The Queen Who Fights Back (by Lily Hastings) novel Chapter 137

Chapter 137

“You don’t need to lay a finger on me!” Duff called out.

He sat slumped on the floor; just moments ago, he’d been the cocky old fox, but now, he looked nothing more than a crippled paper tiger.

Shrunken, powerless, utterly spent.

He called out, his voice trembling in the silence.

Even his elite Bluewing Squad was now completely at the mercy of the Shadow Sanctum’s assassins.

There was no turning back for him now.

Duff glanced at Nova, but in the end, his gaze settled on Damien.

He said, “For the Greslin family, having you is our greatest honor.

“You make both me and our ancestors truly proud!

“Our family has always followed the harsh rule–only the strongest survive.

“That’s the only way our family will never die out!”

Duff pointed around, motioning to those Greslin heirs lurking in the shadows upstairs and down.

He warned, “After I’m gone, you better remember!”

“Wipe out all the useless vermin too!

“The Greslin family only needs one king!”

And by “useless vermin,” he was calling out those Greslin heirs who didn’t measure up, the ones considered unworthy.

In every powerful family, when siblings are involved, everyone claws their way towards being the sole heir, scheming and plotting against one another.

History shows it best–brothers slaughtering brothers and siblings turning on each other, all for the throne.

But in the Greslin family, they’ve got a rule: to stop that kind of tragedy, only the strongest gets to rule as king.

If anyone looks like they could threaten your throne–even just a maybe–wipe them out. No mercy.

This was Duff’s last piece of advice for Nova and Damien.

The pistol clicked.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Duff drew his handgun and chambered a round.

He pressed the barrel to his own forehead, lifted his chin skyward, and declared in a heavy voice,

“No Greslin ever fears death!

“The Greslin family will flourish for all eternity!”

Bang!

The last thing heard was the crack of the gunshot.

The echo of the gunshot faded, Duff crumpled to the ground.

He died with his eyes wide open.

Not from resentment, but from the hope that his family would have someone strong enough to carry on.

Nova witnessed everything with a cold, unfeeling gaze, standing high on the spiral staircase, looking every bit the uncrowned queen.

Damien stood right behind her.

With the four elders gone, the days of them pulling the strings in the Greslin family were gone for good.

Nova glanced over at Damien. “Is there anyone you want to spare?”

She was running Damien’s crew like it was second nature, tossing out orders without even missing a beat.

If someone didn’t know the truth, they’d straight up think she was the real master of the Shadow Sanctum, not Damien.

Damien’s icy, fathomless gaze swept down the spiral staircase, settling on Eskin, who was cautiously poking his head out from below.

Nova didn’t need words; she knew exactly what he was thinking.

She smirked coolly.

Her chilling command echoed through the hall.

“Kill them all!”

Duff had no clue—the way Nova and Damien handled things would make his worst nightmares look tame. They’d only ever prove far more brutal than he ever guessed.

In the end, the only ones left standing in the Greslin family were Dean, Eskin, and Wendy–who hadn’t shown up at the Greslin Gala–as well as Cruz’s mother, Tini.

The rest of the Greslin clan, as long as they weren’t linked to the four elders, survived too.

With the four elders gone, the Greslin family was now left in the hands of Dean–the king in name, but nothing more than a figurehead.

But all the true power? That was Dean’s now; he held the reins over everything in the Greslin family.

The very first thing Dean did after seizing full control of the family was to divorce Tini, Cruz’s mother.

The Greslin family’s castle hall, once a sea of blood and bodies, had been swept clean.

Now, only Nova, Damien, Dean, and Tini remained.

Outside the castle, Aiden and Shanlock were quietly swapping intel.

They stood far enough away and kept their voices low.

Even with Nova’s keen hearing, all she could pick up was Aiden whispering about some personal problems- words like “that stuff,” “not working out,” “barely lasts twenty minutes,” and even “impotent” drifted her way in bits and pieces.

But she didn’t pay it any mind.

Down on the first floor of the castle hall.

Tini was, frankly, hideous–her looks were almost a one–to–one copy of Cruz. With a saint’s medal draped around her neck and an air of religious devotion, she looked every bit the devout matron.

Over the years, she’d given birth to a staggering seventeen children in the Greslin family.

It was almost like clockwork–one baby every year.

With all those kids everywhere and Cruz shipped off to the international underground at just five, Tini and him were never close–any hint of motherly affection was pretty much wiped out.

At her side stood a man dressed in that signature Bluewing knight gear.

The two joined hands and gave Dean a deep, respectful bow.

“Thanks for letting us go, Dean. Honestly, we couldn’t have made it through these years without you.”

Tini was just another casualty of those cold–blooded arranged marriages that powerful families loved to play.

Long before she ever married Dean, Tini already had someone she truly loved–but her family forced her into the Greslin household, breaking her heart in the process.

She figured they’d cut her off from her lover for good, locking her away in the Greslin family for the rest of her days.

But what Tini never saw coming–her true love actually slipped inside the Greslin family and became one of the Bluewing knights, hiding right under everyone’s nose.

For years, their affair stayed strictly under wraps–sneaking around behind closed doors and keeping it a secret from everyone.

But one day, everything came crashing down when Dean stumbled onto their little secret.

The moment she got busted, Tini was convinced her life was over–her heart nearly stopped with fear.

But to her utter disbelief, Dean just shrugged it off.

They ended up with a pretty sweet deal–helping each other out while keeping their true feelings hidden from the world.

Any time Tini wanted to sneak off for a secret rendezvous, Dean would act as their lookout, making sure nobody got suspicious.

In return, Tini put on a flawless show as Dean’s dutiful wife whenever they needed to fool the outsiders.

This partnership let them pull it off for more than two decades, fooling all the family elders without ever getting caught.

And to keep things extra quiet, Dean never breathed a word of it to Wendy.

So Tini and Dean were married in name only–there was nothing real between them as husband and wife.

Cruz and those other dozen kids? Each one was Tini’s child with her true love, not Dean.

The reason her kids all had that iconic Greslin copper hair? As soon as they were born, they were injected with a custom serum to dye their hair copper, making them look the part.

“Glad you finally found some happiness,” Dean said, shaking Tini’s hand. For two people who’d spent half their lives trapped by family expectations, this was the one thing they truly saw eye to eye on.

He added, “If things get tough after you leave the Greslin family, don’t hesitate to call me.

“Whatever you need, I’ll help.”

Tini blinked back tears, a shaky smile breaking through as she scrubbed at her eyes.

“Seriously… Thank you. I mean it–thank you!”

Nova stood quietly on the steps of the spiral staircase, watching everything unfold like a silent queen overseeing her court.

She was three steps above Damien, her hand casually ruffling his messy brown hair, toying with him like it was second nature.

She was thoroughly amused.

She kept mussing up his hair until it was a wild, tangled mess–one step away from a proper bird’s nest.

Damien didn’t utter a single protest.

But the real kicker was-

His hair was an absolute mess, practically a bird’s nest, yet it didn’t take away from his looks–instead, it made him even more irresistible.

If anything, that tousled disaster only gave his sharp features a kind of fierce, chaotic allure that was impossible to ignore.

Nova’s desire flared dangerously; if they hadn’t been in the castle hall, she would have dragged him straight to bed without a second thought.

“Little lady.”

Just then, a woman’s voice rang out from behind.

It was Damien’s real mom, Wendy.

She’d finally escaped the lighthouse where she’d been imprisoned for more than a decade, and now the truth had come out–Dean had never once betrayed her.

Nova straightened up and turned her eyes to Wendy.

As Wendy approached, her face shone with a newfound vitality, no longer clouded by years of hardship and emptiness.

She said, “I’ve heard everything.

“You and my son–you truly are from the same world.

“I misjudged you before.”

She shot Damien a meaningful look.

“You’ve landed yourself an incredible girl–don’t ever let her slip away. Make sure you treat her right.”

Just then, Dean came back after sending Tini and her man off. Now that the place was cleared out, there wasn’t a single outsider left.

As he headed up the spiral staircase, he called out, “You two–I’ve got to say, you really shocked me.

“I’ll be honest, I’ve never seen anything like this before, not once in all my years.

“The way you two work together? You make a hell of a team!”

Wendy still had plenty of issues with the Greslin family, and she shot Dean a teasing look, obviously calling him out.

“With genes that powerful, judging by your family’s usual ways, I thought you guys wouldn’t stop until you had enough kids to fill an entire castle!”

Nova blinked, her interest clearly piqued.

“No kids,” Damien cut in, cold and firm. His sharp features were set with absolute determination.

“I’ll never let her suffer the pain of childbirth.”

Compared to her, kids mean nothing.

Dean knew Wendy was throwing shade at him, but he never expected Damien to drop a bombshell like that. He coughed awkwardly, trying to cover up his surprise.

“Ahem…”

Once the awkward moment had passed, Dean looked at Nova, then Damien, before finally addressing Nova. “Little lady, the way you handled things just now? Honestly, you’re just as sharp as my son.

“So, Nova, care to share which international powerhouse or family you hail from?”

Truth was, Dean was already starting to calculate just how steep the bride price might be if he had to go to Nova’s family to handle the marriage negotiations on Damien’s behalf.

He was mentally prepping himself for whatever bombshell Nova might drop.

After all, she was connected to the master of the Shadow Sanctum, and her skills looked every bit as lethal as

Damien’s.

There was no way she was just some random nobody.

Even so, Nova’s answer still left Dean and Wendy staring at her, shocked beyond words–the kind of stunned look you’d get if someone just dropped a bomb in the room.

Chapter 138