Chapter 87
Chapter 8
A few more years went by.
Blake, Ryan, and Kai got parole after serving eight years of their fifteen year sentences.
The day they walked free, I drove out to this memorial garden.
Not to visit anyone actually buried there, but to see the small plaque I’d had made for my husband from my past life the innocent man they’d tortured and killed.
I sat on the bench there for maybe an hour, then drove home and never went back.
My brothers got out with absolutely nothing.
Dad’s family had completely cut them off, and our parents had basically become hermits – years of legal bills and public humiliation had broken them.
Meanwhile, I was killing it in Silicon Valley as Gabriel’s CTO. Our startup had just IPO’d and we were worth about forty million on paper.
I was wearing a Tiffany engagement ring and getting profiled in Forbes.
The contrast was insane.
They were living in some halfway house in Oakland while I had a penthouse in SOMA.
Of course they eventually tracked me down.
They ambushed Gabriel and me outside our office building.
Ten years in prison had completely destroyed them.
Blake looked like he’d aged thirty years, Ryan had this nasty prison tattoo covering half his neck, and Kai was so skinny he looked like a meth addict.
When they saw me, they looked pathetic as hell.
“Madison p>
Blake’s voice sounded like he’d been chain–smoking for a decade.
Byan completely broke down when he saw my ring and Gabriel’s Tesla parked behind us. He dropped to his knees right there on the sidewalk.
“Madison, we fucked everything up! We know we’re trash p>
He started slapping himself, drawing stares from tech workers walking by.
4
“We’re nothing! We’re garbage! Just give us one chance – we’ll do anything! Please p>
His meltdown was making people uncomfortable.
I stared down at them feeling absolutely dead inside.
All I could think about was bleeding out on that warehouse floor.
How they’d slit my wrists like I was disposable.
Gabriel stepped forward, blocking their view of me.
He looked down at Ryan on his knees and the other two standing there, his expression ice cold.
“ Her life has nothing to do with you anymore. ”
Chapter 8
His voice was quiet but carried this unmistakable authority.
Kai wasn’t giving up. He pulled out this crumpled cloth pouch from his jacket, unwrapping it layer by layer to reveal a worn savings account book.
“Madison, this is everything we saved up from our prison jobs over the years p>
He held out the bankbook with shaking hands.
“I know it’s not much, but it’s all we have to make things right. Please forgive us. We can’t… we can’t lose our brother p>
What a fucking joke.
I finally couldn’t hold back a bitter laugh.
I stepped out from behind Gabriel and stared all three of them down.
“Make things right?” Find the newest release on.net
“You’re not here because you actually feel guilty. You’re here because you have nothing left, and I’m doing better than you ever did p>
“You don’t want forgiveness – you want to use me as a ladder to climb back up. Again p>
“Take your pathetic apologies and get out of my sight. Forever p>
My words completely shattered whatever delusions they’d been clinging to.
They just stood there staring at me, all the color draining from their faces.
I took Gabriel’s hand and walked away without looking back once.
Sara Lili
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.