Page 131 of All for her Forgiveness

"Apparently she tried to make herself seem better than everyone else. She spent most of the time talking about the privileges she’d had when she lived in our grandfather's house, as well as the affair she’d had with him," my brother says.

"But you said she was killed," I say.

"Yes. The death had nothing to do with her snubbing her cellmates. The thing happened when she talked about Pam."

"How do you know that?"

"Do you really think I wouldn't try to find out what happened, Hades? I don't leave loose ends. Whoever killed Vina got in the way of our revenge."

I hear Kennedy panting next to me, perhaps realizing for the first time who we really are.

"Take it easy—my wife is pregnant."

"I didn't mean to sound insensitive, Kennedy."

"It's okay," she says in a faint voice. "You said talking about Pam was what caused her death?"

"Yes. According to what the guard told our lawyer, Vina shared how she tried to convince Pam to force herself onto Hades, but she didn't stop there. She talked about Pam's past and how she saved her granddaughter from the gutter. Inmates also have daughters, and when Vina continued speaking ill of her dead granddaughter, she suffered a collective attack from six inmates."

"Jesus!" Kennedy whimpers.

"Well, I have a meeting now," he says. "I'm glad to hear the baby is okay, Kennedy."

He hangs up, and she turns to me.

"Hades, what a horrible thing!"

"She wasn't at a spa, Kennedy. She was among women who also have families. Vina has shown herself to be someone who doesn't care about anything other than herself. I'm not saying that Pam had no fault or responsibility for the way she led her life, but there are children who are raised in toxic homes, like you were, and grow up to be honest people. Pam had free will, of course, but . . .”

"She already had a very heavy burden from her childhood."

"Exactly."

"Hearing her grandmother say that she was destined to be a Kostanidis queen"—she’s repeating what we saw on the recordings—"must not have helped her mental health."

"Yup. And I'm not saying that to excuse Pam. I gave her everything. She was treated like a sister, and she even saw psychologists, but I think her grandmother created unrealistic expectations for her."

"And Pam started to think it was her destiny to be with you."

"Yes."

"Two wasted lives. Sad because no death is beautiful, especially the ones they had, but just like what happened with Riny, I can't feel too sorry. I hope that one day the hurt I feel for Pam will go away, but for now this hurt still fills part of my heart, because if she had achieved what she’d planned, I could have lost my son. I can forgive what they did to me, but imagining that her madness could have interrupted my boy's development drives me crazy."

I feel her fear in my bones, and as always, the hatred towards the only person left to be punished returns.

Ryan, that bastard.

His time is coming, and soon, we will have our closure.

"She got what she deserved," Ernest says hours later, when I tell him about Vina's death. He is now fully recovered from surgery and sips orange juice as we watch Kingtalkingtohis mother's belly. My son can't handle the anticipation of waiting for his brother to be born.

"I couldn't agree more, although I would have preferred that Zeus hadn't spilled the beans in front of Kennedy."

"She is not fragile, Hades. Sometimes what is small and delicate on the outside is made of steel on the inside."

"Yes, I know. No one could have handled everything she went through if they weren't strong."

"As for that son of a bitch Ryan, do you know when the trial will be?"

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