Page 101 of The Revenge Plan (Forbidden Descendants 1)

With my hand still fisted and arm pulled back, poised to strike, I huffed out a breath, staring at Reuben, waiting for him to answer.

When I didn’t punch him, he recovered enough to stop crouching and glance past me. “Yeah, babe,” he told her. “Of course. It’s all good.”

Finally, I glanced over my shoulder to look at her as well.

God, she was pretty.

Hiding partially behind the door to his room, she seemed to be wearing his T-shirt and nothing else. The top fell to mid-thigh where her legs and feet were bare, and her hair was mussed as if they’d been going at it again.

But that wasn’t even the worst of it. The look in her eyes as she met my gaze was pure caution. Distrust. Fear. I could tell without a doubt in my mind that she saw a crazy man, a monster, when she looked at me.

To her, I was the bad guy.

Gasping out a pained breath, I dropped my hand and stumbled away from Reuben, dizzy and lost.

“Do you need me to get some help?” she asked her boyfriend, wanting to protect him, the guy who’d secretly set up a camera to record her first time in order to taunt his enemy with it.

She had no clue what he was, what he’d done.

For a split second, my tongue tingled, wanting to tell all, wanting her to know so she’d transfer the look she was giving me to him. So she’d know he was the true monster.

But what would that accomplish? She’d be destroyed. Devastated. I couldn’t ruin her first time like that. I would not be the one to hurt her.

Motherfucker.

I had lost. I’d lost in so many ways I was still discovering them all with each breath I took.

Blindly, I turned to Reuben, not even sure how to deal with this kind of bottomless defeat he’d given me.

Straightening more boldly, he pushed away from the wall and offered me a victorious smirk. He must’ve realized I wasn’t going to retaliate. Not with her standing there. Maybe not ever, not as long as they were together, anyway.

Injuring him would upset her. I couldn’t upset her.

She was his protecting grace, and the fucker knew it.

I didn’t care if she was still a stranger to me. She could be the biggest bitch on the planet and not worthy of a single moment of my consideration. But she remained the vessel that had harbored some of my biggest hopes and dreams. She was the what-if that had inspired me to want something amazing and beautiful. For that alone, I would honor her and leave Reuben unharmed.

“Ah, you must’ve just learned that the director picked me as the new trumpet leader,” he said, his gaze mocking. “But man, that sucks about what happened to your instrument. I heard it was completely demolished.”

I just stared at him, unspeaking.

I hadn’t heard about him taking my spot as trumpet leader. But it made sense. The universe hated me; why wouldn’t it give my hallowed position in the band to the one person I loathed more than anyone else?

Without saying a word, I turned and stalked off.

From behind me, I heard her voice again over his chuckle. “Who was that?” she asked.

“No one, babe,” Reuben answered, his voice dismissive. “Just some guy in band with me.”

Just some guy in band, huh? More like, just some guy who’d lost everything.

Just some guy without a hope in the world.

Just some loser.

I went back to my own dorm and gave up. On band. On school. On living.

Days passed as I camped out in my bed, not leaving my room, not attending classes, not giving a shit about anything. Sometimes, I’d lay there and think about what had happened, how I’d messed up so badly to reach this point. But mostly, I just slept and blocked out the world.

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