“Well hey there, little mouse.”

I stepped back into the comfort of my own home, finally free from a weekend with Tallulah. It was kind of nice to just step inside through the parlor door without having to worry about a slave running out of the house, but I did wish that Tallie would have had the helicopter land anywhere except for my front lawn, but it was whatever.

It had been a long weekend, and it was already late into Monday evening, after having been kept late by my manager.

“Did you get your house call while I was gone?”

“From Rebecca and her psychopath assistant, you mean?” Aria scoffed. “Yeah, I have an IUD now.”

“Oh come on, Anthony’s not that bad.”

“She didn’t bring Anthony… she brought crazy Jane with her.”

“She brought Jane Colton into my house?” I snarled, glaring down at Aria in disapproval. “And you just let her?”

“How in the world was I supposed to stop her?”

Oh Aria, always running that stupid little mouth of hers. That wasn’t going to slide, not here. As soon as she was on her feet to protest, she was met with a backhand to the face. “No arguing… not with me.”

“Yes, Ma’am… I’m sorry.” Aria had learned just a little bit about what I liked, and I still couldn’t be sure that she wanted to give it to me. But I also couldn’t be sure that I even wanted it from her.

“What’s on your mind, hon?”

She rubbed her cheek, slightly sore from being slapped in the face. "Well, I couldn't stop the doctors and the nurse from coming in, but I hope you don't mind that I did invite some friends over?"

"You invited your friends over to my house while I was gone?" I sighed, not a fan of unexpected guests in most capacities. "Who were they?"

"Our friends, Candace. They're our friends, not just mine. I didn't know you were going to be late, I thought you'd be here by now."

"So you got bored and invited people to hang out with? Who did you invite, Leah?"

"Leah's waiting in the car for us, I think. But also…" She smirked, trying to keep a straight face as she taunted me. "Well, I just figured you missed him."

"I missed who?" I almost tilted my head with confusion, studying her face to see where her eyes were looking and following her gaze towards the hallway behind me.

"You missed me, right? I'm not just gone forever, am I?" He smiled at me, his stupid grey eyes winking in my direction. "I'm still a cast member, aren't I?"

"Malcolm." As soon as I spotted him, I pounced, just about tackling him to the ground. "What are you doing here???"

"Surprising you with dinner, right? Isn't that the plan?" He smirked, nudging me off of him. "You've been in a depressive rut, I've been there."

"Dinner? What, like a double date?"

"It'd be a triple date if Leah had brought her new boyfriend."

"Her new boyfriend?"

"What, am I not allowed to date anymore?" Leah was prompt as always, rustling a ring of keys in her hand. "It's getting late, are we leaving or not?"

I rolled my eyes. "Depends, are we picking up that new boyfriend of yours?"

"He's busy with important work." She shook her head, puffing up just one cheek of hers as she pouted. "And he's not my boyfriend yet."

"Ooh, important work. Is he somebody important?" I snarked back sarcastically.

"Something like that, depends who you ask- are we leaving or not?" She scoffed, quickly trying to skip over the conversation. "I've got a reservation at the bar for five, not six."

"And you're not just here to spy on me for my father?"

"Pfft, you have no idea how much I've been aching to get away from him, working for your father is horrible and exhausting."

"You know you're always welcome to work for me instead~"

"I may just have to, working for Cardinal is a nightmare."

Cardinal Russo, my father, was neither a wholesome employer or a pleasant person to be around.

My father…

I had a lot of pleasant memories with my father, not as pleasant as my memories of my mother, but I did love him a lot. I had just as many unpleasant memories of him, if not more, however.

"I- I need a second before we go…"

I pinched my eyes shut and pushed past Malcolm, heading towards the lounge, the awful memories suddenly flooding back into my brain.

There was only one person who could help me when it came to my father, there was only one person who ever made it her mission to protect me from him.

My mother.

I sighed, being snapped out of blankly staring at the portrait in the lounge by a gentle hand placing itself on my shoulder, a lot like my mom used to do, just trying to make sure I could feel them there, watching over me.

“I’m sorry for bringing you father up.” Leah stood directly behind me, placing her other hand on the opposite shoulder. “I should have thought that maybe mentioning him in the same context as nightmares would stir up something bad… I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, I’ve come to terms with it… sometimes you need to remember the bad things.” I sighed, placing one of my hands over Leah’s, grabbing onto it for support. “I think you’re making a mistake with him… you shouldn’t get so close.”

“Working as his assistant, you mean?” She rolled her eyes, chuckling under her breath. “I’ll be fine.”

“Why would you agree to be his right hand… do you know how dangerous it is to be that close to him?”

“I’m never going to get away while my father’s debt hangs over me, Candace.” She tightened her grip on my shoulders, grabbing onto me for support. “The closer I get to him, the quicker I can pay off my debt, and the quicker I can leave…”

“You’ll never be able to leave, Leah… you can never escape his grasp, not when you’re that close to him.” I bit my lip, gazing up at my mother’s image on the wall across from. “Take it from me, I would know… and so would she.”

She giggled, rubbing my shoulders. “I’m not your mother, isn’t that what you said?”

“Maybe not, but you might as well be.” I shook my head and smiled. “That’s what you said.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” She sighed, finally taking her hands off of me. “I just care about keeping you safe.”

“Yeah… just like my mom did.” I sighed, brushing my shoulders off. “Just don’t die like she did…”

“I promise I won’t die on you kid.”

“You had better not.”

“Are we going out for dinner or not?”

“Yes yes alright fine, I’m coming.”

“Good, cuz everyone else is waiting in the car and you’re gonna make us late~”

I followed her out to the garage and climbed into the passenger’s seat. Like always, Leah drove, and she drove to a place she was all too familiar with, a bar.

We all slowly made our way out of the car and piled up at a booth inside that had been reserved for us. My bodyguard had made the reservation for Ms. Watts, party of five, but the booth could fit six.

Aria and I got one whole side to ourselves, she slid in first closest to the wall but not too close, and I sat in the middle of the booth, across from Malcolm’s boyfriend, Anthony.

“Sit in my lap until the food arrives.” The two of them were adorable. I would honestly expect that to be something that came out of my own mouth, not Anthony’s, but it was something I would only say to a slave, not to an actual person.

But to my own amazement, Malcolm actually fucking did it, he climbed into his boyfriend’s lap and sat there, even offering him a title to show his respect. “Yes, Sir.”

I just stared at them, chuckling under my breath as Malcolm sat in Anthony’s lap, straight across from me. “And I thought my slave had been addicted to riding their master’s cock.”

“Shut up, Candace!!” Malcolm pouted at me, growling under his breath. “You know I’m not a slave.”

“Well you sure act like one sometimes.”

“I do not-”

“Malcolm.” Anthony quickly interrupted him, seemingly scolding him for getting just a little bit out of line. “Be nice, don’t disrespect your boss.”

“She’s not my boss!!!!” Malcolm threw his hands up in protest. “She’s not my boss anymore, Sir… you know that…”

“Yeah well she used to be your boss, so it still counts, be good.”

“I… eugh… yes, honey…”

“You two are so cute.” I smiled at them, a faint blush on my cheeks as I shook my head. “I see now why you work at the facility, Anthony.”

“What, you think I’m soft?” He chuckled, squeezing his fiance’s waist and watching Malcolm squirm. “Because I’m not~”

“You’re not, you’re not, you’re not, please let go!!” Malcolm squeaked, letting out a sigh of relief as soon as his future husband let go, allowing him to scoot into the seat of the booth next to him, across from Aria. “Owie.”

“You let this guy monitor the security cameras at your house.” Leah chuckled, pointing over Anthony and to Malcolm. “And you had me be your chauffeur?”

I giggled at that. “Maybe that wasn’t my best decision.”

“Hey!!!!” Malcolm pouted, scoffing. “I resent that.”

“Sure you do.” Anthony nudged him. “Tell them the news.”

“The news?” Malcolm seemed puzzled for a moment before gasping excitedly. “We have a date!!”

“What, for the wedding?” Aria finally piped in, snarky as usual.

“What else would it be for???” Malcolm whined, bouncing excitedly in his seat.

“I could think of one other potential thing, you know.” Aria smirked, taunting him with her eyebrows.

“I’m not pregnant, Aria!!!!” Malcolm growled angrily, causing the little mouse to retreat back into her seat. “Why would you even assume that?”

“That’s not what I meant, but okay.” She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. “I was talking about the surgery.”

“Oh… sorry.” Malcolm grinned, nervously eyeing his boyfriend beside him. “I mean I had my mastectomy already, but… should I tell them?”

Anthony shrugged. “If you want~”

Malcolm nodded, smiling warmly. “I’m staying non-op.”

“Whoa, really?” Aria was almost surprised to hear that. “I thought Rebecca was gonna do the operation for you?”

“I know I talked about it a lot, but…” Malcolm’s face was beginning to turn red. “Well, we started to talk about it, and… we decided to eventually have Rebecca undo the IUD.”

“Wait…” I smiled, tilting my head towards Malcolm in disbelief. “So you are going to have kids?”

“No, eww. I’m just going to get a ligation and deal with it, like Chloe did. If I got pregnant, I’d probably kill my-”

“Honey, shush.” Malcolm’s boyfriend had to quiet him down as soon as the food got here, watching the waitress set the platters down in front of us.

It was nice just getting to sit down and have a normal conversation with my friends for once, it helped make me feel more like a real person for once in my life.

“So, Anthony…” I slowly began to pick at my food, looking across the table at him. “Are tubal ligations reversible?”

He chuckled. “I’m not going to answer that.”

“And why not?”

“Because you don’t have any need for a tubal ligation reversal.”

“I was just wondering if-”

“I can see what you’re doing, Candace.” He frowned, shaking his head at me. “Even if we could reverse her spay… she’s not here anymore.”

“I wasn’t talking about her, Anthony. I was talking about-”

“Candace… I know you miss her, but… even I don’t know who she belongs to now.” He sighed in disappointment, beginning to get at his food again. “The only people who know the name and identity of the person who purchased her are Naomi, the person who sold her, and your brother… maybe the people who handed her off, but even that’s iffy, Liz doesn’t even get to know, and neither do Rebecca or I…”

Anthony turned to Malcolm, very briefly getting side tracked with details about their wedding. “Speaking of, I was considering maybe either asking Naomi or Grey if they wanted to be best lady or best man?”

“I don’t think Rebecca would let her slave be a part of the wedding, babe. But if you want to ask Naomi or Liz, I’d be okay with that…” Malcolm shook his head. “Speaking of best lady…”

I remained side tracked for a few moments trying to let them talk, before Malcolm coughed, breaking the awkward silence that had been caused while he waited for me to look over at him.

“Hmm?” Confused, I finally looked over at him, staring straight at his dumb face as he pleaded at me. “Speaking of what?”

“Best lady!!” Malcolm giggled, pointing straight at me with a celery stick in his hand. “You.”

“Me?” I blushed ever so slightly. “What about me?”

“I want you to be my best lady.” He snapped off part of the celery stick in his mouth, chewing and swallowing it. “Will you be my maid of honor?”

“Me ?” I blushed, grinning like a stupid loser. “You want me to be your maid of honor?”

“Please?” He frowned, continuing to plead at me. “Pretty please?”

“Of course I will, stupid.” I scoffed, my face bright pink as I rolled my eyes at him. “If you want me to be maid of honor, then sure.”

“Fuck yes.” He nudged his fiance excitedly. “You’re going to have to go suit shopping with me, no take backs.”

“Alright alright fine, we can go suit shopping together, loser.”

I smiled, eagerly letting the evening take me away as we continued to chat over dinner, considering dessert for myself but deciding against it.

“I think I’m gonna go grab some drinks, okay?” I stood up from the booth, needing to get away for just a moment, even if that meant purchasing drinks for everyone at the table, excluding Leah of course. Leah didn’t like to drink anymore, not since her drunken fall out with her now dead ex-husband.

“Five please?” I smiled at the bartender, ordering two drinks for myself, knowing that I was going to need it. “It’s for the booth back there~”

The bartender woman eyed the group suspiciously, before shrugging and sighing, getting the drinks and setting them down on the bartop in front of me before moving onto the next customer, some scrappy looking bushy-tailed woman off to my left.

I knew what it looked like, with me just sitting there with five drinks in front of me, getting to work on the first one, but carrying four drinks back to the table with me was more manageable than five.

“A round for the group back in the corner, Miss?” The woman off to my left was doing the same thing as I was, ordering a whole host of drinks for the group she had come with. “And can you have someone carry em for me… I can’t really carry all of those.”

I turned to my left, looking her up and down. The girl seemed downright miserable having to order drinks, it was kind of off putting.

The poor thing really did look like a squirrel, with her long frizzy mess of a ponytail and her pear shaped body, concealed behind her purple hoodie, her hands both moving about in her jacket pocket. She hid her mouth behind a weirdly turtleneck like shirt collar that barely poked out from under the jacket, concealing her neck and her chin.

Something was off about this girl.

She turned around, beginning to head away from the bar without lifting a finger. She was fiddling with something in her jacket pocket, or at least it looked like it from the outside, but if you didn’t know better you might think that her wrists were just stuck in there. She didn’t make eye contact with me either, even when she was basically staring straight at me.

“Hmmm…” I finished my first drink, leaving the empty glass on the table as I picked up the remaining drinks and brought them back to my group- never really taking my eyes off the girl as I followed her towards our booth. She left the bar ahead of me, but she walked straight past our table on the way back to her group over in the corner.

“Right, I guess I’m driving then, huh?” Leah rolled her eyes, passing the drinks off down the table, sitting across from me and watching my face, studying. “Whatcha lookin at?”

“Just some girl…” I nodded towards her, still trying to figure out what was up with her. “I’ll point her out when she comes by agan.”

And I did, it took a few minutes or so for her to swing back around and head towards the bar, but eventually the man she was with smacked her on her nice round ass and sent her off to get the group another round of drinks, which the woman just grinded her teeth at. But she did eventually come by, and once she was off at the bar, I pointed her out.

“That one right there, squirrel girl.”

The woman did the same exact thing at the bar as the first time, same procedure, same posture, same attitudes- and the exact same disdain for what she was doing… or what she was being forced to do.

She kept her gaze pointed down, her hands in her pockets where they were supposed to be, and her lips shut when she wasn’t being spoken to.

“Isn’t that the anal addict?” Leah squinted, not taking her eyes off of the girl’s ass as she walked past the table back to her group.

“Lucy Barnett.” Anthony coughed nervously, not wanting to look at her any longer than he needed to. “Yeah, she’s the anal addict.”

Leah smirked, nudging Anthony beside her with her elbow. “Didn’t you used to date her?”

“When she was a boy, yeah.” Anthony scoffed. “When she was a really bottom heavy boy, yes, I dated her.”

“I’m a bottom heavy boy~” Malcolm piped up, pouting at his fiance.

“Yes, yes you are, baby.” Anthony giggled at him, placing a kiss on his forehead.

I smiled at them, very briefly distracted by how cute they were together. They had this very sweet, almost slave and master type relationship, and it was heart-warming to see how well they did it together.

Anthony worked at the slave facility, and he was rather pushy and domineering, but he didn’t have a slave. He didn’t need a slave, he had his boyfriend. He had Malcolm, and Malcolm was a pretty good boy without needing a collar around his neck to keep him in line, or a brand to mark him as his partner’s property. They were sweet, and their relationship worked well.

But there was another couple in the room whose relationship was neither healthy nor happy, one which was the opposite of consensual, and it wasn’t Aria and I.

She headed right beside our table on the way back to her corner, as soon as she got here I swiveled around in the booth, swinging my leg out in front of her as she stepped forward, tripping her.

She stumbled over her own legs as she was knocked over, falling flat on her face on the ground beside our table, dropping to her knees in front of me.

Her hands stayed in her jacket pocket the whole time, struggling to get her hands out of her pockets, unable to hold her hands out and brace herself before she fell down.

“Let’s see what’s wrong with you then.” My whole group gasped, shocked to see me knocking some poor girl over, but even more shocked to see what I did to her next.

She couldn’t get back onto her feet, she had no use of her hands, that much was certain. So I did what any helpful person would do, and I helped her back up.

I kneeled next to her, just for a second, as I grabbed her by her huge bushy ponytail and yanked her to her feet with it, dragging her into the empty seat in the booth next to me.

“Let go of me!!” She whined and shouted, but not too loudly, as she was forced into the booth right next to me.

“And let a gorgeously stunning little squirrel like you get away?” I giggled at her, gently sliding my hands down to hers, still trapped in her pockets. “I don’t think so~”

“Get your hands off of me… please…”

“Calm down.” I cooed at her, trying to see what’s up with her hands. “I’m just trying to diagnose you is all~”

I pulled on her arms and her hoodie just slightly, peeking in at her wrists to confirm to myself that my assumptions of what was going on were true, and it was just like I thought.

“Handcuffs.” I smiled at her, letting go of her wrists as soon as I saw them. “Handcuffs are pretty hot… what’s your number, darling?”

“I…” She blushed. “Excuse me?”

“I asked for your number, what’s your number, Lucy?”

“I… I’m flattered, but I’m taken, I’m sorry…”

“Not that number, Lucy… I’m not asking for your phone number-” I grinned, pulling back the clothes that she was hiding her throat behind, hooking one finger around the thick metal band clasped around her neck, pulling her collar out from behind her clothing and into view for everyone else to see. “I want to know what your slave number is~”

“I… I really don’t know what you’re talking about-”

“It’s only four digits long Lucy, it’s not that hard.” I tightened my grip around her collar, making sure she knew I was threatening her. “I can always have you sent back to the facility if you don’t answer.”

“#0125, Ma’am. I’m #0125. Now please let me go.”

“That’s always good to know, but I wonder- who do you belong to, and what possessed them to have you trod around in public like this?”

“I really shouldn’t say, Ma’am…”

“Oh come on… it’s safe to tell me~”

“Candace!!” Anthony shouted at me, sick of this already and needing it to stop. “It’s Xander Mallick, she belongs to Xander Mallick. Let her go.”

“Guess your ex-boyfriend has your back for once~” I glanced over at Anthony before turning back to Lucy, smiling at her before letting go of her collar and setting her free. “Run along before your owner notices you’re missing.”

She shot Anthony a very terrified glare before running off, desperate to get away from us and back to her owner’s side.

But Anthony was still not happy. “Candace, what the fuck is wrong with you?”

“How did you know that, Anthony?” I just turned and glared at him, staring him directly in the eye. “How do you know who she belongs to?”

“Because she was sold a week ago, Candace…” He frowned, his face red with shame.

“And so was Chloe…” I kept pressing him for answers. “So how do you know who owns her?”

“Because each slave and their owner is listed in the Personnel Identity Registry, Candace. It’s our job to know…”

“I’m not after much, Anthony…” I sighed, biting my lip. “I just want to know who she belongs to… just to make sure she’s safe…”

“I understand that, but… I think the answer will hurt you more than it’ll help you.”

I just stared at him, blankly and unamused. That was not the answer I was looking for to help ease my fears. The idea that Chloe was somewhere unsafe was the opposite of what I wanted to hear right now. But it seemed like the only way to know who she was with was to ask my brother or my sister, because they were the only ones who had that kind of access to their mother’s system.

“Come on, Aria. We’re leaving.”

I started to grab my jacket, slowly sliding towards the end of the booth to stand up and leave, but before I could get there, I found myself bumping hips with someone that I didn’t expect to be there.

“Leaving already?” The man scoffed. “Right after you tripped and tortured my new toy?” He set his elbow down on the table, blocking my only exit. “You should be ashamed of yourself.”

I just glared into his eyes. I didn’t recognize him, but whoever he was, he did kind of have this swagger about him. His aura was comparable to that of my brother, Cyrus, and he looked to be around the same age too.

He winked at me, smiling eagerly. “You can’t just knock my new servant over like she’s nothing, she’s fragile… and she has maid work to do when she gets home~”

“I’m sorry, do I know you?”

“Not with that attitude, clearly… the name’s Xander Mallick, you probably ought to remember that in case you run into me or my boys again, and you are?” He phrased it like a question, but after a moment, his eyes lit up with recognition as he realized exactly who I was. “You’re Candace St. Clair…”

I smiled sarcastically, rolling my eyes. “You got me~!!”

“Well hello little beauty, what brings you ought to these parts anyways?”

“I live in these parts, Mr. Mallick.”

“Oh, is that so?” He chuckled, his eyes once again excited by a new revelation. “What do you know about slaves, Ms. St. Clair?”

“I happen to know quite a lot about slaves actually, I’ll have you know- I used to have one.” I snarled at him, doing my best to try and intimidate him. “Used to~”

“Is that how it is, huh?” The smug bastard unfortunately didn’t seem too intimidated. “She was yours, then?”

“She?” I swallowed nervously. “Who?”

“Sophia Cavalier, obviously.”

“Sophia Cavalier is dead, but thank you.”

“So what, she didn’t really die, you just had her shipped down here to become your slave?” He grinned, somehow able to see through me, holding his hand out to gesture something with his fingers. “You know, I was this close to buying her from the facility… but I had to settle for Lucy instead~”

“You what…” I frowned, my lips tingling nervously as he mentioned her, talking as if he had seen her. “What are you talking about?”

“I saw her, I made an appointment and I went to go see her, and I was not expecting to see her there.” He reached out towards me, and for a moment I was petrified, feeling him place his fingers on my chin and lifting my head up slightly. “Just like I wasn’t expecting to see her bitter rival around here~”

I just sat there staring at him, unsure of what to do. Hearing her name made my heart ache, thinking about her made my heart ache. Realizing that she was with someone else made my heart ache.

“Now now pretty thing, I can’t have Sophia Cavalier… but maybe I can have Candace St. Clair, how does that sound?” He smirked, still holding me by the chin. “What do you think, want to come back to my place?”

“Sure.” I could hear everyone just about jump out of their seat as I spoke, but I held fast, smiling at the nice man as he tried to gently lead me out of my seat and back to his table with him. “I’d love to.”

Like hell I was going anywhere with him, he wasn’t even good enough to be a rape puppet.

I stood, waiting for him to get out of my booth before grabbing my drink from off the table, swinging it around and pouring it all out into his face.

He did not like that at all.

“Oh, so that’s how it is…” He growled at me, his face and coat down soaked with booze. “Let’s at least take this outside then, I’d hate to get blood all over the nice clean floors.”

“Oh no… I don’t think I can, I think my Daddy would kill you if he found out that you had your hands on me.”

“Pfft, your daddy? Really?” He snarled. “You think your daddy stands any match against me?”

“I don’t see why not, really. He’s big, tall, strong, blonde, blue eyes, the head of the family, you can’t mistake him… You do think I look a little bit like Cardinal Russo, don’t you?” I grinned, fanning myself with my hand. “Because I would hope so, I am his daughter after all~”

Xander’s eyes turned fiery, recognizing the name enough to know that he was in too deep. “Fine, whatever… have a nice night, Ms. Russo.”

“Leaving already?” I smiled, shaking my head as he left, turning back to my table to spot a group of my extremely annoyed friends. “What?”

“Great going Candace.” Anthony was clearly the most annoyed of the bunch. “Way to ruin dinner.”

“Oh come on, honey. It wasn’t that bad.” Malcolm just kind of scoffed at his fiance. “That cunt had it coming.”

“That didn’t mean she needed to splash gin in his face!!”

“And wouldn’t you do the same?”

“Guys…” Aria just shook her head at them. “Can we… just go home?”

“I think that sounds like a good idea.” Leah slowly climbed out of her seat, sternly looking over me as she gently placed her hand on my shoulder. “Dinner’s on you kiddo.”

I sighed, looking up at her before looking back to the rest of the table, realizing that she was probably right. “Yes, Ma’am…”

✶ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✧ ✶ ✧ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✶

“And where do you think you’re going?”

Leah drove us back to my house, because I was apparently the first person to get dropped off. Yet somehow, instead of coming back inside with me, Aria assumed it was okay to try and stay in the car, with the intention of being dropped off back at her place instead.

“I’m heading back home, Candace… I’m tired…”

“No you’re not, you’re mine, get inside.”

Was I being a little pushy? Sure, but I was also like five drinks down after finishing everything on the table, not wanting the alcohol to go to waste, and I was really really horny after a small run in with a bushy tailed slave at the bar- I had even had the decency to not try and claim her as my own this time, regardless of whether she belonged to another person already.

“Can we please do this tomorrow?” Aria didn’t even look up at me, quietly sitting in the backseat of Leah’s car. “I want to sleep in my own bed tonight.”

“Well too bad.” I smiled, grabbing her by the arm and gently tugging on her, trying to get her to come inside with me. “Please?”

She sighed, her cheeks flushed pink as she looked over at me. “Do I have to?”

“Noooo…” I was trying, I was really trying to be better. “But I really want you to…please?”

She sighed, letting me slowly pull her out of the car. “Goodnight Leah… Goodnight boys~”

“Goodnight Aria~!!” Malcolm smiled, blowing her a kiss from the backseat. “And Candace?”

“Mhmmmmmm??” I smiled, giving him a big dumb grin. “Yeeeees~??”

I waved goodbye, blowing me a kiss too. “Love ya girl.”

“Love you too, Malcolm~!!!!”

“Alright, let’s get you inside, Candace.” Aria gently took my arm instead, leading me towards the door and back into my house as the rest of our friends drove off. “I think it’s time for bed~”

“I miss him Aria…” I whined at her. “I miss Malcooolm.”

“I know you do, silly.” Aria chuckled, closing the bedroom door behind us and setting me down on the couch in my room. “I miss ‘em too, y’know!!”

“Ariaaaa, I’m gonna be his maid of honor!!”

“I know, I was there~” She teased me, sitting down on the couch next to me after a quick run to the kitchen to get me some water. “It’ll be fun, right?”

“I can’t wait~”

“Am I gonna be invited to their wedding, you think?”

“Have they not invited you yet?”

“I don’t know that they’ve sent out invitations.”

“Then don’t worry about it~!!”

I picked up the glass of water and quickly shotgunned it, not wanting to get a hangover after getting so buzzed at the bar. Thankfully, Aria only seemed mildly annoyed at this. “We really shouldn’t have let you finish all of our drinks for us.”

“I bought them, I wasn’t just gonna let them go to waste~”

“Sure.” She rolled her eyes, getting back up to go get more water. “You can’t just drink your problems away when you get stressed out~”

Aria got up and exited the room, leaving me in here alone just long enough to stand and climb into my bed.

What in the world is wrong with me, mom?

Some of my best memories had been with my mom, but the rest of my favorite memories were with Chloe. I reached towards my nightstand out of instinct, grasping at the spot where I usually kept the controller to my slave’s collar. But I no longer had said controller, the only thing sitting there was that beautiful little bell that used to belong to her.

I was going to be a better person, not a perfect person, but a better person. I was my father’s daughter and my brother’s sister, not my sister’s brother and father’s son- I was whoever I wanted to be. I was Candace St. Clair.

I won’t be held to my father’s expectations of me, or a promise I once failed to make to my mother, I’m going to be whoever I want to be.

I won’t be needlessly cruel or punishing anymore, I won’t be distant. I’ll hold my slaves close and I won’t let them go again. I’ll be loving, I’ll be forgiving, but I’ll be stern. I won’t abandon my friends, I won’t abandon my family, and I won’t abandon my desires.

I can be like my father without becoming him. I was going to get what I wanted without having to hurt the people I love to get it.

“Moment of truth, Aria.” I looked up at her as she walked into the room, catching her by surprise. “Do you want to do this with me or not?”

There was a quiet pause as she stepped inside, the only sound in the room being the sound of her setting a glass of water onto the table across the room from me.

“I do… really.” I could see the briefest flicker of desire in her eyes as I glimpsed into her, and she glimpsed into me. “But this isn’t going to work, and I think we both know that.”

I bit my lip, squeezing onto the bell in my hand as I tilted my gaze to the floor. “Yeah, I know.”

“I do like you, love you even… but-” She stood there, uncomfortably stiff as she avoided my gaze. “You’re not over her, and I don’t want what you guys had.”

“You don’t want what I want.” It was clear that this little experiment between her and I had been doomed from the start. “You don’t want to be my slave.”

“If you decided to take me as your slave, I wouldn’t be able to stop you.”

“But that’d just be proving you right, huh?”

“Yeah…”

I looked to my wrist, the watch that served as Aria’s controller still clasped to my arm, yet to really be turned on and activated. I had already been through this, I had already gotten past my crush on Aria Fairmont. I wanted her, but the only reason I did was because I still missed Chloe, not because I still loved Aria, because I didn’t.

“You’re still not over her.” She was staring straight at the bell, still in my hand. “You’re still not over Chloe.”

“Pfft-” I scoffed at the observation, unable to keep a straight face. “How could you tell?”

“I put together a whole dinner with our friends and you hardly looked at or talked to me… You keep talking about her, she’s always the first thing that comes to your mind.” She sighed, furling her eyebrows in what I could now recognize as jealousy. “But I think the last straw for me was when they got to talking about the wedding… I don’t know, it was just like the only thing you could think about was her.”

“That’s cuz it’s true. I’m not over Chloe… I love her.”

“I know you do, and… I’m sorry.” She had a look of shame on her face just thinking about it. “I’m sorry for everything I did to you two.”

“Aria… Come clean with me…” I swallowed nervously, looking up from the bell in my hands and into her eyes. “What did you tell her?”

She chuckled, her skin going pale with fear. “How much do you want to hear?”

“All of it.” I glared at her, my phone in hand as I motioned towards her. “The doors are locked… I want a full confession.”

She took a deep breath, and then she smiled, not happily but angrily, evilly, directing all of the hatred in her heart directly towards me.

“I told Chloe to leave you.”

“Why would you-”

“Shut up, Candace.” She shot me down as soon as I tried to interrupt, her dumb little face twisted into an angry smirk as she mocked me, putting her pokerface right back on. “If you want to hear the story then at least shut up and listen.”

I paused for a moment, tense silence ringing through the air as she glared at me, nodding my head to indicate for her to continue.

“You’ve ruined my life Candace. You ruined my life the moment you stepped into it. Because from the first moments we spoke you were weaseling your way into every facet of my existence.” She continued on cue, not letting me interrupt her any further. “You had the bizarre crush on me, like you wouldn’t let me live my life without you, from day one you were funnelling illegal funds straight into my pockets just to fool me into thinking that doing photoshoots with you was a lucrative business.”

These of course were things that I already knew, things that I really did, the next information here was finding out that Aria knew about that. She had figured these things out.

“You tricked me, Candace. You tricked me into working with you, just because you wanted to fuck me.” She wasn’t just confessing everything that happened the night Chloe had been taken away, she was taking this moment to confess everything. “I kept doing photoshoots with you because I was making all of this money out of nowhere, and right when I told you no- when I turned you down, that was when the FBI was suddenly on my ass for all of these illegal funds that I knew nothing about.”

I chuckled, returning her angry glare straight back at her. “Pfft, that was six or seven years ago. What does this have to do with Chloe?”

“I said shut up, Candace!! Especially about her !! Not everything is about her, or about you, this is about me!!” She shouted angrily the moment I stepped back into the conversation. “Did you really think I wouldn’t realize it?? Did you really think I wouldn’t notice?? I got arrested by the FBI on suspicion of money laundering because of you!!”

“Oh yeah?” I refused to step down, too angry to give up the fight in me. “Then why are you standing right here in front of me?”

“Because I’m an informant for the federal government, Candace.” She frowned, her heart aching in her chest, the pain bad enough to show in her face. “Or I was… until your sister’s wedding.”

“My sister’s wedding?” I shuffled nervously in place, trying to remember the last wedding I had been to, over four years ago now. “What about it?”

“You didn’t think I hung out with you for years because I was your friend?” She scoffed at the absurdity of the idea. “You don’t think I came to your sister’s wedding because I changed my mind and suddenly wanted to go on a date with you, right?”

“I did, actually!!” Hearing all of this from her made my heart hurt. Hearing my friend say these things hurt me. “I thought you were my friend.”

“I’m just… trying to explain myself, and everything you’ve done to me… Let me finish the story before you get all hurt, please?” She licked her quickly drying lips, trying to stay composed. “Do you remember how your sister accused me of stealing from her?”

“You stole from her.” I almost gasped. “You lied to me. You really did steal from her.”

“And she caught me doing it too!!” She was struggling to keep it together, but if this was going to be her last moment to say everything she needed to say, she was going to take it. “I snuck into her office and I stole a bunch of documents to give to the FBI, things from her desk, her drawers, her cupboards… her precious VHS tape.”

“A VHS tape?” That was the oddest part of it, the cassette tape that Aria had supposedly stolen, not because of the contents of the tape itself, but because of its seeming importance. “What kind of VHS tape?”

“It was some sort of home video of her and her father… and some other woman.” The color was quickly draining from her face as she talked about it. “I watched it too… not all of it, but some of it.”

“And what was it?” I could hear my heart thumping, eagerly awaiting whatever it was that was on this tape of hers that she had stolen from my sister. “What was on it?”

“Nothing you want to see.” She swallowed back the vile building up in her throat, struggling to keep herself from gagging. “Something that makes me vomit every time I think about it.”

The color was gone from her face, not because she was scared, but because she was disgusted. She was disgusted with me, and my family, my friends- everything. She was disgusted at herself.

“I showed it all to the feds… her personal work records, the existence of the PIR, the magazines your sister had strewn about the place… Charlotte’s parcel.”

“Charlotte’s parcel?”

“That’s just what the film was titled, okay?” She swallowed nervously. “It wasn’t an actual parcel… that’s just what it was called.”

“Aria…” I looked on at her in disbelief. “Why would you do all of this to us?”

“Because I was scared, Candace.” Aria didn’t like to cry, but she was struggling to hold all of her tears back. “Because I was scared for my life and I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t have anyone to tell me what to do, and once the FBI knew your sister was onto me… they cut contact.”

“And then what?!” I shouted at her, my stomach acid churning with anger and disbelief, mixing like a witch’s cauldron. “Once you had stolen from my family, tricked me into being your friend, and gotten found out by my sister… what did you do then?!”

“What do you think I did…” Aria coughed, the first of her tears gently running down her cheeks. “I came to you… for your protection…”

What was hurting Aria the most was just how much she regretted it all. She was twenty-seven years old, only a year older than I was, and her entire life had been turned on her head because of me. She had been forced to work as a government informant from the ages of 21-23, barely even an adult, too young to even be considered an actual grown-up, that’s what this life did to people. It ruined them.

“This is a lot, Aria…” I swallowed nervously, the controller to her collar still in my hand, the device to activate the kill switch around her neck still firmly in my grasp. “And I’m sorry, but… how is this about Chloe?”

“Because I love you, Candace. I really do…” She slowly lowered herself to the floor, not to her knees, but just onto the ground in a defeated puddle, leaning against the back of the couch behind her. “Don’t think that after four years of being your friend… that I don’t actually consider you my friend-”

“Then why are you saying all of this?!”

“Because you deserve to know~!!” She shouted, the last of her energy leaving her as she looked up at me with tears in her eyes. “Regardless of why I did or whether or not I regret it… I did all of these things, things that I thought were morally right… and it’s time that you know. It’s time for you to know everything that’s happened to me because of you, and how it’s destroyed me…”

And she meant it. I could tell this time. Aria really did think of me as her friend, someone who had wronged her, but she still loved all the same. She couldn’t just let things go on like they had been going on, she couldn’t just keep going like things were okay. She couldn’t keep her secrets forever.

“Should I keep going?” She lowered her head, this time out of fear, trying to spare herself the pain of looking into my eyes. “Can I finish?”

“Yes.” There was no hesitation in my voice as I answered her, suddenly willing to be there for her to talk to, like some priest offering to listen to a penitent confess her sins. “Finish your confession.”

“I told Chloe to leave you…” She took a deep breath, swallowing a mouthful of terror and pride as she spoke. “Everything I told her about you was true, but… I wasn’t doing it for her, I was doing it for myself…”

I just sat there, staring at her as she continued to spill everything to me, angry at her own actions more than anything.

“I was jealous of her. I was jealous of Chloe… I was jealous of you.” She dug her hands into the carpet beneath her, curling her fingers into the fabrics. “It’s not right, Candace. It’s not right that you can just ruin my life, and still get anything and everything that you want… you don’t deserve her. You don’t deserve someone as innocent and good as her, you deserve to be with some worthless scumbag nobody.”

“You-” I stuttered, my voice shaking as I realized what she was saying. “You didn’t do it because you wanted revenge?”

“No… I did it because I wanted to be with you.” She shook her head, tears dripping off of her as her face moved. “But I didn't want to hurt you.”

“Well you did it… you got your revenge anyways.” I just gazed at her weak little body, sick and drained of any color, my mouth hanging open in disbelief, tears in my eyes as my voice wavered and trembled. “Are you proud of yourself?”

“Not even slightly. I didn’t know… I didn’t know you’d react like this… to losing her…” She buckled over, finally beginning to let it all out with her sobs. “I didn’t think you actually loved her…”

“Because how could someone like me actually love someone…”

It hurt me to see her like this, my best friend of many years, on the floor of my bedroom as she cried her eyes out. But not quite as much as it hurt knowing that she was the reason Chloe had decided to leave me.

“So that’s it then… you’re just giving up?” I scoffed, slowly standing up from my bed. “You’re just going to confess your sins and give up?”

“What other choice do I have?” She gently wiped the tears from her eyes, desperate not to be seen like this. “I’ve done what I can… I’ve tried the government… I’ve tried working with you and your family… I’ve tried being your lackey, but I can’t… I can’t keep lying to you.”

She swallowed a lump of sobs and bile from inside of her throat, looking up at me in desperation. “I can’t keep hurting you…”

“And can’t keep hurting you either.” I stood over her, looking down at her weak pitiful little body, cowering in fear from my shadow, the controller to her collar still in my hand. “Get out of my house.”

Her eyes went wide with shock and awe, gazing up at me in fear and surprise. “What?”

“I said get out of my house.” I stared at her, getting more and more impatient. “You’re not welcome here anymore, which means you’re trespassing.”

“You… you’re not going to kill me… or-” She retched, barely keeping herself from hurling. “Or turn me into a slave…”

“No… I won’t.” I held out the controller to her collar, dropping it into her lap. “But I won’t keep protecting you from the people who will.”

Aria’s eyes turned warm, filled to the brim with love and adoration, her smile one of gratitude, appreciation. “Thank you…”

I had the controller in my hand. I could have killed her right then and there… I could have enslaved her, or made her mine. But I wasn’t going to.

I didn’t deserve to have her just like I didn’t deserve to have Chloe… and if there’s one thing I had learned from these last couple of weeks, it was that I needed to be a better person, not just for my own sake, but for the sake of everyone I loved.

And that started right here.

That started with letting Aria Fairmont go.

I wasn’t about to give up owning slaves, let’s not get ahead of things, but I was no longer going to keep slaves just to hurt them- not like I had with Chloe.

From now on it was going to be about love… about forming a bond with someone. Something like Malcolm and Anthony have, but for real. A real master and slave bond, forged from love and commitment, and not fear or anger or hatred.

Love.

So that was it.

That was the piece that I was missing to solve the puzzle that was my mangled mess of a life.

So many things converged on Aria Fairmont, exactly in this moment. Me, Chloe, my sister, my father, the FBI, even my career as a model… they all tangled together in this horrible mess of sharp piercing wires and cords, and she had been caught right in the middle of it.

This was her grand finale, her retribution for being wronged, finally being released from it all. She had finally been let out of this tangled horrible mess that was my life, and set free.

So there you have it, Aria Fairmont’s eleventh hour twist reveal. Weak, pathetic, and aggravating- just like her.

But at least now we know why she did it, right?

God damn it… why does it even matter?

Regardless of whether Aria’s existence was intricately foreshadowed from the start or just tossed onto the page like the spear of deus ex machina, it didn’t fucking matter.

You’re not here to hear about her, you don’t care.

You’re not even here for me, you want Chloe… and I want to give you Chloe, I really do. But I don’t have her anymore…

So I guess this is goodbye?

…Maybe?

I don’t know what you guys want. I’m just one girl. I’m just Candace…

I don’t even like to talk to you all directly like this, because I know this isn’t my story, this is Chloe’s story. Chloe would never break script and speak to you guys like this, so I didn’t want to do it either. But because I don’t have her here with me anymore… I’m not really a part of her story anymore, am I?

I appreciate you guys being here to sit through this with me, I appreciate you being here every other chapter or every three chapters or something, I appreciate you checking up on me… but you guys don’t really need to hear from me.

She’s not mine, and I’m not hers… which means I really have no right to be here anymore.

I’m sorry, I’m not trying to make this about me, I’m really not. This is Chloe’s story, not mine… and if she wants the rest of her story to be about her and not me, then there’s no use wasting your time on me, really.

I love you all, but I’m going to be okay. At least I hope I’m going to be okay, and if I don’t turn out okay- I kind of feel like I deserve it?

I guess what I really wanted to say is I’m sorry.

I’m sorry.

I’m sorry for hurting her like I did, and dragging all of you through the mud on this, I’m sorry about making myself the center of everything and refusing to think about anyone else.

In a few chapters, things are going to go back to being how they used to be, they’re going to go back to being about Chloe.

Not me. Not my sister. Chloe. In a few chapters it’s just going to be her… and you~

The next time you hear from me- specifically from my point of view- will be the last time, at least for a while. Until by some stroke of blind luck when Chloe decides she wants me to be a part of her life again, or by some miracle you all decide that you miss me and want to hear from me again, I’ll be gone.

I miss Chloe a lot, but I understand.

You’re right to think that she’s better off with whoever she’s with now because I really see no reason to think otherwise. Regardless of whoever she’s with, I have no reason to think that she’s not better off than she was with me…

But that’s all I wanted to say, I don’t want this to get too wordy or too long, I just wanted to say-

I’m sorry and goodbye.

I’ll see you guys in a couple of chapters just to finish up my little character arc, and then I’ll get out of your hair, I promise.

I’m going to miss you guys and gals a lot, thank you so much for going through this with me. I love you all, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.

Yours for just a little bit longer,
Candace Saint Clair.