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“You are in these games in the hopes to use the money on your fathers bail.”
How could they possibly know that?
I debate the chances that number three is the lie, because that’s information nobody would ever know for sure, it could just be a calculated guess. But number two, the part about my mother, is clearly a lie.
“Number two.”
“Incorrect.” A cold shiver sleuths down my spine. “Another strike, Ten.”
“But my motherdidn’tdie. She left.”
“Your mother died in a car accident six years ago,” Ivan says calmly.
I shake my head in disbelief. The entirety of my life since her abandonment, I’d thought she was alive. My anger had somewhere to go, my feelings of abandonment had someone to blame.
Now I’m learning here, of all places, that she’s beendead.
I wonder if dad knew. I wonder if he kept it from me. And now I’m wondering about the true intentions behind this game. To lay me bare and make me see how much of a joke my life is? To remind me that I’m nothing?
Standing on shaky legs, I hook my fingers in the hem of my pants and slide them down my legs, baring my naked form to Ivan, but all I can see is myself in the mirror. All I can see is the lie that is my life. All I can see is the shame.
I take a seat, feeling whittled down to nothing. I can’t even let the tears that prick at my eyes spill. I can’t scream. I can’t correct him. I can’t do anything.
I’m powerless.
“Before I give you your final test, I want you to spread your legs for me, Ten.”
There’s amusement in Ivan’s voice that wasn’t there before. I’m perturbed by the idea that he might be entertained by my current distress, by this enforced position of vulnerability I’ve been placed in.
“No,” I tell him.
“No?” Anger is in his voice now. “Are youdisobeyingme, Ten?”
I look away from the mirror and poke the inside of my cheek with my tongue. Now I let the tears fall. When I look back in the mirror, my face is red and splotchy, but I can see the anger in my eyes at this mistreatment.
“Yeah,Ivan, I’m disobeying you.”
“Do youwantto be disqualified, Ten?” he threatens through the speaker.
Rising from my seat, my reflection completely naked, completely vulnerable, I approach the mirror and lean my face in close, tearing the collar from my neck and watching the sneer twist my features. “Fuck you, Ivan. You can rot in hell.”
I toss the collar to the side like a piece of trash.
Chapter Five: Laurence
The Player
Stunned, I watch the footage of Blue’s game with a silence that matches Dane’s and Vaughn’s beside me in the boardroom. The three of us just witnessed her telling off her Advocate, and all I can think is,No, no, no, no.
Shecan’tbe disqualified yet. I won’t allow it.
“She really is the troublemaker of the year…” Dane says, panning his screen over to Player Seven’s game, which appears to be going well. She’s only received one strike, and sits cross legged in her chair with only her shirt discarded. There’s a smile on her face. All of the other Players have only received one strike as they wrap up.
But Blue… Blue is in trouble.
I watch with avid curiosity as she walks around to the back of the chair, bends down to pick it up, completely nude, and hoists it up.
“Fuck!” Vaughn shouts, shooting from his seat just as Blue throws the chair at the one-way mirror, shattering it. “Rossi’s going to be pissed.” He practically sprints from the room. I’veneverseen Vaughn move so fast.
