part 72

Third Person POV

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"We need to speak!" Rob snapped, ignoring her sarcastic tone.

"I'm sure Jürgen already told you my answer to that." She replied, all traces of humour leaving her face.

"I don't take no for an answer." He said.

"Well, then, enjoy your stay outdoors. I don't intend on speaking with you just yet." She turned around and was about to head to the stairs when he shouted something that stopped her.

"I'm not bluffing, it's urgent. Something you would want to know." He rushed out.

Emma stood in her place for a while without turning to face him, then she spoke. "Escort him to the living room." She ordered the guards and climbed the stairs to her daughter's room to change her bandage and apply medicine to her arm before she sent her to the safe house. She didn't bother telling him anything or even doing so much as looking at him.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"So what's this urgent thing you think I would want to know?" Emma's voice came from the entrance of the living room. "It has to do with my father I assume?" She asked.

"Yes, it's about your father." He confirmed. "A secret your parents hid from you all along for both your and your brother's safety." He said, his eyes following her from the entrance until she took a seat on the couch.

"I'm listening." She said, as she sat comfortably on the couch opposite from him.

"Well, for a starter, your father didn't cheat on your mother." He revealed.

"Oh yeah? I suppose Ben being born a couple of years after my grüßer bruder is just a coincidence then." She mocked.

"Ben's not your biological brother, Emma." Rob revealed shocking her.

"What!"

"Ben's your step mother's son not your father's, he's adopted." He said.

"Explain." Emma ordered icily.

"It was your mother's plan, she forced your father to go along with her to safe you and your brother, Ernst. She knew someone was planning her murder but didn't know who or how much did they know at the time, so she gathered the key members of the underworld through The Protectors to help her finding out who were they. She had a hunch on who they might be, but she needed to make sure it's them before she acted." He explained vaguely.

"Did she figured who they were?"

"Yes, just like you, she was quite smart, she was able to piece the puzzle together in due time. She knew the only way to enter their tight circle and to chase whatever suspicions they had about your family away, was through your father." He told her.

"My stepmother is not so innocent after all." Emma smirked knowingly.

"Yes, your mother knew her real identity right after she confirmed her suspicions about whomever was targeting her, so she convinced your father to approach her and pretend to have troubles with his wife. She knew your stepmother knows everything about your family and would recognise your father right away, so your mother had someone giving her your stepmother's daily schedule and found the perfect spot where her and your father would accidentally meet. Your father was firmly against the idea, believe it or not, he loved your mother endlessly. He's never had a proper night sleep after she died, the only thing that kept him going was the urge to protect the last reminder of her. You and your brother." Rob said with obvious sadness.

"You said mother wanted to chase suspicions away?" Emma asked, not commenting on Rob's last statement. She would be the one to decide whether her father is trustworthy or not.

"Yeah, they wanted to know who the Monarchs or what they call nowadays the Head Family is, so they gathered information on some of the most influential families in the underworld as potential targets just like what they did five years ago with Adam when they wanted to find the Protectors, only at that time they killed everyone on the list they gathered when they couldn't find them. They didn't want to risk anything and unfortunately your mother's name was among them." Rob said. "Your mother knew she was on the list, so she was racing against time. She knew she can't save herself, but wanted to save her family." He added.

"Nobody would suspect father as a Monarch because who in their right mind would leave the woman who gave him access to the most influential family in both the underworld and the business world, the Monarchs, to a nobody like my stepmother, that my mother's plan, wasn't it?" Emma asked.

"Yes, that was her plan, she knew he would be spared only if he left her and became their son-in-law, and knew you and your brother would be safe only if he treated you like a burden and acted like he doesn't care about you. That's when the drama began." He said.

"How come her death seemed as if she was shocked of Ben's sudden appearance?" Emma questioned.

"Your mother convinced your father that he needs to make your stepmother believe whatever delusion he was feeding her, and what a better way to do that than acting like a love sick puppy and offer to make her son his and announce him his sole heir even before they were married." Rob explained. "David stuck to the plan all of those years until six years ago he contacted your brother and explained everything to him when he saw how you two were drifting further apart from him each passing day. He wanted at least one of you to understand his reasons behind all of this, but he couldn't tell you anything because he knew your temper and he didn't want the plan your mother worked so hard on to fail. He wanted to give the underworld the evidence and justification to eradicate the supposedly dead traitors who were living under different names, even if it took him years to achieve that. But, at the same time, he wanted you strong and ready if anything were to go wrong that's why he sent me to you to train you and make you into the heir you're destined to be even though it went against your late mother's wishes." Rob added.

Emma knew he was avoiding her question but didn't know why. "I asked you a question Rob." She said calmly.

Rob sighed. "Your mother- she was poisoned for quite a while before she collapsed that day, it just happened that David brought Ben to the house at the same day she died." He replied.

"W- what?" Emma straightened up from her position when her mind registered his words so she was sitting stiffly straight. "There's no way she wouldn't have noticed, why didn't she stop it? Why didn't father!" Emma was shocked at the new revelation.

"She knew if she gave any indication she knew or made an attempt to get rid of the maid who was poisoning her every night, she would not only lose her life, she would lose you all. That's why she didn't let your father know or even get the hint anything was happening. She sacrificed herself for you to live." Rob explained. "Trust me David spent so much blaming himself before he knew about the poison, he thought she died because of him." He added.

Emma stood up, and started pacing behind the couch in circles.

She took the vessel from the table by the couch and threw it on the wall. "They didn't just kill her! They fucking tortured her for so fucking long!" Emma seethed with uncountable rage. "How difficult must it have been for her to bear all of the pain to herself and suffer in silence!" She kept on blabbing incoherently.

"Emma-"

"I will fucking slaughter them all, I'll show them what it's like to be hopelessly in pain for so long." She promised, darkly.

"Emma, you can't!" Rob cautioned.

"I can and I will." She argued.

"The Monarchs must always be in the shadows!" He reminded.

"Then, it's time they emerge from it."

"Emma-"

"What's the point of being the most influential family in the underworld when you can't use that strength to your advantage." She said.

"Your grandfather set the rule and your mother abided by it! You too are going to have to abide by it if you want the throne!" Rob snapped.

"All of this happened because of my grandfather softness, a world like ours is not a place for softness and compassion, no matter if the person deserves it or not. Power is all that one should possess to reign with a firm grip." Emma said. "The throne is already mine, and I sure as hell will start with a new set of rules." She promised.

"I want you to gather the whole underworld tomorrow morning at my grandfather's castle. The Monarchs' council." She ordered.

"Why?"

"I'll show those stupid heirs how they should have died like they were destined to be." She replied.

"Don't tell me-"

"It's about time the Monarchs emerge from the shadows."

A/N

Hello, lovelies!

So things are clearer now, most of the secrets are revealed, only the identities of Emma's enemies still unknown but it'll be revealed soon.

Hope you enjoy the chap.

Until next time, happy reading!