Chapter 170: Chapter 170: A deal with Sophia

Chapter 170 – A deal with Sophia

"Why?" Sophia asked in a toneless voice, her black eyes like empty voids as they settled on the man in front of her. "Why are you accepting this foolish idea, Cole?"

They were inside Cole’s office, painted in black and purple, with musical note insignia covering the walls.

To the left of the room stood a decorative construct depicting a bamboo forest beneath a snow-capped mountain.

The two sat on the floor atop a mat, a small tea table between them.

"Sophia," Cole said, his purple eyes the same shade as both his daughters’ "why don’t you have some tea?"

He wore a black robe, his long black hair tied into a ponytail. His face was handsome, yet something cold lived underneath it.

"I am not here to drink tea, Cole. I want to know what you are doing. Do you realise the risk we are taking by even entertaining this?" Sophia’s voice carried open outrage. "Can you not see this was an opportunity to demonstrate our loyalty to the Desdemona by bringing this to their attention ourselves? Think about the benefits we would gain from that."

"We will gain far more by killing all their children except that boy." Cole replied. "In that case, they would have no choice but to depend on your daughter to preserve their bloodline. And no family with blood that deep would allow it to wither."

"You are not seeing the full picture." She shook her head with visible disappointment. "This is choosing to burden ourselves with something entirely unnecessary. You know that secrets rarely stay buried in this world forever. And if the Desdemona decide to find whoever is responsible for the deaths of their children — and you know full well they will — there is no chance we would not be found out. They have the Hood behind them, for gods’ sake. Cole, stop fixating on the immediate benefit. It is not worth it."

"Since when did you become so frightened of them?" His lips twisted into a cold sneer. "What? Did meeting that bloody woman rattle you this much?"

"And since when did you become such a fool?"

"Your concerns are needless. The Desdemona may try to trace the culprit, but we have the Stormblessed. Do not forget that my daughter Anesthesia is close to Emrys. They would protect us."

Sophia laughed harshly. "You think the Stormblessed are sufficient against the Desdemona and the Hood?"

Cole smiled strangely, his expression so insufferably smug it required genuine self-control not to act on the temptation it provoked.

"You are underestimating the Stormblessed." He said at last, taking a measured sip of his tea. "They are far more than you can imagine. And besides, the Kanam deserve this justice."

"Ah! Now you care about justice?"

"Imagine if it had happened to us. What would you say and do then?"

"I will not imagine it, Cole. It did not happen to us, so I have no interest in it." Sophia’s voice was flat. "What I care about is that you are trying to destroy everything I have built."

Cole paused, eyes settling on Sophia, his sharp brows furrowing. "You?"

"Did I stutter?"

"Hahah." He burst into mirthless laughter, his humourless eyes landing on Sophia’s stony face. "So now you are taking all the credit for this house?"

"I am not taking any credit, Cole. This house is what it is entirely because of me." She retorted. "And if you disagree, tell me, what exactly have you done for it?"

Cole slammed the teacup onto the table hard enough to make it shudder. He leaned forward, his face cold and close to hers.

"What have I done?" He echoed, then pulled his lips into a condescending grin. "I fucked you and got you pregnant. Not once. Not twice either. And Anesthesia, the one you are pinning all your ambitions on, was born from my sperm I poured into you. And your useless other daughter you threw into this farce of a marriage was also, unfortunately, from me."

He paused, looking at Sophia.

Her face did not shift for a single second. She was like a beautiful sculpture carved from indifference.

Yet Cole knew his wife better than anyone. And in those void-like eyes he could see a mountain of prideful fury, held down by enormous force.

He smiled again, satisfied.

"Are you satisfied now? Or would you like me to remind you of the specifics of how I did it?"

"Rather than speaking of something you were never able to last long enough," Sophia smiled coldly, "tell me instead, your opinion will not change, I take it?"

"It will not." He replied, settling back comfortably. "And I dare you to do anything about it. We live in Storm City, Sophia. The master here is the Stormblessed. Go and support their rival, and watch what they do to us. Now go and continue being the hardworking woman you have always been, and find a way to eliminate those children without anyone being the wiser."

Cole paused, tilting his head. "Understood?"

Sophia said nothing. She only looked at her husband and understood, with quiet certainty, that she could do nothing about this.

Not with her own husband working against her. If the Stormblessed ever came to their door, he would not hesitate to place the blame entirely on her.

That was something Sophia would not and could not accept.

And yet the idea of moving against the Desdemona was wrong on so many levels that it was a shocking thing to see Cole agreeing to it at all.

What was his actual goal?

She could never tell with him. She had never been able to. He seemed to want everything and nothing at once and yet never doing anything for the family, leaving her to carry it all alone.

Her black eyes deepened. She opened her mouth to respond...

KNOCK. KNOCK.

...and closed it almost immediately.

"I apologise for the disturbance, Lord Cole, Lady Sophia." Leo’s voice came from behind the door. "But Miss Isolde wishes to speak with her mother urgently regarding a matter concerning her marriage. She says she wants an official wedding."

Leo delivered all of it at once and went silent.

Cole’s face twisted with disgust, as though the mere name of Isolde was both physically and mentally revolting to him.

"Your daughter is calling for you." He said, waving his hand dismissively. "Go, Sophia. I have no further interest in discussing this with you. My decision is made, and it is my decision that will be acted upon. Now go."

Sophia said nothing again. She simply stood and walked out of the room, her thoughts entirely unreadable.

Cole watched her disappear, cold purple eyes following her until she was gone.

’Tsk.’

...

"Five seconds." Sophia said immediately as she sat across from the waiting Isolde, her face taut with barely-contained anger. "You have five seconds to explain this ridiculous idea of an official wedding."

"First, hello, mother." Isolde replied with a calm smile.

Sophia’s eyes narrowed almost instantly at her daughter’s unusual composure.

"And as for the official wedding, it is not a ridiculous idea at all. However, that is not why I called for you, mother. I have a deal."

"A deal?" Sophia echoed, her tone shifting to something more incredulous.

Since when did Isolde dare propose deals to her?

"Yes. A deal." Isolde nodded. "Without asking any questions, I want you to follow my instructions once, mother. Just once. And in return, I will show you something that will make you hate someone even more than you hate me, your own daughter."

"Now that is interesting." Sophia said in a thoroughly unamused tone. "What exactly gives you this much courage, Isolde? And do you honestly think I will accept such a ridiculous deal?"

"You will, mother."

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Because if you do not," Isolde smiled widely, "I will destroy my relationship with Cassius after confessing everything you made me do to secure his love."

Sophia’s black essence instantly erupted.

Her eyes became pools of void, her killing intent so overwhelming the room darkened, plunged into a world stripped of all sensation.

Isolde coughed, her back curling forward, blood spilling from her lips from the sheer impact of her mother’s essence alone.

"Are you... threatening me, wretch?"

Sophia’s voice came out like something clawing its way up from the depths of hell.

Isolde laughed weakly and lifted her head to look at her mother standing over her.

"Go ahead, mother." She grinned, teeth stained with blood. "Don’t be shy. Kill me. Kill your own daughter. But know one thing..."

Her eyes blazed with everything she had kept sealed inside herself for far too long.

"...I already told Cassius I was coming to see you. And I have sent someone to his home who will tell him everything I have endured inside this house. He will do so in thirty minutes. So, what are you waiting for? Kill me."

Sophia’s lips pressed into a thin, hard line. "Playing clever now, you little bitch?"

"And you are my mother." Isolde spat back. "What does that make you?"

Sophia’s eyes flashed.

"Isolde Amaris, you are making me loathe my own blood."

"Welcome to the club."

—End of Chapter 170—