Page 299 of Unexpected Heroine

He murdered her.

Through rapidly clouding vision, I notice a single remaining knife in a water-stained butcher’s block. Shivers skate over my skin.

Blinking, I open my eyes to find the knife in my hand. No clue how it got there.

After another blink, I’m standing in front of my father’s recliner.

Fear darts behind his fathomless eyes. He puts his hands up and tries to stand on shaky legs. With one hand, I push him back down.

I blink again, and now I’m on top of him on the floor. Straddling him like he was doing to my mother. One cheek is red like he’s been punched, and his eye waters on that side. Blood pours from his nose, tracking down his face. One of my hands encircles his neck, and the other hovers the knife an inch above his murderous face.

My breathing is rushed and choppy, and my throat is suddenly dry. Yet my resolve is strong. He’ll die tonight by my hands. Payback for what he did to my mother.

An eye for an eye.

“You killed her,” I spit the words, my white-knuckle grip on the knife tightening even more. “You fucking killed my mother.”

He can’t speak because my fingers surround his vile neck, cutting off his airway.

And it feels fucking good.

I lift the blade, preparing to drive it into his skull. Inches from his repugnant face, I scream and roar in a fit of wrath.

He tormented me. Starved me. Beat me. Killed my fucking dog.

And my mother.

My scream cuts off as I plunge the knife forward.

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