Author: Thanks for all the reviews and kudos! And thanks to Eliliyah for the canon research and being such a great sounding board. This is a sequel to Chapter 152: The Girlfriend Experience. Klaus and Elijah tried to use her, but a heartbroken, formidable Caroline is ready to get even (and gets help from a surprising source)!

Warning: Angst


"Stronger than lover's love is lover's hate. Incurable, in each, the wounds they make."
― Euripides, Medea


It wasn't what she wanted.

None of it was.

But whores don't get to choose.

Caroline winced at the darkly judgmental voice that had been her almost constant companion ever since that terrible confrontation with Klaus and Elijah. Over the years, she'd accepted certain realities about her profession, but it wasn't often that she felt like a whore. However, she'd felt every inch of that dirty, ugly word — it sank into her bones and festered there.

"We want names." That's what Klaus and Elijah demanded when they showed up on her doorstep, cold and calculating. They'd needed leverage to preserve an innovative healthcare bill introduced as part of President Bennett's domestic agenda. If she'd provided them with the names of prominent legislators, the brothers could threaten and blackmail all the right people into caving to their demands. DC was still a filthy swamp — it's a wonder the austere marble-adorned buildings could remain so pristine with those dirty little secrets just aching to be released. From what she heard about Elijah, she'd expected this level of cutthroat cruelty, but from Klaus...

She'd never felt so small. It didn't matter that Klaus had looked guilty — he'd still clenched his jaw and asked anyway. When Elijah had hurled those awful insults at her, Klaus punched him and made him apologize — but none of that mattered because Elijah didn't mean it and Klaus' apology was just as hollow. Like their relationship.

A lesser woman would've run away. Just packed up her shit and repressed the hell out of that conversation. Their beady-eyed judgement...

But she'd never been a lesser woman. The siren song of retribution had been flowing through her veins ever since she'd slammed the door behind the brothers — not only to soothe her wounded pride, but also to protect the other girls. She wasn't naive — at some point, Klaus and Elijah would decide to approach another girl, perhaps someone green who didn't understand the way the world really works. Those girls deserved better than Klaus and Elijah's selfish, cruel questions. If some poor girl talked, they would be hurt. And then more than hurt.

Because their clients had all the power and would do desperate things to keep it. The world actually was very small, and all lives intersected in some way. But here in DC, it had never been so obvious. If Klaus and Elijah only knew...

It was with this goal in mind that Caroline approached her madam. Katherine 'Kitty' Pierce was a formidable woman who pulled all the strings in DC. She was everywhere and nowhere and those who knew of her only dared to whisper her name with equal parts reverence and fear. Caroline could admit that even she was a bit enamored with Katherine. There was just something so tantalizing about a woman who dropped whispers into the ears of the powerful, easily bending them to her will with the seductive grace of a dancer.

The slight tremble of her lips almost made Caroline reconsider talking to Katherine — at least until she could get a handle on her emotions. Her madam always had warned Caroline away from attachments. Then Klaus had come along at the absolute wrong time and she fell in love. Stupid, inconvenient love that tragically burned out before it even had the chance to spark. Clearing her throat, Caroline erased all trace of emotion from her face. Don't show her your broken heart mend it own your own.

"We have a problem," Caroline abruptly told her, not bothering to ease her into the impending shitstorm. She flicked her gaze around the sumptuously decorated room, no longer surprised at the priceless artwork on display. Katherine enjoyed flaunting her tokens of appreciation. Caroline preferred a bit more discretion. Especially after that grateful client gifted her a Cezanne with an iffy provenance...

Katherine leaned forward in her chair, instantly on high alert as she sharply asked, "Does this problem need a permanent solution?"

Caroline felt her heart pick up its pace as the vengeful side of her delighted in the momentary fantasy of what Katherine's permanent solution would mean for Klaus and Elijah. However, Caroline's stupid, stubborn heart with its fleeting moments of humanity stopped her from making that choice. "No, not a permanent solution. But I do have a plan..."


Artists suffer for their art — shouldn't he suffer too? After all, Klaus had sacrificed everything for his career; he often told himself his pursuit was noble, this vision he had for an ideal government. And now he'd sacrificed his soul for what exactly? Accolades from vultures just as soulless as he was? A better table at Grayson's? Even if President Bennett's healthcare bill passed, it would be so bloated with amendments and compromises and sleazy backroom deals that it wouldn't be the sweeping reform the country truly needed. And he'd foolishly traded his only chance at happiness for it.

His Caroline was a relentless, unshakable force who'd challenged every notion he had about humanity. He'd even fancied that she'd made him a better person — somehow purging his soul of his family's dark legacy. But that was before he shattered the fragile trust between them. He'd never seen Caroline so broken. And it was made all the worse because he loved her. A choking, clawing, deep-rooted love that he'd known from the start would ruin them both. He could live a thousand lifetimes and never deserve such a magnificent creature.

Which is why Klaus had drank his liquor cabinet dry and hadn't peeled himself off the bathroom tile in three days. The pounding in his head was so constant that he didn't realize at first that his phone had received a series of texts from Elijah, each going from furious to frightened in a matter of moments. It was enough to shake him from him drunken stupor. Because his brother was never afraid.

The texts were wildly out of character for Elijah; they amounted to little more than a string of rambling, incoherent curses that left Klaus even more confused. Until he saw the notifications from his newsfeed containing a barrage of headlines:

Freya Mikaelson — Rehab Stay or Forcefully Hidden Away?

Who's Your Daddy? Allegations of Mikaelson Half-Siblings and Illegitimate Births

Yale Under Pressure to Revoke Mikaelson Brothers' Degrees Amid Plagiarism Rumors

Klaus Mikaelson Linked to Notorious Guerrera Crime Family

The Strix Leadership Exposed — Infamous Cult Founded by Elijah Mikaelson

Multiple Murders Connected to Mikaelson Family

New Clues Emerge in Henrik Mikaelson's Mysterious Death


The limousine purred quietly in the narrow alley behind Caroline's condo. Right on time. She wore a small, knowing smile as she slipped inside.

President Bennett cut a regal figure in tailored wool, and while Caroline always found her presence intimidating, there also was something reassuring about the powerful woman. After a companionable stretch of silence, she removed her darkly tinted sunglasses, revealing a formidable gaze that silenced even the most volatile of world leaders.

But not today. Regarding Caroline warmly, she promised, "It's been taken care of."

At her grateful nod, the President added with a malicious grin, "No one messes with my girls."