Encore of the Avenging Muse (Sylvia and Rupert) novel Chapter 557

“You’ve always had a thing for violence, but you could never quite find your perfect groove, could you? So you kept searching, experimenting—right up until that day you broke your girlfriend’s leg.”

“You’re obsessed with broken beauty, but none of them could ever match that ideal you’ve got in your head.”

“Then you met Reese—already wounded, already missing a piece—and suddenly, she was your goddess. Around her, you became this perfect gentleman. But there’s always been someone whispering in your ear, telling you you’ll never be good enough for her.”

At this point, Yves paused, fixing Sylvia with a sharp, suspicious glare.

“How the hell do you know all this?”

“Oh, you think that’s all I know?” Sylvia smiled slyly, leaning back a little. “If I keep going, you’ll figure out exactly how I know. Want me to prove it?”

All these details had been public knowledge in her past life, after the police got involved.

Yves was clearly out of patience—he balled his fists, his famously short temper flaring.

“Spit it out! Tell me everything!”

“After Reese went home to recover, you started trying to create your own goddess. That’s why all your wives ended up dead, isn’t it? None of them were even a tenth as perfect as Reese.”

“Exactly!” Yves snapped, teeth clenched. “They were hideous when they smiled! And always calling me a control freak behind my back. Like I didn’t know they only married me for my money. None of them could hold a candle to Reese’s purity.”

“And that’s why Kay keeps telling you you’ll never be worthy of Reese, right? Your hands are stained with blood—you’d only taint your goddess. But you could still protect her, keep her pure, as long as you ‘clean up’ the people who might hurt her.”

Yves didn’t answer, but his face told Sylvia she’d hit the mark.

After a long moment, Yves seemed to put the pieces together.

“Kay told you all this?”

“Of course. How else would I know so many details? She’s just using you, by the way. She’s in love with Mr. Edwin,” Sylvia added smoothly.

“What?” Yves’s eyebrows shot up, his whole face darkening.

“She never mentioned it? She and Edwin dated, you know. All these years she’s stayed single, not for her career, but waiting for Edwin. But he turned around and married my mother instead. Kay couldn’t stand it, so she started using you to get at us—”

“Wait—did Sylvia tell you all this? Don’t let her fool you,” Kay protested loudly on the other end.

Kay’s breathing faltered for a moment, but she quickly recovered.

Kay heaved a dramatic sigh, still using Reese to pull Yves’s strings.

Yves started to calm down, but out of the corner of his eye caught Sylvia making a break for the door.

“Bitch! Where do you think you’re going?”

At the sound of his shout, Sylvia yanked the door open and bolted.

But when she saw what was waiting outside, she froze in her tracks.