The Billionaire’s Hidden Heiress
[Book 2] Chapter 118

Dawn POV

Karen's face was wreathed in smiles as I was dragged to the car, my hands restrained tightly behind me, a look of madness in her glittering eyes. She was dressed up in a black cocktail dress, heels, and loose-flowing hair with a long fur-lined jacket over it. She looked glamorous like a model, hardly what you would expect somebody to wear at midnight on a cold and chilly night. My attempts to resist the strong arms dragging me were futile. "It's time" Karen sang and I knew that it was approaching the hour when she would be facing down Knox and lan, a triumphant look on her face as I was shoved into the car, Karen getting in deftly beside me and crossing her ankles, her eyes shining. She looked calm, almost serene in nature, instead of psychotic, but looks could be deceiving. "Where are we going?" I asked, still feeling the pain that throbbed in my thigh, a burning sensation that had yet to fade. I gritted my teeth.

She gave a mysterious smile "To a place that my daughter calls home. A place that I'm forced to visit whenever I wish to speak to her" Her voice is nonchalant but nonetheless sends chills down my spine.

Her daughter's resting place? I feel a sickening feeling in my gut. Surely she couldn't be alluding to...could she? Of all places to confront the Grant boys, she had chosen her daughter's cemetery and resting place. Did she have no decency, no sense of shame? Was her anger that intense she would risk the desecration of a sacred place to get the revenge she was after? A mother would not do that, would they? Or had she lost all sense of what was right and decent in her desire to get her revenge? "You're meeting them at the cemetery" My voice was low and filled with revulsion.

She c****d her head, even as the engine began to start on the large car, the men taking a second vehicle, while some were seated beside us. "Why do you sound so horrified by that notion?" she asked amused "It's not as though it's your family member lying dead below the dirt."

"Do you think this is what Charlotte would want?" the words burst out of me before I could control myself, my frustration increasing by the minute as I realized how helpless I was to prevent all this from happening, how bound I was, and how useless I was. Slap. I felt her palm connect with my flesh, blinking back tears as pain flared through my cheek.

"You know nothing" Karen hissed, while the men stared stoically ahead, making no noise, their eyes focussed in front of them, "how dare you speak Charlotte's name so casually" she sneered "My daughter would want exactly what I'm doing. She would want me to avenge her death. She would be proud of what I've achieved and what tonight would result in. For you to speak down like that..." she exhaled and narrowed her eyes, even as I stared at her in defiance "who do you think you are?" she demanded icily. "Karen, this is only going to end in bloodshed. Charlotte is dead" I tried once more to reason with her, aware that time was slipping by, my desperation growing.

"Because of them" she snapped "all of the Grants need to die. Do you think I've forgotten about Grayson's part in all of this or Flair's" Her voice was rising almost to a shriek as I winced from the ear-piercing sound of her voice permeating through my ears "They are next on the list. All of them, all of you" she amended, staring down her lashes at me "will be punished for your parts in her murder."

"She wasn't murdered, she killed herself" I said tightly, "are you trying to rewrite history now? Your daughter committed suicide Karen, nobody killed her."

"She never would have done that if she had other options. The Grants as good as murdered her "Karen sneered "and now I'm going to do the same to them. I only wish Charlotte was alive to see this. It would have made her so happy" she lamented. "You're delusional" I breathed, staring at her, my face pale, my complexion almost transparent, it was so white, "you're not thinking clearly."

"I'm thinking clearly for the first time in my life. The day of reckoning has come. The Grants have always thought they were superior to anyone else, but they have their flaws like everyone else. Weaknesses. Lorelai, their children, you" she cast me a sharp glance "Who would have guessed that love would be their greatest downfall of all" she crowed "Even the most powerful of men can be brought to his knees when he replaces the love of his life. I have you to thank for that Dawn. After lan lost the love of his life in college, why, nobody ever thought he would replace love again, but you" she paused and shook her head, a small smile curved on her lips "you managed to get that cold, dead, heart of his beating once more. You should be proud of yourself" she complimented me. I gritted my teeth fighting back the words I wanted to say to her. She let out a giggle. The car slowly turned and then pulled over to the side, its engine cutting out. Karen looked out the window and gave a long smile. "We're here," she said, her voice a light lilt, "it's been a while since I've said hello to my daughter" she added as the men clambered out of the car, one of them opening her door and assisting her to get out. I was unceremoniously dragged out of the car and shoved hard onto my feet, my arms gripped tightly before being released. I debated running for it, but with so many men and Karen so close, it was futile. I would have been grabbed within moments of trying. I blinked, glancing around the empty cemetery which was foreboding and eerie, as Karen began to direct her men into place, casually reaching out and grabbing me by the arm, her manicured nails digging into my skin as I winced.

"Everybody gets into position" she instructed, putting something into her ear "And confirm your earpieces are working. Quadrant 1 please respond" she demanded.

Silence. I could see her frowning and surmised that she was being told something in her ear as she gave a subtle nod. "Okay, now let's go," she told me, dragging me towards an open gate as I stumbled and staggered beside her, my eyes on all the gravestones and mausoleums as we walked by, some with fresh flowers on the sites and others with dead ones. I shivered. It seemed wrong that we were intruding on sacred ground, disturbing spirits at rest, and I felt guilty as Karen dragged me through the gate and then up through a trail leading towards the very back of the cemetery, her hair billowing in the wind as it began to pick up. I was running out of time. Soon Karen would have the upper hand and there would be nothing I could do to stop her. I was running out of ideas. All I knew was that if lan came after me, there was very little chance that either of us was going to survive. Karen had planned for everything.

I had expected Charlotte's gravestone to be large, or even a mausoleum but instead, her gravestone was a simple one, almost impossible to replace unless you knew exactly where to go. I could read her name on the top as we stumbled towards

it.

Charlotte Deluca, beloved daughter, and her child. As we drew nearer, Karen's facial expression changed to one of devastation and anguish, as she made us stand to one side of it. She placed a careful hand on the stone, as I looked away, her hand stroking the gravestone almost lovingly. "Charlotte" she whispered, "Mother is here. Just like she promised. I haven't forgotten you. I never forget about you or the grandchild I should have been able to hold in my arms. I'm doing exactly what I said I would do. I'm going to make lan and Knox pay. I will be with you, no matter what happens tonight, I'm going to be with you again just like I promised."

Her voice broke slightly.

Charlotte didn't answer. She couldn't. The way Karen spoke to the gravestone, it was almost as though Charlotte was responding to her in her mind. How many times had Karen come out here to speak to her daughter? It couldn't have been many, not with Knox on the lookout for her. Perhaps this was the first time she had been able to speak to Charlotte in months, making it even more bittersweet for her. She sounded lost, almost childlike as she talked to the child she no longer had. I glanced around the cemetery uneasily. I had expected Karen to have men with her. I could almost sense there were some nearby. But she was the only one out in the open like this with me. What was her plan? Was she planning on dying? Was that what she meant by being with Charlotte again? My eyes widened in alarm. Karen slowly pulled out a gun from her handbag and pressed it against my head, wrapping her arm around me tight as I struggled weakly against her.

"It's almost showtime," she said, glancing up at the sky, the brilliance of the full moon above us and lighting the way as she held the gun carelessly in her hand "Are you ready to die Dawn? I promise to make it quick" she said almost apologetically "you deserve that at least. whereas lan and Knox will go slowly and painfully" she vowed, tightening her grip on the gun, while I listened, my heart pounding loudly in my chest "and I will finally be where I belong."

"If you want to die so badly to be with Charlotte then why not do it now and save everybody else the trouble" I spat out. She laughed "Oh, I intend to die, but not without taking them with me. I can't die until I've seen the light fade from their eyes and heard the sounds of their screams. I've worked too hard for this. I wish I could have got all of them, but as it stands, I'll settle for taking out the two Grant boys as recompense. Karma will get Flair eventually. Just you wait."

"It's not going to work Karen" I breathed, feeling the cold barrel of the gun against my forehead and trying not to violently shake in my spot, "they aren't going to fall for such a blatant trap."

She smirked. "Oh Dawn" she sighed "such optimism. You want the man you love to live and I'm willing to bet that he feels the same way towards you. Shall we see which one of us is right?" she asked, glancing at her wristwatch and raising a brow "it's quarter to midnight. If it gets to even one minute past and there's no signs of the boys" she sang, beginning to pull the safety off "I'll shoot you right in the head. How do you feel about that?" she asked leaning in close and peering at me as I struggled to answer.