Page 77 of The Heart of a Villain

Sometimes, whenever my eyes land on the knives scattered around the house, I want to grab one and slice my wrists to finally end this torture.

Because I’m so tired, so, so tired from him hurting me every day in one way or another.

But I will never do that.

My children, my boys and my little girl, keep me alive in this bleeding ocean that’s my life, and my love for them would never let me give up.

Because if I died, the monster would not spare them. He would hurt them.

The only reason I take all his punishments and touches is so he won’t touch them.

He knows our silent agreement. He might snap at them and be cold toward them, but he doesn’t physically hurt them.

Except Lavender.

He enjoys spending time with her, and revulsion rushes over me just thinking about how he stares at my baby sometimes. He muses that she looks just like me and nothing like the boys.

He often says he cannot wait until she grows up—the sick, perverted monster who seems to be enamored with my baby.

I think he even convinced himself on some level that his blood runs through her veins and that she’s the product of our love.

I hate him with all my heart, the monster who killed my husband and took his identity, coming back here to dump us all in hell.

The diary almost falls to the ground when I read the last passage, my pulse speeding up while all the puzzles floating in my head slowly start to build into a structure that I never saw coming.

Although everything pointed at it.

All this time, I tried contacting Lachlan again, but that’s hard to do.

Jade doesn’t allow me to use a phone or travel from the island. In fact, he doesn’t even let me speak to anyone for fear of me spilling the truth.

When he came back, he thought he could fool me into believing he was Joaquin, but I knew straight away.

To protect my children, I play this charade, doing my best to come up with a plan that will finally kill him.

A few times, I tried poisons, but he quickly discovered my plan and then beat me so hard I lost two teeth.

I grip the diary harder, wishing to punch Jade so hard he’d lose his whole fucking jaw.

I listen to him as well, though. How he still continued his business, conducting various deals.

And how he still despises Lachlan, who ended all his grand schemes one by one, finding warehouses and saving all those women and children.

He was always one step ahead of Jade, and no matter how much he tried to achieve success in business, Lachlan was there like a hawk, ending his reign before it could even begin.

Lately, though, I notice how erratic he has become in his behavior and how he talks about moving us all somewhere else.

Or rather, moving me and Lavender, letting the boys stay here. But I never agree to this, which earns me a few more punches.

With what he does, I know he would happily give my boys to all those sick people who’d hurt them and more.

I will never allow this to happen as long as I live, and unfortunately—or rather, fortunately in these circumstances—Jade is obsessed with me.

The sick kind of obsession, one that doesn’t care about my emotions and just takes and takes.

Not like my Joaquin loved me.

But in this case, Jade is terrified I’ll kill myself, and that’s the only thing I can hold over his head whenever it comes to the boys.

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