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Chapter one
Prologue
Tabitha
I didn't hate men. I never thought of myself as someone who did, but they were the specific group that I would never get along with. And they were any one of them who reminded me of my father. As a child, Father seemed to have no interest in me. Then again, he wasn't genuinely interested in any of his children. My case was special because I bore a resemblance to my mother.
"Pathetic little sow." He'd look at me with eyes of disgust and slap me.
This happened if I underperformed. My mother would say nothing. Then again, she never said anything concerning my other siblings being abused. In the university, some people who were aware of what Father was like would curry favor to get his attention.
There was a time when he even proposed to marry me off to someone I didn’t know. I became a doctor because I saw a way to kill him if he ever had a medical issue. A bit extreme, I know, but thanks to him, I developed a complex. I loved seeing strong men on their knees.
Take, for example, Curtis. He was the best graduating student from medical school, second only to me. He had good looks and thick muscles, and he made the ladies swoon with his breathing.
To everyone, he was an example of peak masculinity.
I even heard rumors that he knew how to hunt. While being adored by many, he sought an opportunity to court me. He looked interesting, so I gave it a shot. In the first few days, I showed him the side he wanted to see: a weak little girl who wished for his strong arms to protect her. But when I was done, I literally placed him on a leash and made him kiss my feet.
At first, he was against it, but before he knew it, he was unable to resist. All of them were unable to resist serving my pleasure. My power test was only limited to medical school, and once I had graduated, I thought about putting that life behind me. But with Father still breathing down my neck and his idea of potential suitors flooding in, I knew I had to get the upper hand.
I didn't know how, but I had once met my mother. It was around the same time that Lucas had left to explore the world. I saw the number of men who dropped to her feet when she walked. Chad had gotten her manual, and it was easy to tell she was involved with a lot of shady things.
"So, what do you think?" she asked, with a devious smile on her face.
"Mom, are you some kind of drug lord or something?" I asked.
"I am whatever will guarantee my survival," she replied, "be it a wife, a mother, or a drug lord."
There was always something dark about her. Her eyes were incapable of love, but the greed in them was overwhelming.
"I don't think I would want to do that," I said.
"You don't necessarily have to go to the ‘dark side’," she said, making air quotes. "Take this as a good advice, my dear daughter. If I never had a mother-to-daughter conversation with you, this is the one."
"You haven't," I murmured.
She didn't even tell me how to handle my menstruation.
"Well, this is one then," she stated. "In a world where men like your father exist, as women, we should let our guard down. Your father is as dangerous as you think, and I'm sure your brothers are more dangerous as well."
"You see how he treats Lucas just because he looks like him," she reminded me.
I will never forget how he treated Lucas as compared to me. If I did the same thing as Lucas, my punishment would be worse just because I resembled my mother. Lucas was going to be his replacement; so, he got a pass. Yes, he got punished, but it was apparent to the rest of us that he was the favorite.
"Who knows if Lucas is going to end up just like his father?" she mused. "Who's to say Gregory won't follow suit? What about Isaac? You think he doesn't have hatred toward the rest of his siblings? What about your sister, Helena? You see how much of a wild card she is. What if she goes against you one day?"
"Are you to put me against my siblings?" I asked as I took a step back.
I know my siblings and I didn't get along, but it seemed to me she was going too far with her suggestion.
"I'm not trying to do anything that won't happen in the future," she warned as she placed her hand on my cheek, with eyes of pity. "The sooner you get the upper hand, the better."
That had been my motivating factor: to get the upper hand over my siblings and everyone I came across. I didn't give anyone a second glance, and that's how I intended it to continue.
Until I met Bruce Jericho.
Chapter two
