Blinded by ambition

**Sarah**

Rachel gestured broadly, highlighting the tiny room with second-hand furniture worn out from previous tenants' use.
"We need to face our reality, Rachel," I insisted, repeating what I had been saying since the moment we found out there was no inheritance for us. "And make the best of what we have."
"And what do you consider 'the best,' Sarah?" Rachel's tone changed as she stood up beside me, visibly upset.
"Getting an honest job, trying to study, and finding a way to improve our living conditions without resorting to selling our bodies. That's what I believe, and I think you should consider it too," I replied firmly.
"How can you settle for being a mere servant, earning a salary that barely covers food, when we could continue enjoying the finer things?" Rachel questioned, now quite agitated.
Seeing Rachel's indignation, I realized that continuing to argue would lead nowhere. For her, the path she was choosing seemed to be the easiest, even though it was clear to me that it wasn't the most fulfilling in the long run.
I decided there was nothing more to do than wait. Wait for time to show my sister that easy choices don't always bring happiness. I just hoped she wouldn't have to suffer too much to learn such a simple lesson.
"I choose to be an honest maid, Rachel," I said, resigned to our differences in thinking.
"You don't get to choose anything!" She shouted, out of control. "You'll stay with Kael Graham until he gets tired of you, which shouldn't take long, considering how annoying and irritating you are. We'll take as much money from him as we can."
I looked at her, truly horrified, as I had never witnessed such a lack of control from my sister, nor had she ever treated me in such a rude and harsh manner.
"We've always been so close," I said sadly.
"Everything is easier when you have plenty of money at your disposal, and you don't even have to worry about what to eat for breakfast, something that has always been so simple for us," she sneered.
I wouldn't give up on my sister just yet. Maybe if I could make her see that the most important thing was to stay united, she would understand that things might be tough, but together, we could overcome the challenges we faced today.
"You've always been protective of me, Rachel. I remember that until recently, you took care of me. Always preventing people from taking advantage of my lack of confidence or my gullibility."
"Of course, I took care of you, Sarah," she said, looking at me with a sarcastic laugh that made her next words clear about what she meant. "You were a fool! Naive, with no idea how everyone around us was just selfish, only there for their convenience."
Hearing each word from Rachel hurt deeply. The feeling of being blind to everything around me, including the truth about my sister, was overwhelming. However, despite her terrible conduct towards me, I couldn't allow anything bad to happen to her, especially when it was in my power to help her.
"I simply can't understand what happened to you, sister. Just a few days ago, I knew Rachel completely different from the person standing before me today. I am..." I tried to think of a word to describe how I was feeling at that moment, but nothing seemed enough to name that sensation in my chest. "I don't even know what words to use to define how I'm feeling right now."
"I don't care about what you're feeling now, Sarah," she dismissed, showing no remorse for her harsh words. "All you need to know is that we don't even have a single dollar in our account, and if I don't pay the loan shark by tonight, he said I might have an unpleasant surprise tomorrow."
I covered my mouth with my hand, open in horror at the loan shark's threats to Rachel. Despite her horrible behavior towards me, I would never allow anything bad to happen to my sister, especially when it depended solely on me to get her out of it.
"Is this what you want to happen?" She pressed on, using her fingers to enumerate, summarizing our current situation. "We have no job, no money. We have an apartment we can't sell, and now we have a loan shark threatening us. And all of this can be solved with a simple word from you."
It wasn't just a "simple word," and I felt my heart tighten. It was a decision that would put me in a horrendous situation, submitting myself to a powerful and unscrupulous man for a month. It would be thirty days where I'd be completely at the mercy of Kael Graham, forced to fulfill all his desires without being able to oppose him. It was evident that his goal was just to satisfy his whims.
"I will go to Kael Graham's bed."


**Kael**

I savored a good wine while reflecting on the satisfaction of closing a successful deal and the even more gratifying feeling of seeking revenge in the process. It seemed perfect, but the truth was that the taste of victory wasn't as expected; it was bitter.
Rachel had acted exactly as I had planned, offering herself as payment and declaring that she would do anything I desired. The moment I had envisioned, along with the realization of the deal, was overshadowed by Sarah's presence. The fact that it had been her on the yacht, her beauty, and the way she behaved had caught me to the point of forgetting the main objective of the business and everything that was at stake.
Despite her sexual inexperience, Sarah's sensuality awakened something in me that had seemed dormant for a long time, something I didn't even know existed. However, I didn't let my emotions completely take over and used my moment of weakness as an opportunity to accomplish what I truly desired ever since I found out that my mother and Patrick Mitchell's separation had been solely caused by Rachel.
Despite the difficult situations Rachel had already gone through, all caused by me, it wasn't enough. I wanted to see her kneeling, not before me, but before the person she had harmed the most in this whole story: my mother.
The day was approaching rapidly, and I knew Rachel would beg for mercy when I wanted her to. The fact that she readily accepted the bargain I offered, trading her sister for money, didn't surprise me.
After all, Rachel had already shown her dark side and complete egocentrism. It was evident that she only cared about her interests, completely disregarding the well-being of others, including her twin sister. Given that, I expected nothing but negative actions from her.
I recalled her justifications upon accepting my offer.
"I love my sister. But I need to take care of myself, as no one else will do it for me," she said arrogantly. "And you'd make a better deal by choosing me, I guarantee it."
"I'm dismissing your offer," I said dismissively, looking at her body and letting my expression show all the disgust she caused me. "You may know how to pleasure a man, but I'd be crazy to trust someone of your kind to share a bed with me."
She didn't seem fazed by my statements and simply walked to the door of my office, stopping with her hand on the doorknob, and staring at me with her mix of arrogance and cynicism.
"Arrange the visit to your mother, and I'll arrange for Sarah to be with you whenever you desire," she stated.
"As soon as you've fulfilled your part of the deal, the money will be in your bank account," I replied.
She nodded with a slight head gesture and left my office, leaving behind the trail of her strong perfume, which left me with an unpleasant feeling that persisted even hours later, leaving me unsatisfied.
"I heard that Rachel was at the office today," Ryan commented, entering the living room of my private wing on the top floor of the building where Anglo-X offices were located.
"I see you're well-informed," I responded sarcastically. "But considering I pay you for that, I can only assume the money is well spent."
"I imagined that now, on the brink of having your revenge fulfilled, you'd be in a better mood," Ryan said.
Ryan was not intimidated when talking to me, and I appreciated that he was the only one who acted this way in my presence. Having him as my assistant and the person closest to me, after my mother, was something that satisfied me fully.
"When Rachel is kneeling in front of my mother, I'll be able to say that my thirst for revenge has finally been quenched," I explained.
"And then?" he asked.
"After that, I'll occupy myself with fucking Sarah until I'm satisfied."
I assumed Ryan was already aware of my conditions for giving the money to the sisters, which was why he asked the question.
"You know my opinion about involving Sarah in this story," he persisted.
"I don't care about your opinion on this matter," I replied harshly.
"I'll express it anyway," Ryan insisted. "Have a good night's sleep, boss."
Ryan used a sarcastic tone when he said the word "boss," but it didn't bother me, and I wished him a "good night" as he turned to leave the room, to which he responded with notable reluctance. I didn't care. What I want, I achieve.