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Licking her lips, she laughs maniacally, taunting, “Do it, Charlotte.”
“Why, Jani? Why?” I ask, struggling to comprehend the betrayal. I had never done anything to her. Not once. I can’t fathom why she would turn against me like this.
As I stand here, my gun aimed at Jani, I grapple with the reality of this twisted situation. We had once been so close, confidantes and allies. Now, we’re bitter rivals locked in a battle that has cost us so much.
“Answer me!” I demand, my voice laced with a mixture of pain, anger, and confusion. I need to understand her motives, even if the truth only deepens the wound in my heart.
Jani’s laughter echoes in the room, an unsettling sound that sends shivers down my spine. “Oh, Charlotte, don’t you see? It was always about jealousy—jealousy for your perfect life, your perfect family, your perfect everything. I wanted what you had, and I will do anything to take it.”
Her words hit me like a sledgehammer, and for a moment, I’m paralyzed by the realization. Jealousy and resentment fueled the very essence of our conflict.
“You threw everything away for jealousy?” I whisper, feeling a mix of disbelief and sorrow. “I don’t believe you.”
She sneers, “You were just too blind to see it—too blinded by your own fortune.”
My finger trembles on the trigger, the weight of the gun heavy in my grip. As Jani’s words hang in the air, I find myself at a crossroads.
This gun in my hand has the power to end this rivalry and exact revenge for all the pain she’s caused, but it’s also a catalyst for a choice—a choice between succumbing to the bitterness and darkness or rising above it and letting justice take its course.
At that moment, the echoes of my mother’s voice fill my mind.You’re stronger than this, Charlotte. Fight for what’s right.
I didn’t even date Desmond until recently, so he can’t be the ultimate reason.
“You were the perfect patsy,” she sneers, her words echoing around me like a haunting melody. I tighten my grip on my gun as her eyes gleam with twisted satisfaction, fixing on the weapon.
“There you were, moving in next door, oblivious to the town you ended up in and the fact that most of the people there were criminals,” she continues, her voice taking on a strange, whimsical quality.
“How long…” I swallow, my throat going dry.
“How long what?” She spits blood on the floor. “How long have I been a mole?” She snorts. “Since the day they killed Simon’s father. The love of my life.”
My mouth drops open as she stands up on steady feet. “He’s dead?” I never saw him in person. She only ever spoke of him.
Seeing the confusion on my face, she snarls, “You should ask your beloved Desmond what he did to him and where he buried the body, or maybe they incinerated him. I don’t know because I never found his body!”
“I’m sure there was a good reason,” I reply, only for her to scoff at me.
The weight of her revelation presses heavily on my shoulders. The town I moved to, thinking it was a fresh start, had become a twisted web of deceit, and I fell into their dark secrets.
I take a step back, the truth sinking in like a lead weight in my chest. My beloved Desmond, the man I trusted and loved, had kept this secret from me. My world crumbles, and the bitterness that has woven itself into this rivalry transforms into something darker—an unquenchable thirst for truth and retribution.
“A good reason? You mean like coming from the wrong fucking family?” Her eyes blaze with fury. “My Joey didn’t deserve what they did to him.”
“I’m sorry that he?—”
“Shut the fuck up!” she screams. “You don’t get it, do you, Bonanno?” she mocks. “You think Sal was giving you up that day? No, he was giving me up.”
My heart drops as my mind still struggles to understand what she’s saying.
“Let me paint you a picture, Charlotte,” she sneers. “Joey was Sal’s son.” Her smile is ruthless. “Oh yes, Sal found love after Brooklyn, a relationship where he didn’t have to share his woman. But Joe? He was the love of my life. We were going to leave, but when we packed up in the middle of the night, Lyric was there. Fucking Lyric.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Of course you wouldn’t because you are stupid,” she taunts. “Where did you think we would go? There is nowhere in the world where the families wouldn’t find us.”
The pieces fall into place, and the implications of Jani’s words hit me like a tidal wave.
Amid this revelation, the rivalry that once consumed us feels trivial, a mere echo of the true, vicious conflict lurking in the shadows, born of vengeance and family ties that I had been blind to.
