Page 41 of What Goes Around

Right into the table.

He hit it full force. The table jerked. The trophy wobbled, teetered… then crashed to the floor with a sharp metallic clang that cut straight through the music.

Gasps. A few curses.

And just like I knew it would, the tiny golden basketball snapped clean off the player’s hand, rolling across the floor until it disappeared under a couch.

My breath caught in my throat.

This wasn’t just familiarity.

It wasn't a coincidence.

It was memory.

I had lived this exact moment before.

I dragged my gaze away, my heart racing, and looked around.

I caught familiar faces. Couples hanging off each other, people I hadn’t thought about in years.

Barbara and Mia stood in a corner talking, and a memory hit me instantly.

Barbara had been the one who “accidentally” tripped and spilled her beer all over me earlier that night. Looking back now, it was so obviously intentional. She couldn’t stand the thought of Anton showing even the slightest interest in me, so she’d taken her jealousy out on the easiest target.

I scoffed under my breath.

And of course, later that same night, Apple had hooked up with Anton. For the exact same reason.

Jealousy. Possessiveness. A competition no one else had agreed to play.

My mind snapped hard back to the present. Hatred surged through me so suddenly I felt dizzy, my nails digging into my palms until they stung.

Where was that rotten Apple?

The desire to destroy her life rose up so suddenly it stole the air from my lungs.

It burned. Sharp. Metallic. I could almost taste it.

I wanted her perfect world to split down the middle. I wanted the mask to fall. I wanted every carefully built lie to unravel in front of her, slowly, publicly.

I wanted her to feel it.

Every ounce of what she had done to me.

I wanted her to watch everything she had stolen crumble in her hands.

But she wasn’t here.

And even if she had been… killing her now would be pointless.

Because I realized something else. Something darker. Something patient.

Death would be too quick for her.

Too merciful.

I wanted to watch her rise. Higher than she ever deserved. I wanted her adored, untouchable, standing at the top of a world she thought she owned.