Chapter One

"You can't make me do this."

Feeling tears threaten to spill past her stinging eyes, Elizabeth Webber turned away from her father, her back stiff, her arms hugging tight around her middle in an attempt to hold herself together. He was asking too much of her. For a man she practically despised, for a man who was never there for her when she needed him the most, he was asking the impossible.

And all in the name of family.

Where was his family loyalty when she was a child and had nightmares that made her wake up screaming? He wasn't there; he was never the one to come into her room and hold her or look under her bed to make sure the monsters were gone. He wasn't that type of father. Instead, he sent the guards in—though she loved them dearly—they weren't her father, the man she looked up to as if he were greatest man alive.

That vision of her father, that all powerful vision of him beginning a hero, died quickly when she grew up. It wasn't until she turned sixteen when she finally noticed what a violent monster he was. She had woken up in the middle of the night, wanting a midnight snack or whatever it was, she couldn't remember, when she heard someone moaning in pain. Scared, curious, Elizabeth had searched out the sound, tip toeing through the house and down the grand staircase.

When she had finally located where the noise was coming from, she stopped dead in her tracks, seeing too much for her innocent eyes through the crack in the doors that lead to her fathers study. There her father stood, along with his guards, her friends, over a bleeding man. He was begging them to spare him, to let him live, and her father had smiled… smiled at the sobbing man.

Something in the back of her mind had told her to walk away, to forget what she was witnessing, but she didn't… couldn't move away. One of her father's men had grabbed the broken man by the back of his neck, hauling him to his feet as her father raised the gun, his grin widening.

Elizabeth was shaking by that time, her legs barely holding her up as her hands pressed hard against her mouth. She closed her eyes too late, seeing the mans blood splatter against the marble floor of her fathers study before his body fell limply, falling into the pool of his own blood.

An endless pool of black that continued to expand.

She could never break that image from her mind.

Her life had never been the same after that moment. Her father never knew she witnessed that moment because she had run straight to her room, sobbing silently. She had heard rumors growing up, about her father's business, but she had ignored them. He was her father, her hero. She had finally seen the truth, though and after that moment he was the monster the rest of Port Charles claimed him to be.

And she never was able to look at him the same.

Especially… Elizabeth shook her head, bringing her thoughts back to the present. If she thought about her mother, she would lose it.

The air around her choked her, but she still breathed in deeply, needing as much strength as she could muster to face her father again. Turning, chin lifted, shoulders squared, Elizabeth glared straight into his cold, unfeeling eyes. "I won't do it."

He stared for a moment, his eyes turning sad. She ignored it, not allowing herself to drop her defenses. "Elizabeth," Jeff Webber stepped forward, looking like the man she had always thought he was when she was a child. Handsome, bigger than life. Aside from the slight graying at his temples, he still looked just as handsome as ever. "You need to think about this."

Backing away from him, feeling shivers run up and down her spine as she stepped in the exact spot as the nameless man died in all those years ago, Elizabeth shook her head. "There's nothing to think about."

"This is a matter of life and death, sweetheart."

She closed her eyes at his endearment. How she longed from him to call her sweetheart or honey, or even his little girl when she was a child, but it was too late now. Everything was too late.

She couldn't look at him, not when his stance showed that he was in power and his expression practically begged for her cooperation. It was a lie, it always was. He didn't love her; she was never the son he had always wanted. "This is my life."

Her father moved forward again, only able to grasp her shoulders because she was too tired to move away. He was sucking the energy out of her with this life changing "favor."

"Just listen to me," he scolded slightly. "With this merger I can double my forces, we won't have to worry about the danger anymore, I can probably retire and you'll never have to worry about when you'll get the phone call that I'm dead."

She winced. During an ugly argument with her father three years ago she made the mistake of telling, no, screaming at him that she worried about that exact phone call. It had been a mistake to show him that weakness, for now he used it against her whenever he could. "And all I have to do is give up my life?" she whispered in disbelief, blinking back tears.

Elizabeth could see the anger enter her father's expression. Her own burrowed in pain as he tightened his hands around her arms, squeezing tightly before shoving her away from him. She bumped into one of the many bookcases that lined his walls.

"I never thought you could be so selfish, Elizabeth!" He screamed his face turning red with rage. No matter how many times she witnessed this very rage screaming from within him; it still scared her to the point where she shook.

"Selfish…?"

He cut her off. "Do you know how many lives you could save? The Deluca family has been sending threats to this family for years. Think about your mother."

"Do not," she advanced on him, not knowing or caring where her nerve came from, "use her in this."

"It's Deluca's fault that she's gone, this is our chance to pay him back."

"I'm not interested in revenge!"

"Did she not mean anything to you?" Jeff tilted his head to the side, his eyes squinting.

"How dare you?" Elizabeth let out on a breath, feeling utterly destroyed. "I loved her more than any one. She was my mother!"

"Then do this for her," he stressed, seeming almost giddy in his new approach. "Don't make her death worth nothing. You hate the violence, so do something to stop it. This is your chance to put an end to everything you hate the most."

This couldn't be the only way, Elizabeth thought, covering her face with her hands. Her father could tell she was weakening. "Agree to this, Elizabeth. It's the right thing."

The walls were closing in on her, her breath coming out in gasps. She removed her hands, looking around his large study, loathing everything about the room. She used to hate it because he would spend most of his time there. When she would try to climb onto his lap, he would always turn away from her, telling her to find her mother. He was always too busy.

This was the exact place she lost her innocence of a teenager upon witnessing that mans cruel death. And now, now this room was going to be the place where her entire life changed again. Nothing was ever going to be the same.

She walked around his desk, touching the top with the tips of her fingers. Is this where he held his guns? She questioned silently as she passed the desk drawers. Standing behind his large leather chair, she looked out at the dark sky through the large windows that lined the entire wall. She placed a hand against it and frowned at the weird texture. She turned her head so he could only see her profile. "Who is this right for? You?"

"Partly." She couldn't see him, but she could hear the shrug in his voice. "But, like I said before, if you do this, all the violence you claim to loathe will… vanish."

Elizabeth wasn't that naïve. "And all I have to do is marry some man I don't even know but hate already."

"How can you hate him? You haven't even met him."

Turning around, Elizabeth focused her gaze solely on her father, the rest of the room vanishing around him. She could feel the tears gathering in her eyes, spilling past her lashes. She didn't stop them, didn't even blink. "He's in this business. That's enough."

"I'm sorry it has to be this way." When she snorted, he narrowed his eyes. "You may not believe this, but I am sorry. Do you think I want my little girl to give up her life?"

He sighed regrettably, ever the actor.

"But there's no other way. The only way we can gain power and stay safe where no one would dare try to attack us in any way is to form an alliance. The only way to form an alliance is to you have marry into the Corinthos organization. I've already spoken to them and after a long and tiresome talk; we've come to an agreement."

Her head tilted forward, her chin resting on her chest. Sniffing, Elizabeth straightened. She could feel herself giving up, telling him yes. But she had to keep trying; she had to find a way out of this. She opened her mouth.

Her father beat her. "If we could have done this three years ago, your mother would still be alive. Think about her, Elizabeth. Think about how much she would want for there to be peace in our lives. Think about all the innocent people you could be saving from the violence of this life."

"If it weren't for men like you, there would be no violence." She whispered coldly, her eyes shooting daggers at him. He looked alarmed for a moment before he composed himself, like he always did.

She could feel her chest constrict at what she was about to say. She had to swallow several times just to form the words. Her throat hurt so much, her stomach tying in knots, that when she actually said the words, it didn't sound like her.

It was like another person was speaking for her.

"I'll do it," she rasped, letting her father know with her eyes that she would never… never forgive him for this.

"I'll marry Sonny Corinthos."