Jessica mmed her hand down on the polished oak table, Her voice echoing through the wide foyer.


    "Enough of this!" She red at Alex, her eyes wild with desperation.


    "Hand over the antidote, Alex! We''ll count this as our loss, but I won''t let Charles die. Not like this."


    Alex paused only for a split second, hatred etched into every rigid line of his jaw.


    Then he turned away without a word and strode out the grand entrance, his boots pounding hard against the marble floor.


    The echo lingered, mocking Jessica''s plea.


    Jessica''s heart sank. She could see it clearly: Alex had no intention of saving Charles.


    Charles clutched his side, trembling as unbearable pain crawled through his veins.


    Sweat poured down his temples, his face a mask of pure agony.


    "I''m sorry!" he shouted, his voice shaking as he fought to stay upright. "Please... just give me the antidote, I swear I won''t ever cross your path again!"


    His pride-once unshakeable-had shattered under the threat of death.


    It took everything in him to spit those words out, to humble himself before someone he''d always treated as beneath him.


    But Alex was long gone.


    Jasmine stood still, her posture poised, her gaze a ded edge slicing the thick tension.


    Alex just whispered to her,


    "In a world that devours the soft-hearted, kindness bes a liability, and mercy a fatal w."


    Jessica''s eyes snapped to her.


    "Jasmine," she yelled, "Give your brother the antidote-now."


    Jasmine folded her arms, her sigh carrying a lifetime''s worth of frustration.


    "Must you always defend Charles, Mother? Even now, when he''s the one trying to destroy me?"


    Jessica''s restraint frayed. "Stop it!" she hissed, turning on her daughter. "He is your brother!"


    "Mother," Jasmine demanded, "if you had to choose between me or Charles, who would you save?"


    Jessica''s voice trembled as she tried to keep control.


    "There''s no choice to make. You are both my children. I refuse to lose either of you."


    A sad, bitterugh escaped Jasmine''s lips. "Funny how you say that, yet every time Charles waves a knife my way, you stay silent. The moment he''s the one in trouble, you rush to his side like I''m not even here."


    Charles watched them, his face ashen, his breath jagged. "Jasmine," he croaked, "I-I never meant to actually kill you. I only wanted to scare you off."


    Jasmine turned to him, eyes unyielding. "Spare me the pathetic lies. I might be a ''mere woman'' in your eyes, but I''m not stupid."


    Jessica cleared her throat, trying to summon authority she barely felt


    "Jasmine, what... what do you want?" she asked. It came out quieter than she intended, almost pleading.


    Jasmine''s voice dropped, cold as steel. "I''ll give him onest chance. But if he ever tries to hurt me again, if I even sense danger from him, I''ll go for kill. No more family ties, no more mercy."


    Charles clutched his head, the bacteria pounding inside his skull. His voice shook with rage and pain. "You... you''re threatening me?"


    She spun the small ss vial in her hand-the antidote that Alex had secretly slipped her on his way out. Threatening you? Don''t tter yourself. I''m simply returning the favor."


    Jessica''s voice cracked through the tension, raw and trembling.


    46


    "Jasmine, that''s enough. Give Charles the antidote. Now. If he dies, can you live with that on your conscience?"


    "If his conscience can bear the thought of murdering me, then mine can just as easily bear the price of returning the favor." Jasmine''s lip curled.


    "Enough!" Jessica stopped it.


    "He started this war-he lost, so he kneels. That''s the cost of picking a fight you couldn''t finish. Next time, I won''t waste mercy. And you," she snapped, turning to her mother with fire in her eyes, "you should''ve stood between us before Charles tried to put me in a grave. But you didn''t. So don''t stand there now, pretending you''ve earned the right to preach morality."


    Jessica bristled. "He is your brother," she hissed.


    "Not anymore," Jasmine said quietly. "Not after he tried to kill me. Charles started this; now he''s on the receiving end, and you''re howling in outrage. Tell me, Mother, do you even have a shred of dignity left?"


    "You-!" Jessica growled, herposure cracking.


    She wanted to tower over her daughter, to use authority to crush this insolence, but she knew the power Jasmine held was all too real-and protected by Alfred, Jessica''s husband.


    "Answer me," Jessica insisted, forcing a steadiness into her tone that she didn''t feel. "Will you give me that antidote, or won''t you?"


    Jasmine held her gaze, unblinking. "Only if Charles kneels and apologizes. Publicly, sincerely. No half-baked nonsense."


    Charles''s eyes shed with fury.


    In a single violent shudder, he sank to his knees.


    The impact of bone on marble echoed around them. He gritted his teeth, trying to


    contain the spiral of nausea and pounding in his head.


    He aimed a cold, deathly re at Jasmine.


    "Are you prepared for the consequences, sister?" he spat, voice low and venomous. “Because when I stand back up, you''ll regret this day."


    Jasmine regarded him with terrifying calm. "Do it, then. Look at the floor and beg.


    Or die on your feet. Your choice,"


    "Charles trembled, every nerve in his body screaming in protest.


    Pride warred with survival inside him.


    After a moment''s hesitation, he bowed his head-whether from the raging poison


    or the agony of humility, neither Jessica nor Jasmine could be sure.


    "Just give him the antidote, Jasmine!" Jessica snapped, her patience shattered. "He''s on his knees. Enough is enough."


    Jasmine flicked a nce at Charles, taking in the sweat beading on his brow, the tremor in his limbs.


    Then, finally, with deliberate slowness, she knelt down and held out the vial.


    "If you ever try to kill me again," she whispered, her voice etched with quiet savagery, "I''ll make you beg me to finish the job. And I won''t be so generous next time."


    Charles didn''t speak. He clenched the vial in shaking fingers, eyes locked on Jasmine''s with pure hatred.


    One swallow could save him-yet the taste of humiliation would linger far longer.


    The moment he coughed down the antidote, the tension shattered. Jessica copsed against the wall, relief and rage warring in her eyes.


    Jasmine rose to her feet, ignoring her mother''s re.


    Without another nce, she turned and stalked away, leaving Charles kneeling, chest heaving, and Jessica torn between two children who had turned into bitter enemies under her own roof.


    She hated seeing her son humbled like this, but she also saw a side of Jasmine that chilled her blood.


    It was in the unyielding hardness of her daughter''s eyes-eyes that had once sparkled with innocence.


    Maybe she didn''t mean to. But somewhere along the way... she created something else.


    A daughter hardened by silence, by betrayal, by being left to fight alone.


    She made another kind of monster-one that could kill without hesitation, without remorse... without even realizing it.


    Because Jasmine didn''t fight for revenge anymore-she fought because it''s the only way not to be devoured. And if Charles dared to pull her strings again... the bacsh wouldn''t just be brutal.


    It would be unforgivable. Unstoppable. Unsurvivable.


    Jessica never noticed when her daughter stopped crying and started sharpening knives.


    Now... she was starting to see it.


    Toote.


    "Today''s Jasmine was not made of softness, but of steel-forged in silence and


    scorched by injustice. And it was razor sharp.''