Page 94 of A Forever Love

“I’m not finished yet. There’s more. I tracked him to another city, working in a different company, same pattern. But this time, when the initial charges were filed against him, he got engaged to the woman, and she acted as his character witness and alibi every time someone accused him. And the cycle is repeated in a new town after a few months.”

“He was blackmailing the women?”

“I think it was…coercion. The women were so infatuated with him that they willingly supported him. And before the police or his fiancée of the month grew suspicious, he vanished.”

He doesn’t have to spell it out—my mom was just another victim of that spineless creep. Vengeance surges through me like a caged animal.

My hands curl around the wheel as I grit, “What did he do to those women?”

Joel hesitates, and before he can consider withholding whatever grim details he’s uncovered, I assert, “You’re under my employment.”

I hear him utter a soft curse before he speaks.

“I believe it was more psychological damage. He shattered these women’s spirits, stripping away their choices. When he left them, most couldn’t bear it, and they ended their own lives. Carter, consider your mom fortunate that your family found you guys in time.”

Anger and frustration smolder like embers behind my eyelids and in my throat. Finally, I can give my mom and all those women the peace they deserve after I’ve killed that man. “Where is that son of a bitch now?”

The next events unfold rapidly, like a staccato beat.

My seething words reverberate inside the car, and in that moment, the man before me in the parking lot strikes his wife.

Joel’s response hits me like a ton of bricks, the bastard I’ve hunted for all these years is already dead.

The woman before me is struck again.

In an instant, she transforms into a representation of my mom.

I don’t recall stepping out of my car, or lunging at the man whose hand is still raised, or landing the first punch, giving him a taste of his own medicine, until I’m yanked away by several hands.

24

CARTER

The next time I have a sense of my surroundings, I’m holed up in the back seat of Uncle Gavin’s car, with our lawyer, Rick, in the passenger seat. I have no idea how much time has passed.

“The man you assaulted is fine, by the way. Fortunately, your rage didn’t cause him any serious harm,” Uncle Gavin informs me.

“And consider yourself lucky that he isn’t pressing charges,” Rick adds.

“Why the heck not?” I feel neither lucky nor relieved.

“Because he knows if he pursues this further, news of his domestic abuse will surface. You weren’t the only one who witnessed him hitting his wife.”

I lock eyes with Uncle Gavin through the rearview mirror. “Did you—”

“Don’t worry. I gave her my card and warned that asshole we’d be keeping an eye on him. She’s not ready to involve the police yet, so my hands are tied for now.”

I lean back in my seat, looking out the window. “This isn’t the route to Cherrywood.”

“No, we’re headed to meet Connor.”

Fuck. My eyes slam shut, the weight of the situation pressing against my chest, threatening to suffocate me. Unease churns within me as Uncle Gavin steers through the iron gates of my mother’s estate. “What on earth are we doing here?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

We head inside, and Tomas brings the first-aid kit, gesturing toward my bleeding knuckles, but I decline, sinking onto the couch beside Uncle Connor.

“I heard you had quite the night,” he says, pouring whiskey into three glasses.

---