Page 9 of Vengeful Union

Staring at her in silence, I can’t help but feel vindicated. I fucking knew that bitch couldn't have done it alone. I didn't buy it. No fucking way. Carter is too smarmy for his own good. That bastard.

"Yeah," she hisses. "That fucker let his niece take the fall, and he's still living." Her lip curls. "No, no fucking way. It's time for the Carter house to fall."

I grin. "Oh, Jade, I forgot just how vicious you truly are."

The smirk she has is cunning and conniving. "The best way to bring a man down? Take what he cares most about."

I raise a brow, knowing she's already got this figured out.

"The man has one person he cares the most about now that his wife's dead. She's seventeen, turning eighteen soon. It's time for Carter's Destiny to disappear."

I fucking love the sound of this.

Destiny Carter, the only child of James Carter.

I get to my feet. "It's time I get to know the ins and outs of the Carter family," I tell her with a grin.

"Rain fucking hell on that bastard," she spits with a grin. "Be safe, Finny. It's good to see you smile again."

“See you soon, Jade. Keep your head up, yeah?”

She nods, giving me a blinding smile, one that doesn’t reach her eyes. She’s stuck here for another four-and-a-half-years.

But now I have a purpose. One aim: to ruin the Carter family. And to do that, I'm going to destroy his little girl.

4

Destiny

Five months later

It’s been six months since my mom died. Twenty-six weeks since my father told me she died in a carjacking gone wrong. Until that point, I never realized he could lie so blatantly to me, but I watched him do it without blinking and without remorse. I know the truth about what happened to my mom. I decided from that point on that I’d do whatever I could to ensure I had enough leverage against my father should the time ever come.

“Destiny,” Drake says softly as he walks into the kitchen. His once black hair is now gray and thinning, the worry lines in his forehead deep and rigid. He’s got a day-old stubble, something that’s a little unusual. He’s usually clean shaven and always in a suit, unless he’s stressed, and then he’ll go a few days without a shave. “I know what you’re doing.”

I raisea brow at my mother’s closest ally, the man who’s also my father’s right-hand man. The person I thought I could trust to help me. But that trust has waned, and I’m wondering if I’m in this alone. He didn’t answer my call the night my mom died, and since then I’ve been skeptical about his intentions. Though, my father has kept him as far away from me as humanly possible over the past six months. This is the first time we’ve been alone, and I hate that this is a man my mom trusted implicitly and yet I don’t.

“And what isit that you think you know?” I ask tartly.

He pinchesthe bridge of his nose and closes his eyes. “Destiny, what is going on?” he asks, no doubt shocked at the way I’m behaving.

Gone isthe sweet little girl he watched grow up. Witnessing my mom’s murder changed me. I have so much anger and hatred bubbling inside of me that it’s eating away at me. I’m struggling. Truly finding it hard to act as though I’m the doting daughter to a loving father. Every time I see my dad, I want to kill him.

“You know what he did,”I hiss at him. He called Mom to tell her that Dad was on his way, to warn her of what was about to befall us. “You know what happened to Mom.” I can’t keep the anger or disgust out of my voice. “You left us there. She was lying on that road, bleeding and dead. And you didn’t help us.”

His eyes soften. “Dest—”

I shake my head.“No, don’t try and make excuses. I saw everything.” I’ve not been able to forget what happened that night.

His jaw slackensas worry etches his face. “Christ.”

“Yeah.He didn’t even hesitate in pulling that trigger.” My throat tightens as tears sting my eyes, but I won’t allow them to fall. I cried at her funeral; I got to say my goodbye. Now, it’s time to unleash the pain that’s been building since that night over six months ago. My father’s going to pay.

“I made your mom a promise,Destiny. One that I couldn’t go back on. You are who I have to protect now. Why did you come back? Your mom told you to run. I went to that park, but you weren’t there.”

“It was you,”I whisper, as everything starts to come back to me. “Dad said that Mom cheated on him. He has no idea that it was you she was cheating on him with.” I remember Mom telling Drake that she loved him. God, how was I so blind?

His cheeks reddenas he glances away, but not before I see the flicker of surprise in his eyes. He takes a seat opposite me at the kitchen counter. “Yes.” His voice cracks as he closes his eyes. “I loved your mom. Jasmine was the better half of me. I had plans for all three of us to leave, but that bastard ruined them when he started dealing in human trafficking—more specifically, he was going to sell your mom. I needed you both out of here, but it was too late. Your father knew that your mom had fled the house. He was chasing her.” He shakes his head. “I wanted to get you both to safety. Your mom would kill me if she knew I didn’t do everything to get you out now. Never mind letting you come back here in the first place. Your father is set on keeping you in his sight. I’ve been trying to figure a way to get you out.”

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