I Want Them to Pay in Blood

I sobbed until the world went gray at the edges.

The realization that I’d been cherishing my enemy's child while my own daughter was being tortured sent a wave of suffocating pain through my chest.

Looking at the other report, which confirmed the little girl was my biological daughter, I wanted to go back in time and kill my own foolish, naive self.

I had just graduated when Chloe showed up at my door, heavily pregnant and sobbing, begging for my help.

"Ava, what am I going to do? Please, you have to help me..."

"The bastard used me because his family is rich, and now he's just disappeared..."

"I'm eight months along. The doctor said an abortion now means I'll never have kids..."

Seeing her so shattered, I was incandescent with rage for her. Not only did I cover all her delivery expenses, but I also stayed by her side to care for her afterward, even as I was grieving my own father's recent death.

All because I was terrified she would get postpartum depression.

My one moment of weakness had brought ruin upon my family.

It had given those two monsters the perfect opportunity.

It had cost me four years with my daughter.

I forced myself to my feet, gritting my teeth as I tore the reports to shreds.

Now was not the time to show my hand.

When I returned home, my eyes were still red and swollen.

Julian, who should have been at the office, was still there. He glanced up as I entered, his tone deceptively casual.

"What took you so long? Where's Daisy? Did something happen?"

I stalked into the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face. Then I went to the sofa, grabbed a bag of overpriced organic potato chips, and began eating them slowly, my voice muffled by the crunching.

"I was going to check out the galleries in SoHo, but it was too crowded, so I came back. Daisy's fine. Her teacher said kids this age are boisterous; a few bumps and scrapes are normal."

He paused.

"That's good. I was worried you'd run into trouble."

"By the way, things have been a bit hectic at the company. Could you sign that stock-proxy agreement soon? It'll stop those old geezers from constantly disrespecting me."

I was the one who had brought up the agreement last week.

He had been complaining that the board members still treated him like an outsider. I thought it was because he didn't hold enough shares, so I offered to entrust some of mine to him.

Looking back, he'd used lines like this for years to systematically wrest control of the company from me.

When I first pushed for him to join the core management, my father's old confidant, Marco, had warned me.

"Ava, this is everything your father left for you. If the man is truly capable, he should build his own career."

"I cannot agree to him joining the board."

At the time, I had waved off his concerns. "It's fine, Marco. I trust Julian. He's only doing this for the good of the company."

"Besides, he's my husband. He wouldn't hurt me, would he?"

In the end, Marco's staunch opposition meant it took Julian another two years to secure his current position.

The memory made me freeze. I gave him a noncommittal answer.

After he left, I went straight to the bedroom. Worried he might have planted a bug, I slipped into the walk-in closet and sent a message to Marco, whom I hadn't spoken to in ages.

It wasn't long before he replied.

"Miss, Julian has been doing great work these last two years. I've seen it with my own eyes. Just the other day, he was showing off a Patek Philippe you gave him."

"Are you... feeling alright, Ava? You seem on edge."