== Part 7. The house is a ball of snakes. ==

He hissed quietly through clenched teeth, getting into the back seat of the car.

The flight to Atlas had been torture. The air transport shook easily under the impact of the roaring air masses. And every damn jolt echoed in his wounded back and tired head.

But Jacques endured. He did not think to voice any displeasure.

The will crushed these vile and pathetic efforts.

He had no right to complain. Not now, with so many otherworldly pairs of eyes upon him.

The speech at Mantle had gone phenomenal. Even James had gotten in touch over the scroll, voicing either praise or approval of his venture.

No one would have thought that Jacques Schnee, famous for his greed and lust for profit, would want to create a full-fledged school for the "scum" of Mantle.

The public was buzzing more than after the terrorist attack. All the jaundiced newspapers were literally sucking the news from all angles, looking for a double bottom or some hidden agenda of Jacques.

And they didn't find it.

After all, no one in their right mind could think about the far-reaching plans of the head of the SCD. About his intention to create a full-fledged army and level all his enemies from the face of the Kingdom.

There was no room for diplomacy anymore. What remained was cold reason and a desire for revenge deep in his chest to punish all those responsible for his death.

The boarding school would surely be a new headache in the not too distant future, but the benefits could be far greater. It was only necessary to endure the first time, and it would be possible to reap the fruits of their own labors.

The question was how Willow and the SCD board of directors would feel about the decision.

Jacques didn't rule his company in one person. Not at the moment.

In a past life, the man had watched indifferently as his wife had become an unsuccessful alcoholic, that she had lost her mind in a fog of endless drinking.

Was it painful for him to watch his dearest spouse turn into a man lost to the human world?

Yes and no.

Of course, he had compassion, as well as simple human pity. But at the same time, simple calculation spoke to him.

If Willow stepped down from her place as Nicholas' heir... then who would stand at the helm of the SCD?

That's right, the one and only Jacques Schnee. Despised, hated, even by his own company, but equally irreplaceable. The man who pulled Schnee's company out of debt and elevated it to the throne of the Atlas financial world in a decade and a half.

Jacques betrayed his wife to preserve his legacy. And in doing so, he made one of the unforgivable mistakes.

He may have forgotten that most people are incapable of ignoring personal feelings for the sake of duty. And he also didn't realize that in the eyes of his own children, such an attitude of his father would look very unfavorable.

A tyrant, a freak, a bastard, a bastard who was responsible for Mom losing her own family and forgetting everything but the perpetual binge and grieving with a bottle of wine.

Willow was not fit to be Nicholas' successor. The state of SCD, which he had caught at the moment of his appearance in the company, was a vivid confirmation of that.

The woman had been raised and trained. Her shrewd and wise father was to thank for that. Who also was not unlike the vision of every business man.

He kept his "winter flower" in hothouse conditions, thus showing care for her and showing his paternal love.

And at the same time, he was putting an end to the future of Schnee's Prahova Company.

But Jacques pulled this unprofitable corporation, which had taken on loans and debts from half of Atlas, out of the clutches of impending bankruptcy and subsequent takeover by competitors.

He's the only one worthy of continuing to lead the SCD. Jacques proved that by deeds, not words. In war, all means are good.

And it is a pity that his children did not have the same vision as he did. Couldn't tell the difference between bad and necessary, and between lack of choice and unwillingness to make it.

Between marriage and inheritance, the man had chosen the latter.

But now... he allowed for the possibility that this choice might have been wrong.

Willow had gone from being an intelligent woman and a companion in some matters to a useless drunk. A blunt instrument that had lost its former sharpness and luster.

It was probably only after his death that Jacques realized how much profit he had lost by taking the simplest path.

Yes, he had seized control of the SCD board of directors. Smoothly and bloodlessly, however.

He lost the last shred of his own children's trust. Which led to his death.

Winter fled in haste to Ironwood, probably to keep telling him what a bastard Jacques was.

Weiss finally believed in her way as a huntress. Just like her mother. And no longer even planned to listen to his arguments as she pondered the choice.

And Whitley... Perhaps he had the hardest time of all.

If you look at the whole situation from a different angle, the youngest of the Shnees was in absolute loneliness, having lost his mother and sisters, that with all the fiber of his soul intended to escape from the "golden cage" of his father.

Jacques himself simply physically did not have the opportunity to give the heir proper attention. Which led to the betrayal and Whitley ...

It was ridiculous!

All his descendants turned their backs on him. The heirs that should have taken over the reins of the SCD sooner or later - abandoned Jacques and abandoned him, for what?

For honor? Justice?

Nonsense! They were driven by youthful maximalism and utter naivety. In the jungle, there's no room for pity or patience. It's either you or you. There's no third way.

Even Winter, who had spent years around James in the army, had never realized such a simple truth.

On the contrary, she'd gone blind in both eyes, believing in the worldview of her patron and superior.

Jacques wanted to howl, to tear the hair out of his head, to shout curses and hit someone on the head with something heavy.

But he held back.

The wave of heat and madness was followed by a chilling cold and calm.

"In position, sir," the driver reported.

The man opened his heavy eyelids. This was not the time to succumb to self-pity and his fate.

The back door on his right hand opened and a black-haired girl got in.

She behaved cautiously, her hands tugging at her new skirt, her amber eyes darting from side to side around the cabin, not understanding the reason she was there.

" To the estate," Jacques ordered the driver, then with the press of a button raised the soundproof wall between them.

The passenger tensed even more, her back straightened, her knuckles vainly clutching the finest fabric from the expensive boutique. Her lips tightened, her face pale.

"What's your name?" - Jacques broke the silence.

His face was still emotionless, his eyes staring at the road. Trying to smile would only make her more wary, so what was the point of even trying?

" S-synder," the girl almost whispered, bowing her head.

" I'm Jacques Schnee. You don't have a last name?" - He asked, without turning his head to her. As if he were having a disinterested conversation about the weather.

"No, Mr. Schnee. I am an orphan," the interlocutor explained.

" Do you know why you are here?" - he asked.

" No..." - Cinder squeezed her head into her shoulders even more.

" Because I bought you from your 'mother'," the man cut to the chase.

He looked into amber eyes widened with shock. A nail-biting coldness enveloped her from head to toe. It was as if the temperature in the cabin had dropped several degrees at once.

She was a slave. She used to belong to the hotel, but now Jacques Schnee owned her.

All her hopes of freedom were gone. Her stomach twisted to the point of pain, her eyes moistened with unwillingness to accept her fate.

She'd been preparing herself to be free... Cinder had dreamed of breaking free, of becoming stronger, and what had been the outcome?

She ended up being possessed by someone many times more powerful than her "mother".

The man seemed to see her doubts, fears and concerns. And he already knew how to play it.

"All your life you have been lied to, used and cursed for the very fact of your birth," Jacques uttered. He had read the results of the girl's interrogation and already had some idea of who he was dealing with.

"You don't trust anyone, you don't have a habit of not following through. And also... you're stubborn as hell. Am I right?" - For the first time during their dialog, a hint of a half-smile appeared on the SCD head's lips.

" What are you getting at?" - Cinder didn't fall for it. Like a wild wolf cub, she watched him warily and with obvious caution.

Doesn't believe in flattery. That's good. That's good.

" Believe it or not, I'm the same way," the man clasped his hands together in a lock.

Cinder frowned harder than ever.

She didn't understand where this conversation was going or what Jacques wanted.

He didn't intend to tell her everything here and now.

"I have many enemies. I can't trust many people. Even in my own family. Many people look at me with sincere hatred, and, if you believe the rumors, I'm a cannibal, a pedophile, and a moral freak. My life is always at stake," Jacques began, watching for Cinder's reaction.

There was no reaction. She just kept watching his every gesture with amber-colored eyes, looking for any hint of falseness.

Except... there wasn't.

Jacques had decided to do something he never would have done in his previous life. Honesty. She was as much a stranger to him as he was to her. There was nothing to connect them. Until now.

Therefore, only the truth and nothing more. Or rather, the truth that only benefits him. "And that's why I have to fight. People like you and me can't just sit back and wait for the weather to clear. We take our fate into our own hands. That's why I took you away from General Ironwood. You'd have been a shelter at best, and after that you'd have been trying to survive the winter within the walls of Mantle, begging and begging...

He was interrupted by a girl.

"And that's why you're all ashen knight in armor came and rescued me, poor orphan, from the clutches of an unenviable future?" - Her lips curled in disbelief.

Doesn't believe in flattery. He didn't doubt it anymore. Which meant she wouldn't be taken away from him so easily by his "dearest relatives." That's great.

"Not at all. Because it's good for me. I don't care about you, Cinder. I don't care about your future or your existence or what happens to you. But I care about me. Taking you away from Ironwood will make me look like a knight to the crowd. They'll believe those fairy tales as long as I can live in peace without fear of an angry mob from Mantle coming for my head tomorrow. I'll give you education, influence, a life and surroundings. Get you out of hell, just because...it will benefit ME."

Cinder didn't expect such an answer. Her eyes opened wide, her mouth dropped open, words stuck in her throat. Like a fish on the surface, all she could do was gulp for air.

"N-but...why me?" - she squeaked, losing the thread of the conversation.

There were dozens of orphans in the orphanage, what reason did the man have for choosing her out of the myriad of other alternatives. She had never been better than her 'sisters'. She'd been shit on, beaten, called every curse in the book.

So why...

He's not acting like this?

He wasn't being sneaky. He didn't try to play nice, like so many brothel-goers who showed "courtesy" to the staff. He didn't look at her like she was nothing, but he didn't try to get her to do anything.

All he did... was tell it like it was and what he really thought?

" Because we're alike, Cinder. That's all we are. I'm a selfish man in the full glory of that vicious word. Nothing is more important to me than myself and my legacy. I'm horrible, vicious and cursed. But that's why I don't lie to anyone, including myself and you. I'd rather help someone who's as selfish as I am than save another fool and have him die a couple days later of his own stupidity and kindness," Jacques grinned.

Their car was just approaching the Schnee family estate. Tall spires, numerous servants, a beautiful green garden in the courtyard and austere architecture, full of grandeur and nobility.

His hated yet adored home.

A place where no one waits for him, where curses are more often heard in his back than anywhere else in all of Remnant.

Somehow those thoughts made his eyes gleam predatorily.

The excitement of battle instantly took hold of his soul, melting the crust of ice.

Jacques Schnee turned toward the amber-eyed woman. She responded with a look of incomprehension.

Her eyes against the scarlet-red foliage outside the window looked like two flickering lights that once again wanted to trust a complete stranger.

To agree with his reasoning, to smile and follow him.

But... get burned once and you'll keep your hand off until you die.

Cinder didn't have the strength to get over herself, to forget everything that had happened to her, to deny the past and start living again.

Would Jacques have stopped her from doing that? Not at all.

The car pulled up to the front porch of the mansion. Where he was greeted by his entire "family" and their servants.

Including Willow in the front row.

"Don't believe me, Cinder. Don't believe them either," the man pointed to his beautiful wife and children and their staff, "Don't listen to their sweet talk. Don't look at their sweet and luscious smiles. Don't consider their good deeds, ignore their promises and vows. None of these things are true. Neither am I. Don't believe me, don't you dare accept anything as given, as truth. And I will return the favor, rest assured."

Cinder didn't even realize that two small tears were streaming down her face. For the first time, she felt... like this.

The man immediately handed her a handkerchief from the breast pocket of his business suit.

The girl calmly accepted it.

Yes, she knew Jacques was lying to her. Brazenly and openly. But that's what he'd just told her.

Yes, she's selfish. Just like her new master, Jacques Schnee.

" Come, let me show you your new home, Cinder Fall," the impassive mask returned to the face of the head of the SCD.

The back door of the cabin opened.

He had yet to find out if this amber-eyed girl would be the beginning of his Fall...