Page 27 of Bittersweet Revenge

Walking into the kitchen, I found a bottle of white wine and a small card resting against it.‘A little present to take the edge off,’ it read.

I glared at the offending bottle before closing my hand around the card, crushing it as I wished I could crush Caleb right now.

This was beyond taunting. This was cruel. He knew how I felt about alcohol due to my uncle Luke's history, and yet... I threw the card in the trash and grabbed the bottle, reading the label as if it mattered.

I grimaced, not even able to pronounce the name in my mind. What did it even mean?Gewurztraminer… I shrugged. “Ah, you want me to drink? I’ll drink and then I’ll vomit all over your bed, you cold-hearted bastard. Wait until you come back to the stringent smell all over your carpet,” I chuckled, rummaging through the kitchen for a corkscrew. “We’ll see who’ll laugh then.”

I opened the bottle and didn’t even bother with a glass. I might as well be the classless girl he was always accusing me of being.

After only a couple of sips, warmth started to spread across my chest. I looked at the bottle again. Was it because I’d never really had a drink before or was wine really that potent?

I shrugged, taking another sip. At least now I didn't care that much. I chuckled to myself.Cheese!My eyes widened at the realization as I slapped my hand against the countertop. I needed cheese… I needed cheese more than my next breath.

“Cheese is life.” I nodded, agreeing with myself.

I opened the fridge, grabbed what I presumed was Brie, and took a big bite of it before taking another sip of wine.

Yep, best decision ever!I pulled at my shirt. Why was it so hot in here? I huffed, blowing some hair out of my face.

I took another sip of wine and glared at the bottle. Was this a normal reaction after only a quarter bottle? No wonder Luke enjoyed it. “Oh, it’s too hot!”

I rested the bottle on the counter with a loud thump. I needed a swim. I chuckled.Yep, Esmerima, the Little Mermaid.

I sang songs from The Little Mermaid on my way to the pool, but stopped as soon as I walked in, a wide smile spreading across my lips.

“Mom!”

She smiled from her spot in the middle of the pool, the water at her waist, dressed in a pale peach-pink lacy gossamer nightgown. She looked beautiful with her wavy hair down her back, floating slowly, with a kind, loving smile on her face.

“I knew you’d come.” I marveled, standing at the edge of the pool.

“Of course I did, my beautiful daughter,” she said with a voice even more melodic than I’d ever imagined as she opened her arms invitingly.“Why don’t you come closer? I’ve missed you so much.”

I followed her into the pool and swam toward her as she kept smiling at me.

“Why don’t you come with me?” she asked. “I’m so alone.”

I nodded. “Of course. Where?”

She went deep under the water, gesturing me down, and I followed her to the bottom. She opened her arms and I let her embrace me until I fell asleep peacefully in the safety of her arms.

Chapter 8 - Caleb

I punched the steering wheel in frustration as I sat in the car, praying Aleksandra wouldn’t check if I were gone.

‘It happens to every guy,’ Aleks had cooed with her syrupy voice like I was a child. ‘Let me try harder.’

No, it didn’t happen to everyone, especially not hormone-riddled eighteen-year-olds and especially not to me. That girl was open to literally anything. I could have fucked my frustration away and taken whatever pleasure I wanted without any regard for her own, and she would have pretended to love it, like she always did. But I hadn’t been able to. My dick was on fucking life support. Even the images of Esmeralda I’d tried to conjure had been hijacked. I usually saw her lying invitingly on my bed, her wavy bronze hair flowing on my pillows, her face flushed after the orgasm I’d given her with just my mouth - just like that day I’d felt like Superman. But no, today the only image I could conjure was her sad face when I’d walked away, the glistering of tears in her eyes when I’d turned my back on her after she’d begged me not to go to Aleksandra.

I wanted her to ask me to stay because she cared and not because it was Aleks. Would I have stayed if she’d said that? I growled.

I drove like a mad man back home. I’d taken her back to get revenge, to make her pay, but she was a virus spreading in my blood, invading the little bit of peace I had left.

She needed to stop whatever game she was playing. She didn’t need to play the innocent, kind-hearted girl she pretended to be to get me to drop my defenses. I wouldn't be fooled twice. She needed to stop that charade as that only infuriated me even more. I needed her to be the conniving double-faced traitor I knew she was. That, I could respect.

I’d wanted to hurt her, humiliate her today – like I’d been humiliated when William had called me after school this afternoon. I had heard in his voice how glad he’d been to announce that he’d ‘forgotten’ to stop his tracking of Esme’s calls. He’d claimed to be ‘helpful’ by letting me know that Esme had spent over twenty-seven minutes on the phone with Ben Deluca today. I had pretended to know they were in contact, that I couldn’t care less, and yet even though I’d told her she could, I couldn't help but feel it had been a betrayal, a betrayal she needed to pay for.

This was going to be our life, each of us trying to get the upper hand, avenging ourselves, making each other crazy until one of us snapped. It’d be her, of course. She was much weaker, unprepared for this misery whereas I was born in it, built in it, thrived in it. She didn't stand a chance.

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