The Abandoned Luna's Journey to Power Chapter 237: Just a Pathetic Clown

Cindy's POV:

I looked Evelyn up and down with a sneer, like my eyes were peeling her apart. "Evelyn, I was never jealous of you. I just look down on you. I look down on how you, as a woman, put other women down just to please some power-hungry guy. I look down on how you'll do anything to climb up, even if it means having no morals.

"Third." I stepped down the stairs and moved closer to her. "You said I'm too afraid to fight you? You're right, because you're just a pathetic clown to me. Killing you would get my hands dirty. Letting you live while you watch me reach heights you'll never even touch? That's the real punishment."

"Y-you..."

My presence forced Evelyn to keep backing away. Her face turned pale.

Shame, anger, jealousy, and despair mixed together until she completely lost control.

"Ahhh!!!"

She suddenly screamed, grabbed a large decorative vase nearby, and hurled it right at me.

"I'll kill you, you bitch!"

Crash!

The vase smashed on the floor, shards flying everywhere.

I didn't even flinch. I just stood there, watching the shards slide across the hem of my skirt.

"Jewel," I said, not even looking back. "Write it down. This vase was a gift from Baron Kazek. Market price, five silver coins. Send the bill to Duskfang Pack later. Have James pay for it."

"Yes, Ms. Cindy!" Jewel answered loudly.

That totally casual move completely broke Evelyn.

"You Rogue! You stray dog!" she screamed. "You think being a Duchess makes you noble? Deep down, you're still a kicked-out Rogue, a used-up woman no man wants!"

"Rogue?"

I smiled, but it never touched my eyes.

"Evelyn, did you forget who you are now?"

I stared at her, my voice low and heavy. "All your honors are gone. You're nothing but a Breeder with no rank or status in the pack. You're a birth machine living on Duskfang handouts. What right do you have to call me a Rogue?

"You're just a Breeder! What are you so arrogant for?!"

That word—Breeder—hit Evelyn right where it hurt most.

"I'm not a Breeder!" she screamed like a maniac. "I'm the Luna of Duskfang Pack! I'm the Luna James begged the King and the Council for! As long as I'm alive, Carrie can only be a second-best! I'm not stepping down!"

"Heh."

I looked at her like she was an idiot. "You're not stepping down? Like you have a choice?

"Go say that to Blackstone Pack. Go say that to Madam Carrie, who comes from a real major pack, with power and wealth."

Evelyn swayed, fear filling her eyes.

Seeing her like that pushed my disgust to the limit.

I was done talking.

I leaned in close and spoke slowly, in a voice only the two of us could hear, "By the way, I still haven't settled the score with you over the Battle of Evernight Gorge. Because of your greed, cruelty, and stupidity, the vampires came for revenge. Because of you, my Silverpeak Pack was wiped out. Evelyn, sometimes I really regret not tearing you apart back in Southreach."

Evelyn jerked her head up. Her pupils shrank, like she'd just heard a forbidden truth.

She stared at me, her lips trembling, looking like her soul had been ripped out.

In that instant, all her arrogance collapsed.

I looked her straight in the eyes. "Evelyn, listen carefully. Being alive is your biggest punishment. Death would be too fancy for you. It would be an escape. You get to rot in endless pain and regret."

"No ... that's not true..." Evelyn started struggling, swinging her hands to push me away. "I didn't... It was a mistake... Let me go!"

As she struggled, her black veil slipped off.

Her face was exposed in the morning light.

On her left cheek, the charred brand mark had scabbed over but still looked horrific—the mark of shame James had burned into her himself. On the right, her cut-off ear had healed, leaving only an ugly hole.

The face she used to be so proud of now looked like a devil's sketchbook.

"Ahhh! Don't look!" Evelyn screamed, trying to cover her face.