Page 281 of Poor Little Rich Girl

But I won’t let this stand.

I will never forgive him.

I’ll bide my time, but I’ll get him for this.

I turn the pages with trembling fingers. The entries here are spread over several years. They’re numerous but short – a couple of lines of jagged handwriting peppered with exclamation points. Sometimes she presses the pen so hard it tears through the paper.

…Mackenzie broke all my nail polishes…

…Mackenzie threw my Versace gown into the swimming pool…

…Mackenzie puked in my purse…

…we took her to Disneyland and she told Mickey Mouse we kidnapped her, so the police dragged us off the Jungle Cruise ride with all those people watching…

…I can never show my face at the club again, and it’s all her fault…

…I hate her. I hate my own daughter. She’s ruined my life…

…Howard sold the wrong child. He got rid of my precious angel and left me with a demon.

Like father, like daughter. The Malloy house is a toxic hellhole. I check the date on the last entry, my heart stuttering as I see it was written only a couple of weeks before Mackenzie murdered her family.

Howard’s been talking about this deal for weeks, unknowingly letting little details slip. He thinks I’m too stupid to understand what he’s talking about, but I’ve been waiting for this chance for years.

Biding my time.

Letting every attack from his little she-demon go unpunished.

Letting them both think they’ve won.

Howard thinks I don’t care where his money comes from, as long as I have my perfect house and my dream husband and my little girl.

He underestimates me, and it’s cost him everything.

I did it.

I made my plans so carefully. He didn’t suspect a thing. Tonight, I waited until he got the call to go to the docks. The she-demon was at cheerleading practice, so she couldn’t see me get in my car and follow him. I parked a little way away and hid in my pre-designated spot. I watched him load the box onto the ship – the payment he received for our daughter all those years ago. I don’t know what’s inside, but I know that he uses it as collateral for his deals.

My husband’s treasure travels all over the world, but it always returns to him, like a boomerang.

Not this time.

It’s nice to know I’ve still got it. All it took was a bat of my eyelashes to have Howard’s shipping captain completely under my spell. The wad of bills I stole from Howard’s safe helped, too. He’ll never even notice the money missing, and he’ll never know it was me who arranged for that box to be lifted from the boat before it left port.

He’ll never know as he rants and rages and starts wars with his clients that the treasure more precious to him than his own daughter is right under his roof. By the time he figures it out, I’ll be long gone.

I’m going to find my baby girl, my angel, my heart. I’ll tear her from the evil people who bought her like she was a Gucci handbag. And the two of us will make a new life for ourselves, far away from this nightmare.

Holy shitballs.

Ainsley Malloy didn’t forget about me. She didn’t merrily go on with her perfect life knowing her husband sold me to a crime boss.

The badass bitch got even.

She stole Howard’s treasure.

She was coming to get me.

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