"Why does he want to meet with us?" My father asked me again. How was I supposed to know the inner workings of that monster's mind? All I knew was that Genesis told us he wanted to take us to dinner to discuss something. The lazy bitch didn't even elaborate on the something, even though I had asked several times.

"I don't know, dad. All I know is that he invited us to dinner." I adjusted the strap on my dress and turned to the side, smiling as I saw my figure in the blue material. I looked like a goddess.

"Have you spoken to your mother?"

I rolled my eyes. My mother had moved out yesterday ever since finding out about what "happened" to Queen, and she had been ignoring my father and me since. I was aware my mother babied Queen, but I never thought it was severe enough for her to abandon her real family. "She's not speaking to me either, father."

"I'll deal with her somehow," he muttered. "I'll see you at the dinner." I was thankful when the line hung up, and I returned to getting ready. I yawned as I fixed my hair, mentally cursing Mia for bothering me so late last night at the hotel we all stayed in. She came to me ranting about how she hurt my sister, and I spent the whole night trying to comfort her. Queen was like a rubber ball...she bounced back and I assured Mia that whatever happened, she'd be fine. I just didn't think she'd killed her.

I knew she was going to confront Queen about whoring around with her man-I even encouraged it. I assumed they got into a catfight when Mia told me what happened, but when I heard that she had died...I bawled my eyes out. Until my father told me she was alive again.

Ugh! So many wasted tears.

I encouraged Mia to get as far away from here as she could, yet I knew there was no running from my father's wrath. And boy was he angry! He'd find her sooner or later, but I did my part as a child of God.

As I thought about it more, her being out of the picture was for the best. Now Syn's focus could be on me and our future marriage. We needed to both learn about one another if we were going to be successful rulers.

My door opened and I looked over to see Queen walk in and close the door behind her. She didn't walk to my bed and lay down as she always did though. Instead, she leaned against the door, arms crossed and waiting for me to speak.

"Hello, would be the appropriate thing to say to someone, Queen."

"Why did you call me here?"

"I assume you know that Mia is gone," I picked up my lipgloss, "so I have no one to tell me whether or not I look good. I was able to wake up without it, but I have a date now and I need the assurance." I popped my lips in the mirror, admiring the bright pink gloss.

I caught Queen's eye in the mirror and saw her looking down at the floor downcast and I turned to her. "What?"

"A date with Syn."

"Syn...my fiancé...your future King, he's a man of many names," I laughed, "but yes, Syn."

She clicked her tongue and walked over to my bed. "Have fun." She laid down, not even bothering to look at the stack of magazines I had prepped for her arrival. She hung her arm on the side of the bed, picking at my comforter and staring down at the floor. I walked over to her to figure out what was going on, and I crouched by her side.

I looked down at her from the edge of the bed and cleared my throat. "What is wrong with you?" I waited for her reply, staring off at the picture of me above my headboard, and when she didn't answer, I crouched down to her level.

Tears were spilling from her red eyes and down her cheeks, making me frown. She sniffled, wiping her nose with the sleeve of her shirt and I searched my mind for a reason why. "Did some boy break your heart, Queen? Get over it."

"No," she wiped her cheeks with her knuckle, "you're the one that's breaking my heart, Xyla."

"Me?" I held a hand over my chest. "What ever did I do?"

"What didn't you do?" She mumbled, her watery eyes staring into mine. "You've hated me from the moment we met. I didn't see it then, but I see it now. It's become clear these past few days."

"God says we shouldn't hate. I don't hate-"

"You do. I have no idea why, but you do. I didn't bother your or your parents when I was a child for the fun of it, Xyla. What looked to you as me bothering you, was me trying to bond with the only family I've ever known." She sucked in a shaky breath. "I used to look up to you. Everything you did or said was deemed praiseworthy to me. Yet no matter how much I worshipped you, you just pushed me away.

"I got over it thinking that was just how you are, and I gave you your space, but no. That wasn't enough for you, was it? There is no room in your life for anyone else but you."

"That's not true."

"But it is. My world used to revolve around you while yours revolves around your number one. You." She laughed. "Maybe we weren't meant to be sisters." I opened my mouth to speak, but she held up a finger to silence me. "Let me speak because after this, my world will no longer be about doing what makes you happy. After that night with Justin, I stayed quiet and didn't tell mom anything because you told me not to. Even though you saw the blood dripping down my legs."

"Queen, must we be so vulgar-"

"I'm not done," she said. "Because of you, not only wasn't I believed, but you came up with the bright idea to have me exorcised?"

"You weren't yourself that night," I argued. "You came home babbling like some buffoon and I believed that you had been possessed. I wanted to help." I took a note to beg God to forgive me for that lie. The truth is I believed she was demonic since she came into our home, but that day seemed like a good day to tell my father to have her exorcised. She was crazy.

"Do you know how terrifying it is to have to lay naked and chained up in a basement for hours while robed men chant shit and throw burning water at you?"

"That's just the process-"

"There was nothing wrong with me!" She yelled. I closed my eyes, trying not to get upset at her tone and she let out a huff of laughter. "And look at you right now. I'm pouring my heart out to you, and you're trying not to ruin your hair or make-up."

The door burst open and I looked up to see Syn stride in completely dressed and ready to go. His black button-up was rolled up to his forearms exposing a dark tattoo wrapping around his arm. His chair was its usual sexy mess, and when his eyes landed on me, my sex ached. God forgive me.

I cleared my throat. "We're in the middle of something, Syn. Now isn't the-"

"Get out."

I sighed, turning to Queen with a sympathetic look. "You heard him."

I watched as my sister wiped her tears, weakly raising herself on the bed to go. "I meant...you," Syn hissed as he stepped towards me. "Get the fuck out and wait downstairs."

"Excuse me?!" My voice shrieked.

"Now."

I held back the urge to snap Xyla's neck as she scowled at Queen. She grabbed her purse, muttering cuss words under her breath before leaving the room and slamming the door.

I came here to pick her up and be on the way to dinner with her parents, but my plans changed as I heard Queen's emotional rant. She sounded distraught as her voice broke with almost each syllable she uttered, while Xyla's responses were robotic. Almost rehearsed.

So far, the only times I had ever seen Queen cry or come close to it was when Xyla was around. I usually wouldn't get involved since it wasn't my place, but I had claimed her. Now everything that bothered her was something I had to take care of. These robed men that exorcised her were at the very top of my list. Directly behind her father and Xyla.

I walked toward her and she wiped her face, flashing me a small smile. "You should go on your thing. I'm okay."

"Don't lie to me," I warned her. I pulled up a chair, placed it directly in front of her, and sat down. I leaned my arms onto my legs, making our faces inches apart as I looked into her eyes. "Cry."

She sniffled, shaking her head. "I don't need to."

"Queen, for whatever it's worth and it may mean nothing but," I sighed, "it's me. I'm not going to be able to empathize or know why you feel the way you do, but I will sit here with you. I won't even judge if you do those ugly cries with the snot and everything."

She burst out into laughter and shook her head at me before looking down at her hands. A few seconds later, I heard her intake of breath followed by a small cry that made her shoulders shake. Her shaky breaths became harsher as she cried into her hands, and I looked at her, wishing there was something I could do.

Her hair fell into her face and I reached out to move it but stopped. With her movements, it'd just fall back into her face. I reached into my pocket, pulling out the ready hair tie I always had for her since she seemed to forget hers, and I gathered her hair into my hands. I tried my best to tie it all, but it came out of a lopsided bun that made me tilt my head.

My attention was brought back down to her as she leaned forward. Her head rested on my chest as she sucked in a breath, and my arms instinctively wrapped around her. I tensed as that single movement made her cry even harder, making me wonder what the hell I did wrong and slightly move away from her.

Her arms wrapped around my neck, pulling me back to her and I realized that this alone was calming her down. Her heartbeat came to a slow as her cries became softer and I pulled her closer until she was on my lap.

This didn't feel...horrible. Especially when I knew it was making her feel good.

We remained that way for countless minutes until she stopped crying and sat up. She fanned her face, wiping away the remainder of her tears away. "I hope I umm," she wiped her eyes, "didn't do one of those ugly cries that you mentioned."

"Hmm," I hummed, wrapping my arms around her, "it's cute when you do it."

She laughed softly, shoving me with her arm before taking a deep breath. "You should go on your date thing. Xyla probably has a bunch of questions-"

"Date?" I looked at her in confusion.

"That's what she called it."

"I don't know what she thinks dates are, but your father is going to be there. I wouldn't call that a date."

"Oh." She smiled. "You should still get going."

"Are you sure? I can postpone and-"

"Syn, I really don't want to interfere," she said with emphasis. "Go. It's fine." She stood up from my lap and gave me a quick kiss on the lips. "I'll see you later."

I kissed her one more time before letting her go, and she strode to the door. A sudden thought popped into my mind and I called her name, making her turn around and face me.

"Do you," I scratched the back of my head, "do you want me to bring anything back?"

"Like what?" She leaned her head on the door and smiled at me.

"We're going to a restaurant so...food."

She pursed her lips in thought before clicking her tongue. "I like wings. The flavor doesn't matter."

"Well then, I'll bring those back for you."

She sent a wink my way, making me raise my brows in surprise as she walked out of the room. Almost immediately the door opened again and she peeked her head in with a large grin on her face. She bounced with glee, the messy bun on her head becoming undone at the movements. "That wink thing I just did there was exciting. Can I do it again?"

"I'll watch you do it a hundred times if you'd like."