Some burdens are easier to bear when one is left alone.

-Peyton Griffin

Sam Griffin's POV

The British Empire.

I sip my coffee with no sugar and no milk. Purely black like how my soul feels.

I lean on the balcony of the Griffin Manor, where it all began. The house has been my family heritage for as long as I can remember.

A truth and a lie.

As a young lad, my father would make me sit on this balcony and watch as the money deals were handled. The weapon and drug shipments were dealt with, and least I forget the day he shot a man who looked at him in a dirty way.

"You see, Sam," He once said, "This place is our home. No matter how hard we try, we can't run away from it. It will come back to bite us one way or the other. It's either you learn how to control this place, or it controls you."

I took a large sip of my coffee as I watched men dressed in suits walk around the green fields, and as much as I hate to admit it, my eyes were solely trained on the cottage that stood far away from here but was still close enough for me to see.

The occupant of the said place was the daughter of my father's second command, a pretty girl who grew to accept that our marriage was not something she could run away from.

But good grief, did she put up a fight, like mother like daughter.

I found myself rubbing the two rings on my third finger, one was my wedding ring, and another was a promise ring.

The person who gave it to me had a deep connection with me. Even though many people don't see it and neither do they believe it. My daughter was born to lead, though we never saw eye to eye.

But I think the misogynism that has kept this place from falling apart was what tore us apart.

Even though I was meant to have a son who I would teach how to do things the way they should be done, I was given a daughter who I swore I would protect.

But as the years grew and our bond became stronger; I was given a choice that would either make us or break us.

If she were to take after me, the people would eat her alive, and our friends would become our enemies. I did what I could to protect her from the inevitable.

I gave her to a wolf, knowing she could tame him, and together they would lead and be the difference she always sought.

"When you kiss her on that altar, I want you to remember that if things don't go the way I want, I will be coming back for you." I cocked my head to admire my future son-in-law.

Lest I forget the deal that brought me to my knees. The deal that still haunts me to this day.

"Mark my words, son. Your sister and her children will come back and fight what they have been denied."

I set the mug on the railing and brought the small picture I had taken when my daughter was born.

That day was my weakest, and that was when the final words my father gave me finally sunk in.

"You will inherit my enemies who would want nothing more than to tear you down. And like I, and my father before me, you need to make sacrifices that won't always go the way you plan. But remember, there will come a day that when that deal slips up, you will find out the truth that I fought so hard to keep away from you, and you'd thank me for tossing your mother aside."

Ah yes, mommy dearest. I grew up believing she walked out of here alive without a scratch. I never did find out what happened to her because no one leaves the Empire without a scratch.

Unfortunately, my father never even bothered to grace me with an explanation, and I was tormented by more voices around me, questioning my motives.

And the game of 'had I known' and 'what ifs' played tug of war in my head. The game took a heated toll on me on my daughter's wedding day.

And as my father said, our enemies came to the hospital ward. One of them did something that made her lose too much blood,d and she chose her children's life more than her own. Specifically her last child of the twins, the one I want to reign after me.

I have watched her from afar, and am impressed with what she has accomplished. Little does she know that there is still more to be done. She wants to live her mother's dream but to do that, she has to forgo hers.

I would say that I wasn't saddened by the loss of my dear daughter, but that would be a complete lie. I took away her lover by making her bargain her rights as my daughter so he could live. I made her marry a monster to make our enemies cower away from us so that our children would never know the pain we face, the demons that torment our every move or the snide looks that our own people give us from time to time.

I threw the mug over the balcony and ran my hands through my hair.

In a few short hours, my granddaughter will be getting married. As much as I need that to happen, I had to be there.

I have to correct the mistakes before they leave their marks on our lives because the people who want our downfall are as numerous as the grains of sand on a beach.

I could blame everyone for everything that has gone wrong in the last two decades. All the deals made. All the families saved and every secret that hides in the nooks and corners of this place.

Our home.

As I said, no one lives to tell the tale of what happened that night apart from me, and I plan on telling it till my last breath.

Troy Reynold Griffin's POV

In a place not too far away, where deals rule lives and families are at each other's throats to climb the ranks of society.

The outsiders of our little community saw us as nothing but grovel under their feet, so they left us to our own devices, not knowing that their ignorance would be their downfall.

So we worked hard to be where we are today. To a mere audience, the one little community now became a large empire that strived on the tears of the innocent.

Looks can be deceiving. The Empire does not live up to its name, the one painted by our leader. That no one would be wiser to know what lurks in the shadows.

Our leader became the human version of the bogie man, never was he caught on off-guard, but whenever his face was seen, a gun was seen close after.

Never underestimate a member of the Empire but at least never think twice about turning your back on a man like Sam Griffin.

Though he is a nightmare, a boogie man comes to life; no one knows what happened. Of the lives he killed or the people who faced losses because they looked at him wrongly.

And I will join that long list of people when the day is over.

I wouldn't lie and say that I never had a thing for his daughter, but I was afraid of commitment because, in my eyes, the women of the British Empire were as faithful as a pig to one pool of mud.

I was overwhelmed and tried to take away her virtue, but I didn't expect to be played at my own game, and I think that's when I started to fall for her.

The fact that I never gave her a reason to try and fight in the labour room; cripples me with sadness. I struck a deal with Joey in hopes of redeeming myself in the eyes of the people of the Empire, which was where my downfall began.

"We are getting married. I invest in your company, and you help me regain the respect of the people."

It took Peyton leaving for the dots to connect, and when Joey knew that I caught wind of what he was planning, he poisoned me and kept me in lock and key, but I had someone who would come to help me.

The poison was long gone from my system, but another thing was killing me, something more potent than what Joey gave me to ingest.

Guilt.

I may die today, but if it means I get the redemption I have wanted for years, then so be it.

The door to the room opened, and in walked the person who was going to help me get my daughters to know what I did may not have been a good thing, but it was for our own good.

To protect us from the very monster that I let into our lives.

"You look horrible. An upgrade to how you usually look." She walked closer to me, brought out her trusted pocket knife and cut the ropes around my wrists.

I was not given a cure for the poison I took last night, so I was slightly weak, but the determination in my veins was enough to keep me going.

I tried to play Joey in his own game. I tried to appease Sam so I would explain myself to the girls before my expiry date came. When I heard Peyton had left, I knew I was running out of time.

And nothing will be right if I go without telling them the truth about what really happened to their mother that fateful day.

I was once told that deals would be my downfall. The pure irony in that statement is that it was true.

"Mock all you want, but we need to leave here and fast," I told her as she draped my hand over her shoulders and helped me out of the room.

She groaned but still upheld my weight, "The wedding is taking place at the other end of the house. I'll get you to the private room; my contact will meet you after I leave.."

"Has the musician arrived?" I asked while we pressed our backs to a wall to avoid being seen.

"He arrived just now, and Chloe is bringing him over."

The rest of the walk was quiet as her heels clicked while we navigated the deserted halls of the house.

The house had memories that I dreaded.

Joey must have thought I would be too weak to escape the room alone. He didn't bother to put guards around this part of this house. His arrogance made me like him in the first place.

We reached the private door where everyone would walk in when the shit storm hit. She helped me into the room and placed me in a chair in the corner.

Finally, the slicked hood fell from her face, where her hair was in a low ponytail as always.

I reached my hand to grab that ponytail which brought a familiar feeling to my hands. I pulled her face closer to mine.

Our breath mingled as I whispered onto her lips, "If I don't make it out of this, promise me that you'll take care of Peyton as your mother did?" I pleaded.

It was true that if I made it passed today, then it would be a miracle.

She smiled and placed her lips on mine. They were warm but had an unsaid emotion which I knew very well. It was a kiss goodbye, a long overdue goodbye.

"Deal,"

With a peek on my cheek, she pulled the hood back onto her face and walked away, leaving me with my thoughts.

They say that the enemy of your enemy is your friend, but no one ever mentioned them becoming your lover.

I smiled because my end was coming, and I would embrace it with open arms.