CHAPTER 57: 57 - FAIR ENOUGH

57

~Belinda’s POV

"I want you to do something small. Something easy. Nothing dangerous. And you’ll get paid for it."

Her face lit up just a little, and she smiled. "I’ll help. Whatever it is, I’ll help."

I leaned in. "You have to promise me something, Cecilia. Whatever I ask you to do, it stays between us. No one hears about it. Not your friends, not your fellow maids, not even your own sister if you have one. Understand?"

She nodded quickly. "I understand. I swear, I won’t tell anyone."

"Good." I took a deep breath, then turned around and walked to the window.

The door closed gently behind Cecilia. I sat there quietly for a moment, my hands folded in my lap, watching the perfectly cleaned room like it was a stage waiting for a show.

A slow smile crept onto my face. Not a warm one. A wicked, cold smile that even surprised me.

"That lowlife," I whispered to myself. "She thinks she can talk back to me? Say she doesn’t want the triplets like she’s doing them a favor?"

I stood up, walking slowly to the mirror. My reflection stared back at me, flushed cheeks, eyes still burning with anger, but underneath it... Something else. Something sharper. More dangerous.

"She needs to go," I said out loud. "She needs to disappear."

I let the words hang in the air. They felt good. Right.

I walked slowly to the window, looking out into the courtyard. A few guards stood in their usual posts, talking. A few maids rushed by, carrying laundry baskets. It all looked so normal. But my world was not normal anymore. Not with her in it.

I folded my arms and began pacing again. My heart was beating fast, not from anger this time, but from excitement. I wasn’t just thinking now. I was planning.

"How do you kill someone like her without getting caught?" I whispered.

Then, the answer came.

"Poison."

I froze, the word echoing in my mind like a sweet song.

"Yes... That’s it. Quiet. Easy. No mess. No questions."

I moved to sit at my vanity and tapped my fingers against the glass surface.

"But where do I get poison?" I mumbled.

I thought hard. I couldn’t just walk into the palace kitchen and ask for poison. That would be stupid. I needed someone who had access. Someone who wouldn’t ask questions. Someone who already had reasons to hate Lisa... or at least didn’t care if she lived or died.

Then it hit me.

"Old Margo," I said, my eyes lighting up. "Of course."

She was a retired herbalist who used to work in the palace years ago. She now lived just outside the western walls of the pack territory. People whispered that she knew how to treat anything, from wounds to broken hearts. But others said she also dealt in darker things.

"She was dismissed for a reason," I whispered, grinning. "And I’m going to find out exactly how dark she can go."

I stood up suddenly, my decision made. I rang the little bell on my side table. Moments later, Cecilia rushed back in.

"My lady?" she said, bowing. "Did you need anything?"

"Yes. I’m going out," I said, slipping into my cloak. "Tell no one."

She blinked. "Should I call a guard to escort you?"

"No. Just tell anyone who asks that I’m taking a nap. Got it?"

She hesitated. "Yes, my lady."

I slipped out through the side hallway, the one that led to the rear exit of the palace. The guards there barely looked my way. I was Belinda. No one questioned me.

The walk to Margo’s hut was long, but I didn’t mind. Every step felt like I was getting closer to peace. Closer to removing Lisa forever.

When I finally reached the little hut, I knocked three times.

The door creaked open.

Margo stood there, old and hunched, her long gray hair tied back, her eyes cloudy but sharp. "Well, well... Look who’s come crawling to the shadows," she said.

I smiled slightly. "I need something."

"Do you now? Something sweet or something deadly?"

I raised a brow. "Straight to the point, aren’t you?"

She chuckled. "I didn’t get old wasting time. Come in."

I stepped inside. The hut smelled like dried herbs and smoke. Bottles lined the shelves, jars filled with things I didn’t want to name.

"So?" she said, settling down in her chair. "Who do you want dead?"

I looked at her, not even pretending to be shocked. "A girl. A threat. I want it to look natural."

She nodded. "Poison, then. How fast?"

"Not too fast," I said. "But not too slow either. Just... quiet. Peaceful. Maybe something that makes her weak first. Then gone."

Margo reached behind her and pulled out a small wooden box. She opened it and showed me three small vials.

I held the tiny green vial carefully in my palm, staring at it as if it might speak. So small. So quiet. And yet, powerful enough to end a life. Her life.

Margo leaned against her dusty shelf, her crooked smile still lingering. The smell of dried herbs, old wood, and something metallic filled the tiny hut. I hated being here, but I had no choice. Lisa needed to disappear, and now, I had the perfect way.

"That one’s clean," Margo said again, nodding to the vial. "No thrashing. No screaming. Just sleep. Like she’s tired. Then poof... gone."

I didn’t answer her. My eyes were still fixed on the liquid inside. It was a pale, almost clear green. Innocent-looking. Deceptive.

"I knew you’d pick that one," Margo continued, chuckling low. "You’ve got that quiet kind of evil. Not loud or messy. The type that smiles sweetly while slipping a blade between the ribs."

I pulled my eyes away from the vial just long enough to look at her.

"I’m not doing this for fun," I said coldly. "She insulted me. She humiliated me. She has to pay."

"Oh, I don’t care why you’re doing it," Margo replied with a shrug. "I’ve heard it all before, jealous lovers, angry sisters, betrayed friends. What matters to me is payment. And you brought gold."

I reached into the folds of my cloak and pulled out the velvet pouch. It was heavy, filled with gold coins I’d been saving. My hands didn’t tremble as I placed them on the table between us.

Margo scooped it up without checking the contents. She trusted the weight.

She passed the vial to me. Our fingers brushed briefly.

"How do I use it?" I asked, my voice calm.

"A few drops," she replied. "Food or drink, doesn’t matter. It has no taste, no smell. Just make sure only your little victim eats it. Or drinks it."

I gave a single nod.

Margo’s expression turned serious. "Listen to me, Belinda. If anyone finds out... if anyone traces this back to you... I won’t help you. I don’t know you. I’ve never seen you. You were never here."

"Fair enough," I said, tucking the vial safely into the inside of my cloak. "I was never here."

She smirked again. "Good girl. Now go. You’ve got death in your pocket."