"You really think you''re still an eighteen-year-old girl? And your daughter''s just as much of a tramp as you are."


    The word "tramp" seemed to strike a nerve in Violet. Unhurried, she slid into the driver''s seat and flicked on the headlights.


    The beams sted across the lot, turning darkness into daylight. Sid squinted under the harsh light, shielding his eyes with one hand.


    Then Violet mmed her foot on the gas. The car hurtled toward Sid without hesitation.


    Sid panicked, terror freezing his limbs. He''d thought Violet wouldn''t dare, but the way she handled the car was unhinged-no matter where he ran, she kept the headlights trained on him, her aim unerring.


    Cornered, with nowhere left to run, Sid crumpled to his knees.


    "I''m sorry, okay? It''s all my fault-please, don''t hit me!"


    Violet gripped the wheel, stopping only at the veryst second. Sure, she wasn''t allowed to race anymore, but that didn''t mean she''d lost her touch behind the


    wheel.


    Yulia lit a cigarette, exhaling a thin stream of smoke as she stared coldly at Sid. "Get lost. And don''t ever show your face around me again."


    She slipped into the passenger seat.


    "So, is this why you called me here? Just to put on a show?"


    "No," Violet replied. "I wanted you to see the real man you''ve been sharing a bed with. Before you got any more attached. Mom, we''re running out of money. We''re almost broke. I don''t want to go back to the way things were."


    Yulia flicked her cigarette out the window, her chin raised as she blew out thest drag, her features twisted in bitterness.


    "You think I want things to go back to how they were? You think I don''t know that sleazebag was stringing me along? Men like him, they''re all the same liars, everyst one of them. Simms most of all. I''ve watched him for years, and look where that''s gotten me."


    Violet was silent for a moment.


    "I want to kill him."


    Yulia let out a dryugh, her face twisted with scorn. "You think I haven''t thought about it?"


    "If I kill him, I''m his only daughter. Everything he owns-his whole estate-would go to us. He''s got a stake in Golden Era Enterprises AS long as he''s alive, we''ll never see a penny. Thest woman he knocked up lost the baby, but that doesn''t mean he won''t keep trying to have a son. Mom, if we don''t get all his money, we''re going to lose everything. He wanted me to pour drinks for men, to sleep with them..."


    Violet''s eyes burned red with rage.


    Yulia watched Sid''s figure stumbling away in terror. "So what do you n to do?”


    Violet''s voice was icy. "One hit, one dead-it''s all the same. If someone else dies, as long as there''s enough money, it''ll all go away."


    A memory shed through her mind—a boy''s young, innocent face.


    She''d been driving too fast. The couple she hit died instantly, leaving only their son behind, sobbing in the street.


    She''d overheard Simms on the phone, buying off the authorities to bury the ident.


    The security camera at the corner was quietly removed. There was nothing to trace, no evidence left.


    If Simms died, all she''d need was a paternity test to inherit everything he owned, even hispany.


    She was sure-without Simms, she''d finally have room to breathe, to take control. She wouldn''t have to depend on anyone ever again.


    Yulia gave a sly, approving smile.


    Yulia gou''ve got the guts, I''m with


    "Fine. If


    you all the way. If he''s going to die, let''s make sure he stays dead."


    Violet nced at her, a slow smile spreading across her lips. "But I don''t trust you, and I won''t do it myself. I''m just telling you: from now on, we''re all we''ve got. Just the two of us."


    She paused, her voice growing soft but determined. "If we work together, there''s


    no end to how rich we could be. Don''t you think I''m right, Mom?"