Page 16 of The Familiar Stranger

If only I cared! If only!

I care about nothing anymore. Easier to never have loved than to love and lose—that’s my motto. I have lost so much, and it’s all thanks to …her.

My lips curl into a sneer and my heart grows dark—darker than it already is—every time I think of …her.

The moment she entered my life, I lost everything dear to me.

Every.

Single.

Thing.

Even things that weren’t that dear to me, but a loss just the same. My family and friends, my job, my standing in the community.

And then my buddy, dead.

Again, thanks to her.

How is that even possible?

I’d loved my life, straddling the line between good and bad. And now … well, it was gone, changed forever.

So be it.

I like the “bad” side of me better anyway. It’s what I do best, after all. No sense denying it anymore.

I’ve spent so much time thinking about payback, plotting my revenge. And now, revenge has come at long last.

My time is now.

And she will pay.

Nothing will stop me … and why would it? When you have nothing to lose, you are limitless. The feeling is unlike anything I’ve ever known. Better than all the things I’ve lost. The way I see it, I’ve only gained.

With all the time on my hands and no one to answer to anymore but myself, I’d tracked and researched and planned. Now, I find a great sense of satisfaction in carrying out my quest. I’m tempted to rush it all—the high is so intense—but no. I’ll stick to the plan, drag it out, watch her squirm, question what’s happening and why, until her strongholds unravel, and she starts to go crazy.

I will hurt her as she has hurt me, through her deepest connections, through the core of her fears, electrifying her terror. She will soon realize the truth: she cannot protect herself, much less anyone around her.

Because I’m coming.

In fact, I’m here.

Why should she be happy, thriving, when she’s the source of my destruction? Well, the destruction of the former me. The new me? Far too clever.

Kill, maim, destroy.

My new mantra.

Let chaos reign.

CHAPTER13

After thanking Almond for her time, Maddie and I left Hard Body in a rush, sweeping past weight machines and sweaty bodies like we were in training. The information we’d gleaned over tea and hugs was like gold in my hands. Almond changing her mind about talking to us was a huge point in her favor. She could have refused, and it would have been her right to do so. Instead, she invited us into her inner sanctuary, which was unexpected.

There was always the chance that I was wrong about her.

But I didn’t think so.

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