Page 96 of The One


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“You can’t do that. And besides, I don’t have that kind of money, my business….”

“I’ll call in a few favors and get them to ease up on that score, only long enough for you to sell the business and the house. I’ve already run the numbers; you should be able to pay her off with a little bit left to start over somewhere.” That little bit that was going to be left was already grating on my damn nerves because I know for a fact that if her dad hadn’t left her anything, these two would’ve left her out on the street to fend for herself.

“But what about my wife?”

“Your what?”

“My new wife, she’s going to divorce me; she’s going to take….”

“I give a fuck about your dog; that’s your business. You’ve got until the end of the week; if I don’t see any movement from your end, I’ll make sure everyone you know hears about that.” I indicated the envelope in his hand that he was holding onto as if it was his lifeline. “One way or the other, you’re going to give her what’s hers.”

“She didn’t even want it.”

“Doesn’t matter; it’s hers. And it’s not that she didn’t want it; it’s the fact that she wanted to get away from you two as fast as possible. Had you not tried to rob her of her inheritance, I might’ve left you alone, but you went there. Now you’ll pay for your greed, and that,” I pointed to his two broken legs and the cloth they had wrapped around his head, “is for everything else.”

“You did this?” I just smirked as I turned to leave the room.

“Fuck with me and find out.” I did stop in the doorway long enough to smile at the old woman. “You better get to work on fixing all the lies and rumors you started. You wouldn’t want your friends to know what your little boy is really like.”

He held the envelope even closer to his chest as his eyes all but turned in his head. Jackass! It hadn’t been hard getting the information in there; some people are just dumb enough to keep their shit on hard drives and hidden away in folders on desktops like they’re in middle school.

I knew that hitting him where it hurt, both financially and physically, was only a surface remedy, things he could easily come back from. But with a mother like his, the information I’d just thrown at him would be akin to a death sentence. Sex scandals with humans are one thing; sex scandals with members of the canine family are another. Having proof of that shit in technicolor is a whole other ballgame. I bet he wishes he could walk out of that bed and disappear this minute.

Two down, one more to go. I think I’m getting the hang of this revenge shit. I know she wouldn’t look out for herself, that she’s convinced herself that she’s put the past behind her, that she’s over it. I call bullshit; she’s too soft, too sweet for the shit they’d done to her not to matter, not to still linger and hurt like a sore tooth.

Since she won’t go after them, it’s left to me to do it. I have no doubt that he’d sell up and pay up and get the hell out of dodge, which was the easy way I’d given him. He wouldn’t want his shit broadcasted among his friends and peers because that is some shit he’d never come back from.

I could hear the old lady’s voice even as I made my way down the hallway. She ought not to worry; as soon as Steph gets what’s hers, I plan to send her an envelope of her own. Yes, I want her to know just what her precious boy really is. How dare she treat my girl as less done when she raised that degenerate.

I’d been thinking about my sister and what Steph said about the family hating her more if the rift continued because of her, but I still can’t see myself forgiving her that easily. I guess the fact that I’d heard it with my own two ears is what was making me dig my heels in, but whatever Steph wants, Steph gets.

“We’re going to your parents’ house, really?”

“Yes, for the one-hundredth time.” She’d asked the same question a hundred times since we left the house, and the way she clapped her hands and grinned like a toddler assured me that I had made the right decision.

I’d taken a couple of weeks to think about it and get things lined up to give her what she wanted. In truth, unbeknownst to her, I was waiting for her ex to get his shit together first, one thing at a time. I had no doubt that he’d get with the program; I hadn’t given him much of a choice.

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