.
When Hektor saw I was willing to talk, his bloodshot eyes lit up with pathetic hope. “Yunifer, you saw everything online, right?” His voice held the desperate edge I’d come to recognize. “Does this mean we can work things out?”
I couldn't contain myself. My hand flew up, slapping his face; the sound echoed down the hallway. He stared at me in stunned disbelief, his cheek reddening.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” he stammered. “I had Laria kidnapped—made that bitch suffer for everything she did to you. What more do you want?”
“You think that makes us even?” I spat back. “My parents treated you like their own son. Did you feel even a flicker of remorse while you were destroying my life?”
Hektor’s face crumpled. He dropped to his knees on my doorstep, his voice breaking. “Please, Yunifer,” he choked out. “I was completely blind. I didn’t understand my own feelings. It’s always been you—from the very first time I saw you sitting at your father’s piano. I’ve been in love with you all along. I’ll do anything—literally anything—if you’ll just give me one more chance.”
He fumbled for his phone, pulling up documents with shaking hands. “I’ve transferred everything into your name. All my personal assets. The company shares. Everything. You own me now.”
He rose, arms reaching for me. I stepped back, my voice ice-cold. “You may be shameless, Hektor, but I can’t. Every time I look at your face, I want to tear it off with my bare hands. Someone as selfish as you doesn’t deserve to exist in this world.”
Hektor clutched his head in anguish. As he opened his mouth to speak, blood trickled from the corner of his lips. I froze, watching in horror as Laria emerged from the shadows, her face twisted in a grotesque smile. In her hand gleamed a bloody knife.
“You worthless piece of shit,” she seethed at Hektor. “You’d destroy everything we built just to clear the runway for this talentless nobody?”
Hektor collapsed, blood seeping through his crisp white shirt. “Laria, we were wrong,” he gasped. “Your career, your fame—it was all stolen from… Yunifer.”
“LIAR?” she snarled. “Everything I have is mine! I’m so talented, why was everyone always fawning over Yunifer? As long as she’s breathing, I’ll always be second best! I’m Laria fucking Reed! The spotlight belongs to ME!”
Her laughter sounded unhinged—high-pitched and jagged. She suddenly went completely still, her head turning toward me with mechanical precision, her smile morphing into something feral. As she lunged, Hektor somehow found the strength to stagger to his feet. With every ounce of his remaining energy, he intercepted the blade arcing toward my chest, catching it with his bare hand.
Blood poured between his fingers, but he didn’t flinch as he wrenched the knife from her grip. Laria retreated in fear, turning to run, but Hektor caught her arm in an iron grip. “Please, Hektor,” she whimpered, instantly reverting to her vulnerable act. “I’m sorry! I won’t do it again. Please let me go!”