Secrets? Never.

5. Hell Hath No Fury

You know what they say; 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'. Emily Grayson was no exception. When she was cast aside by Aiden Mathis, the person who, in her mind, she could always return to if worst came to worst, a part of her died. But, like a phoenix that rises anew from the ashes of its former self, she didn't stay down for long, and when she arose once more, she returned stronger, and more determined than ever. Replenished and strengthened by her own previous demise, having learned from her mistakes, and ready to begin again, to reset the pins and take another turn.

Emily took pleasure in aligning herself with the likes of the phoenix. She had always felt an affinity with such creatures, even though they were nonexistent. She liked the idea that even something as soul-crushing and earth-shattering as death itself couldn't prevent her from reaching her goals. Which, in some respects was true; she'd lost the man she'd come to recognise as the love of her life, their entire relationship being reduced to nothing more than an illicit fling on both ends; the man she settled for cheated on her, and here she was, in an alcohol-induced stupor, waiting for something to pull her out of it.

She took a long, hard look at where her life had gone. She thought about where she'd assumed she'd be at this time, when she began to go about exacting her plot for revenge. She'd always figured she'd be close to the end by now, if not finished already. She never in a million years thought she'd have children, though. She would have to speed things up, and exact the abridged version of her plot. One in which, she would end up drawing the short straw for sure. But this, as they say, is the nature of revenge.

Sounds could be heard emanating from the nursery. Lifting her head, Emily recognised the noise as crying, she tentatively edged her way out of her bedroom, into that of her son. She felt an odd sense of calm wash over her as she leaned over the infant, and, as he looked into her eyes, and her into his, his cries ceased, just as the nanny ran up the stairs clutching Danny's bottle. "I've got it, he's stopped crying." Emily smiled at the young woman, who was taken aback by her presence. Emily told her she could go home for the day, and once she'd left, Emily took Danny into her arms for the first time in what had felt like forever, and sat in the rocking chair in which she'd rocked his two sisters, watching him slowly lose his fight with sleep, and shut his big blue eyes.

She sat with him in her arms for what couldn't have been more than an hour, but felt like years; just watching his little chest rise and fall steadily as he breathed in and out, again an again. Before she knew it, Emily had become entranced by this little blonde creature. She wondered what, and who, he'd grow up to be. Would he be a doctor? A lawyer? A scientist? A priest? A writer? Or, she shuddered to think, would he carry on the family business of under the table deals and laundering money? Would he become his great grandfather? His grandfather? She swore to herself right then and there that she'd keep her son from such a fate; and her daughters too, for that matter.

Something needed to be done. Something should've been done over ten years ago, Emily thought. She should've taken the Grayson matriarch and patriarch down a long time ago, instead of letting them continue with their wicked ways for substantially longer than she'd intended. But... if she were to take the Graysons down... no... it couldn't be...

Having been driven to a point of madness that both dazzled and dizzied her by her own thoughts and plans, culminating in the realisation that, to take down the Graysons, she'd have to go down with them.

And go down she most certainly did.

© Sarah Egan 2014 - 2015. All rights reserved. This story is subject to copyright and may not be copied or reproduced without the express permission of the author.