“Yeah, she just said exactly what you all were thinking! You think my parents deserved to die, don’t you? To you, their deaths paved the way for my success, made me who I am now. Maybe you even see it as a worthwhile sacrifice. Heck, if you could turn back time, you’d probably kill them all over again without a second thought, wouldn’t you?”
Kayden Scott’s eyes glimmered with a mocking light, his tone dripping with sarcasm. He wasn’t shouting, but his words cut deep, slicing right into Jason Scott’s chest like a cold, ruthless blade.
Then Kayden turned his glare back to Jason and said, “No need to get all worked up, old man. She’s just saying out loud what you’ve always thought, right? Honest, isn’t she? You shouldn’t have hit her for that.”
Locking his gaze onto Jason’s eyes, Kayden’s stare was unrelenting, drilling into him, daring him to look away. And Jason did – he looked anywhere but into Kayden’s unforgiving eyes.
Kayden kept going. “Some people mess up and get away with a slap on the wrist, a few angry words. But others? Others make one mistake and pay with their lives. And after they’re dead, they still get blamed for betraying the family. So tell me, Jason Scott, what exactly is the Scott family doing here? Trying to drag my parents’ names through the mud forever?”
He shook his head, a bitter laugh escaping. He’d thought maybe, just maybe, Jason would have some guilt over what happened to his own son. But it turned out he’d been fooling himself all these years.
“And Jason Scott,” he continued, “let me get this straight – what your sweet daughter-in-law said, did she mean that I should actually thank you all? Thank you for killing my parents, for locking me away in that dark hellhole for two thousand days and nights? I wouldn’t be who I am now without you, right?”
His lips curled into a self-deprecating smile, one that sent ripples of shock through everyone around him.
Taking a steadying breath, he went on, “If I hadn’t risen to where I am now, you would’ve forgotten all about what you did fifteen years ago. Not one shred of regret in that stone heart of yours, is there?”
Jason Scott stayed silent, as did the entire Scott family, each of them just staring at Kayden, frozen in place.
“Well?” Kayden roared, his voice tearing through the silence, making Jason flinch.
Watching Jason’s stunned face, Kayden’s lips twisted into a sneer. “You called me back to inherit this so-called family legacy, but the truth is you’re only after the power I hold! You’re hoping to use me to solidify your place as the top family. Jason Scott, you’re all wasting your time here! Because the Scott family is about to vanish from this world.”
Cold. Ice-cold.
His words hit like bullets, sharp and lethal, as if he could just speak their end into existence.
The Scott family was no ordinary group, holding all the strings to the city’s economy, a family that seemed untouchable, yet here was someone standing up and declaring its downfall.
Before today, no one would have thought it possible. Now? They weren’t so sure.
Ann Scott, frowning, piped up, “Kayden, what are you saying? How can you talk to Grandpa like that? Actually-”
“Shut up!” Kayden snapped, his bloodshot eyes locking onto her, and the fear that gripped her was enough to make her tremble. She didn’t know what horrors Kayden had been through, but seeing those terrifying eyes, she felt a chill.
“Jason Scott, you need your granddaughter to talk for you now?” Kayden shot him a look of disdain.
Suddenly, Jason found his voice, saying, “No! Kayden, I was wrong, and I’m here to apologize. I never thought your parents deserved to die, never thought it was right. Your father was my son too, my best son. You think watching him die didn’t break me? Even animals won’t turn on their own kin. You think I’m worse than a beast?”
Kayden clenched his teeth. “Oh, I know it. You’re worse than any animal. I saw with my own eyes how you pushed them to their deaths – or are you gonna deny that?”
Jason shook his head, his body seeming to age ten years in an instant. Trembling, he replied, “For years, I’ve been drowning in regret. But back then, I had no choice. If I hadn’t done what I did, the Scott family would’ve crumbled. Kayden, you have to believe me, I had my reasons.”
“Reasons? Your ‘reasons’ let you watch your son die and lock your grandson in a living nightmare? That’s what you call a reason?” Kayden’s fury was boiling over now, his anger a roaring flame.
Jason kept shaking his head. “I know you hate me, but one day you’ll understand why I did it. This time, I called you back not to latch onto your power. I wanted to give you what’s rightfully yours. The Scott family is yours, always has been! Only by handing it over to you can I die in peace, can I face the ancestors of the Scott family!”
“Peace?” Kayden laughed coldly, clenching his teeth. “Drop the act. You think you can face the Scott family ancestors? No way. I want you to watch as I burn the Scott family to the ground. I want you to watch it all fall apart.”
“No!” Jason’s voice rose as he straightened his back. “You won’t destroy your own family! You’ll never do it because you’re a Scott. The blood of this family runs through your veins! A Scott doesn’t destroy his own family.”
“Family?” Kayden spat the word out, his voice as cold as ice. “I lost my family fifteen years ago. Jason Scott, what makes you think you can call this place my home?”
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done to me? The scars you’ve left? You destroyed everything I had! Now you’re tossing out a lame apology, trying to cover up fifteen years of hell?”
“Not a chance,” Kayden said, his voice firm. “Fifteen years ago, you took my parents from me, ruined my childhood, stripped me of my freedom, broke me. You turned me into this. There’s no way I’m forgiving you. You see my power, my success, but you have no clue how much I suffered to get here. From the moment my parents died by your hand, I severed all ties with the Scott family. I want nothing to do with you. If there’s any bond left between us, it’s pure hatred. Right now, all I want is revenge.”
With those words, Kayden’s rage erupted. He took a step forward, his foot slamming down.
Boom!
With just one step, he shattered the ground beneath him, spiderweb-like cracks spreading outwards. Behind him, the Lincoln trembled from the force, nearly tipping over.
The entire Scott estate shuddered as if struck by an earthquake, and in the skies above, something fierce and thunderous began to brew.