POV: Sofia
The silence in my penthouse was my only confidant. I stood before the grand fireplace, but my eyes weren't on the flames. They were locked on the two portraits hanging side-by-side.
On the left, my mother, Flora. Her smile was a ghost, a memory of a warmth extinguished too soon.
On the right, my father, Esteban Mendoza. His cold, arrogant eyes judged me even from beyond the grave.
I lifted a glass of blood-red wine to my lips.
"Look at me now, Papá," I hissed at his portrait, my voice a low, guttural thing. "Your dirty little secret. The daughter you hid like a stain on your perfect suit."
I ran my finger over the edge of the ashtray. "You gave Ray your name. You gave him your empire. And look what he did with it! A billion-dollar debt! He's a pathetic worm!"
I spun to my mother's portrait, my laughter sharp and brittle. "And you! Crying over your friend Isabella! 'Oh, poor Isabella!' She had everything! A name, a crown, a family the world could see! While we hid in the shadows, choking on your shame!"
The fury was a living thing in my chest, clawing its way up my throat. I hurled the ashtray. It didn't smash against the wall. It smashed through my father's portrait, the glass exploding, the canvas tearing right across his smug face.
"YOU SEE?!" I screamed at the ruined painting, my chest heaving. "I AM YOUR MASTERPIECE! THE MONSTER YOU CREATED! AND I'M GOING TO USE THE FERNANDEZ FORTUNE TO BURN YOUR LEGACY TO THE GROUND AND BUILD MY OWN CASTLE ON THE ASHES!"
I was screaming now, spittle flying, my perfectly coiffed hair coming undone. I grabbed a dagger laying on a stand and slammed it into the mahogany mantelpiece, where it stuck, quivering.
My phone buzzed. I snatched it, my breathing ragged.
GUARD 74: He's asking for you. The debts are all he talks about.
A cold smile touched my lips. Perfect.
The door didn't just open. It exploded inward under the force of my will. I stood in the frame, the sterile light of the hallway casting my long, twisted shadow over him.
My breath was coming in short, sharp gasps, my hair a wild corona around my face. I could feel the madness shining in my eyes, a beautiful, burning clarity.
My brother, Ray Mendoza, the so-called heir, looked up from his chair. For a second, I saw the ghost of the arrogant boy he used to be, before our father's debts and his own weakness hollowed him out.
"Sofia?" he rasped, his voice thin with fear. "What's... what's happening?"
I didn't answer. I just smiled. A wide, slow, terrifying smile that stretched my face until it ached. I took a step into the room, and he shrank back.
"I got it, Ray," I sang, my voice a lilting, unhinged melody. "The money. All of it. Every last billion. The Fernandez fortune is mine."
His face transformed. Relief washed over him, so profound it was pathetic. A weak, hopeful smile touched his lips. "You... you did it? You saved us?"
I took another step, my heels clicking like bones on the tile. "Oh, I saved something, brother." I leaned in close, so close I could smell the fear-sweat on him.
My smile vanished, replaced by a look of glacial possession. "But this empire? It's not yours anymore. It's mine."
The hope on his face shattered into pure confusion. "What? Sofia, what are you talking about? We're partners! We're family!"
"Family?" I threw my head back and laughed, a raw, scraping sound that echoed in the white room. "Family is a fairy tale for cowards! You were the heir! And you let it all crumble to dust! You don't deserve the Mendoza name."
Panic flashed in his eyes. "Guards!" he shouted, his voice cracking. "GUARDS!"
Nothing. The two men stationed outside the door didn't even turn their heads.
My smile returned, predatory and sweet. "They can't hear you, Ray." I raised my voice just a fraction, a queen issuing her first command. "Anton. Marco."
The two guards stepped into the room instantly, their faces blank, their eyes fixed on me. "Yes, Miss Reyes?"
The betrayal broke Ray. He stared, mouth agape, as his last shred of power evaporated.
"You see?" I whispered to him. "They answer to a real leader now."
The rage, the years of being overlooked, of being the secret, the shame... it all boiled over into a single, perfect moment of violence.
With a shriek of pure, ecstatic fury, I lunged forward and kicked the leg of his chair with all my strength.
The chair screeched, spinning wildly. Ray cried out, his arms flailing, his face a blur of terror. He crashed into the far corner with a sickening thud, the chair tipping over, leaving him a crumpled, weeping heap on the floor.
I walked over, standing over him, my shadow consuming him. I was breathing heavily, my heart hammering a triumphant rhythm in my chest.
"This is my empire now, brother," I panted, my voice dripping with manic glee. "Built from the ashes of yours. And your only role is to watch me rule it."
I turned to the guards, my eyes blazing.
"Get him up. He needs to learn his new place. On his knees."