Page 87 of Vengeful King

My stomach turns. I dart up from the stairs, rushing into the bathroom. I throw up into the toilet, knees hitting the tiled floor so hard I know they’ll bruise. My eyes squeeze shut as I heave over and over again.

Even after my stomach is empty, I keep my eyes shut, trying to keep a hold of myself. I don’t want to fall apart right now.

But when I open my eyes, I see blood.

Fear rushes through me. It’s almost strong enough to black out the despair, and the longer I look, the more I’m afraid. The same thing happened when I had cancer before.

Did it come back?

I don’t want to think about it, but there’s no escaping the sight of blood in my vomit. I slam the lid down and flush, but I can’t bring myself to stand. My head is swirling and I don’t know if it’s from heartbreak anymore or from cancer.

How could it come back now, of all times?

I can feel tears stinging my eyes, but I can’t cry. I don’t have the energy. I sit there with my cheek on the cold porcelain of the toilet lid, feeling numb and broken.

My mother is dead. Lachlan doesn’t care about me and never did; and now, I may have cancer again.

I drag in a breath, trying to find strength from somewhere deep within myself.

These brief days of happiness with Lachlan, even if they weren’t real to him, were real to me. I had hope for the first time in years. I remember how that feels, and as much as it hurts to know he didn’t care, I don’t have to let go of the hope I found inside my heart.

I can build a better life for myself.

I can be free of my demons.

I can end this.

I want vengeance on Yuri. That’s been in my blood since the moment my mother was killed. I want to look him in the eyes and make him pay for what he did.

And I want to get away from Lachlan. I know he doesn’t give a shit about me for anything other than sex, and I never want to see him again.

Beyond that, if my cancer is back, I don’t want to die that way. I don’t want to die tied to a bed, regretting all the things that got away from me.

I’d rather face death on my own terms. I’d rather live and be free.

That determination drives me, bringing me back to my feet. I get off the bathroom floor and leave the bedroom, making my way down the hall with purpose.

I know what I want to do, and even if it kills me, it’ll be on my terms. I am the only one that’s going to decide what happens with my life from now on.

Not Lachlan, not Yuri, not even cancer.

This is it. I’m making my last move.

No matter what it takes.

* * *

Lachlan

I’m pissed. It’s more than just anger. I can almost feel my blood boiling, anger simmering in my veins. There’s a rumbling in my chest like approaching thunder.

It’s not just an inconvenience; it’s an insult.

The inside of a jail cell is no place for an O’Reilly man, much less the head of the family. But here I am, stuck, taken from my own home in the middle of important business. In the middle of figuring out what needed to be done.

Now, the very man I was supposed to stop has me locked up.

Despite that, I’m not truly worried about getting stuck. I’m not even considering going to prison long-term; I’m fairly sure that Yuri doesn’t really have anything on me. He can’t have given the cops much.

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