A Little Girl Was Almost Drowned by Her Stepmother—Until the Father Listened to the Recording

flickered briefly across her face — memory, maybe — and then vanished. She set down her cup. “She weakens you.”

“Emma?”

“She makes you emotional.”

He laughed bitterly. “She makes me human.”

“Humanity destroys empires,” Estelle said, her face hardening.

“Then maybe the empire deserves to be destroyed,” Christopher said, and that landed. Estelle’s eyes narrowed.continue reading …