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When it was revealed he was my father, that should’ve been the end of it. He lost all of his credibility as a director and his position is threatened. But Aiden and I are being held captive, which means he was never the true target…never the true king. If the directors are not being targeted, then the only option left is something bigger than a director. What’s bigger than a director? Well, it’s the place they are in charge of—Eden.

I just haven’t figured out why yet.

“No, it’s not him. I know that for sure.”

He hesitantly says, “Babe.” I can feel him desperately trying to figure out what to say.

I shake my head. “Hear me out. You get set up by your closest friend for breaking the rules. Then, the system glitches causing souls to get released and it affects the Karma system. With the Karma system being affected, the wrong souls got recruited as reapers. To top it off, the system shuts down all together resulting in everyone having to manually collect and process souls. Before we could even take a breather, Taevian is revealed to be my father in court. Lastly, there are, for all we know, a bunch of reapers who have turned to the dark side.” I pause in thought. “Follow me here…when we think about the directors, who would be negatively impacted by this?”

“Well, the IT department because they control the system. Also, Hell, Collection, Reaper’s Resources, and Soul Directory. All those departments had major blow backs.”

“Now, which department was the least affected?”

“Reaper’s Court and Heaven department,” he says slowly, as if it’s starting to click for him.

“Reaper’s Court was just established, and the director is newly appointed. Therefore, it’s unlikely he could have created such an elaborate plan. So, what does that leave us with?” I stop pacing and look in the general direction of where he is. I can almost hear the gears shifting in his head as he mulls over the question that I already know the answer to.

It’s well-known in chess that the queen is the most powerful piece—able to move in any direction she pleases, and can easily manipulate those around her. The queen is the piece you do not use until you have developed your other pieces. Aiden and I are the last pieces that need to be developed.

No.

I am the last piece. They were never after Aiden. He just happened to be with me. They need me for something…or someone.

“Wait, so it can only be—” he begins to say as the door opens. The lights flicker on, revealing the villainous bitch who smiled in my face while actively trying to harm us and take over Eden.

I smirk. “Speak of the devil and they shall appear,” I announce.

“Well, Ms. Parker. You really know how to put those lawyer skills to work,” she replies mockingly as she walks in wearing a terrible gold suit. Actually, it is very stylish. I just despise her, which means I have to hate her suit too. “Hello to you, too, Mr. Kim.”

I laugh humorlessly. “Well, if it isn’t Director Jia Young. You’ve finally graced us with the other side of your two faces.” I look her up and down. “I knew you were too nice. No one is that nice, unless they are a psychopath.”

She rolls her eyes and grimaces. “I’m not a psychopath, Ms. Parker. No need to be rude. I did not come here to threaten you.”

Of course, that’s what all villains say before they proceed to threaten you when you don’t comply with their plans.

I tilt my head in question and retort, “Would you prefer to be called a bitch? I don’t have a preference.” The grin is wiped right off as her eyes darken and her face hardens.

Ah, there she is.

She takes a step back and makes a gesture towards someone. Two reapers walk in, one towards Aiden and the other to me.

Aiden glares towards the reaper heading to me. “Don’t you fucking touch her!”

They ignore Aiden and unchain us from the wall, shoving us to move forward towards the door. Aiden headbutts the reaper, causing the reaper to grasp his head and yell out in pain.

Director Young lets out a sigh of annoyance, grabs something from the other reaper standing closest to her and walks toward Aiden, pressing it against him. Aiden moves to avoid it, but she is faster. He lets out a sound of pain and collapses into the wall.

“Aiden! Are you okay?” I shout but there is no response. I glare at her. “What the hell did you do to him?”

She lifts the device in her hand for me to see. “It’s a stun gun. He will be fine. He is just knocked out for a little bit. Wouldn’t want him hurting my other reapers.”

“I swear I will—”

In a blink, she’s in front of me. I gasp at the suddenness. She wraps her empty hand around my throat. “You will what, Joyce? You can’t do a single thing. So shut up, or else I’ll make sure to hurt your little boy toy even more.” She watches me for a beat. I do not do anything, but glare at her. Satisfied with my compliance, she walks away, tossing the stun gun to a reaper. “Get them to the main room.”

She looks at me before exiting the room. “I have someone you probably want to see.” She winks and walks out of view.

I should’ve figured out it was her sooner. It makes so much sense. She was one of the first directors at Eden. She is also the most influential director. One thing that stays consistent in humans, whether dead or alive, is craving power. I just don’t know exactly how she plans to achieve it.