Evil Deserves Evil

When I woke up, he was still deep in sleep, his golden hair was splayed, his chest rising and falling.

I didn’t think twice, after I slipped out of the room quietly, I started running, my legs trembling, lungs burning, heart hammering like it would burst.

Branches tore at my arms, dirt scraped my feet, but I didn’t stop.

All I could think of was putting enough distance between us…

Everything inside me still felt shaky, unsteady like something wild had been awakened against my will.

My lips were still swollen, my body still burning in embarrassing places, and I didn’t understand… I didn’t understand how I had lost that much control.

I traced my way back through, heart pounding every time a breeze carried his scent that was still on my skin, his impossible, overwhelming, addictive scent.

I kept shaking my head, trying to clear it.

By the time I finally stepped into the house, my legs were numb.

I barely even crossed the threshold before a voice exploded.

“Where the fuck have you been?!”

I froze.

Ryan.

My fiancé.

The man I had once trusted.

The man I loved before I found him in bed with my sister. Before I heard him whisper about poisoning me.

He came storming toward me like he had any right, like he had any claim on me at all. His face was twisted in this ugly, furious expression like he was the victim, like he had suffered.

“We’ve been so damn worried about you!” he shouted, chest heaving.

“You went out all night!” Ryan barked, his voice echoing through the house like an accusation, like a slap.

His eyes were blazing, pretending so hard that he cared. It seemed so ridiculously annoying to me.

“Do you have any idea what you put us through? Even your sister fell more sick because of worry!”

And right on cue… she appeared.

Aria.

My little sister.

Except she wasn’t “little” in innocence.

She staggered forward, her steps wobbly and dramatic, her face pale as if she’d been close to dying the entire night.

“S‑sister… Where did you go?” she whispered, and her voice trembled so perfectly it almost angered me how skilled she was at this act.

She swayed, pressing a hand to her forehead, so frail, so delicate and Ryan rushed to catch her instantly.

Instantly.

His arms wrapped around her, holding her, supporting her. I just stood there.

Watching them.

Watching their little performance.

Watching the man I once trusted hold the girl who despised me.

And suddenly like a slap of cold water, everything clicked.

The signs.

The touches.

The glances.

The way she always hovered around him, smiling sweetly like a fragile angel in need of protection.

I felt something inside me break quietly, painfully, finally.

I’ve been so… foolish, my throat tightening as I stared at them, the two people who had destroyed me without hesitation. I’ve been so fucking blind in my own house.”

The signs were always there, right in front of me. But I thought… I thought he was worried about her because of me.

Never once did I imagine he was worried about her because he was in love with her.

I never knew my sister wanted everything I had… including him.

My stomach twisted with nausea, betrayal clawing down my spine as I watched his hand grip her waist just a little too tightly, a little too naturally.

I felt heat rise behind my eyes.

Pain.

Humiliation.

“I’m sorry… for disappearing without a word.”

The words scraped out of my throat like broken glass.

I forced them out even though every inch of me was raging burning and boiling inside.

“I’m sorry for… making you both worry so much. I kind of got lost.”

Ryan’s expression softened instantly, like he’d been waiting for me to bend.

Aria’s eyes gleamed, it was just a flicker but I saw it.

She stepped toward me, her voice gentle, sweet… and fragile.

“Come, sister,” she said, placing a hand on my arm like she cared. “Let me quickly make you the porridge that you love so much. You seem very tired.”

I nodded slowly… swallowing the bitterness rising up my chest. Did she even know why I loved the porridge so much? It wasn’t because it was so tasty, it was because it was what she made for me, that was what made it so special.

I let her go into the kitchen.

I sat in the sitting room, the one place that used to feel so comforting, and listened to Ryan lecture me like he had any right to.

“You’re supposed to be more careful, Valeria.”

Why was he putting up such act? I gave him enough time to continue fucking my little sister… m

When Aria returned, she carried a steaming bowl, smiling so brightly…

I lifted my face and smiled back at her.

A big, soft, grateful smile.

“Sister… you’ve worked so hard for me.”

I reached for the bowl, my hands steady.

“But I’m suddenly not hungry anymore.”

Her brows twitched.

“How about this?” I said softly. “You can eat the porridge. Let me feed you. Then we’ll make another when I’m hungry later… together. Mmh?”

Her entire body stiffened.

She shook her head quickly, too quickly, her face draining of color.

“N‑no… I… I don’t want to. I’m not… feeling like it.”

“Oh?”

I tilted my head, smiling wider, sweeter and deadlier.

“But sister… it’s very good for your health.”

I scooped a spoonful—m slowly watching her eyes widen in terror.

“Open your mouth,” I whispered.

“I SAID I don’t want it..”

But I moved the spoon forward anyway, inches from her lips, ready to shove it down her throat and finally, finally expose her.

Then..

SLAP.

Pain shot up my arm.

Ryan’s hand had struck my wrist so hard the spoon flew from my fingers.

Before I could blink, he grabbed the bowl and threw it onto the floor, the porridge splattering everywhere.

He stepped between us like a guard dog, eyes burning at me.

“She said she doesn’t want it,” he snapped. “Don’t force her.”

Something inside me cracked open, wide, bleeding.

And then…

I laughed.

A sound so broken, so unhinged, so painfully hollow that even Ryan flinched.

I laughed and laughed, my heart breaking a little more with every breath.

Ryan grabbed my shoulders and shook me roughly, his face red, eyes burning with a fury I hadn’t seen before.

“What has gotten into you today!?” he barked, every word sharp and jagged.

I shoved against him with all the strength I had left, heart pounding so violently I thought it would burst from my chest.

“Let go of me this instant!” I shouted, my voice breaking with rage and fear and something else I couldn’t name.

He froze for a heartbeat… then let go.

“What’s your problem?” he sneered, still glaring, still full of that fake authority that used to make me tremble.

Without thinking, I slapped him. Hard.

His face snapped to the side, pain and shock mixing as he stumbled back.

Before I could even register it, my sister stepped forward, voice trembling, pretending to be concerned:

“Sister… why would you do that to him?”

I didn’t stop. I slapped her even harder. Her head snapped back, and she hit the ground with a wet sound. Blood dripped from her lip, stark against her pale skin.

Ryan’s eyes widened in fury and disbelief.

“You… bitch!” he roared, stepping toward me with his fist raised, his anger raw and dangerous.

And then suddenly the door blew open with a force that rattled the entire house.

A shadow filled the room.

KNEEL!

The word rolled across the room like thunder.

Ryan dropped to his knees immediately, coughing blood, his body shaking violently. The pain etched across his face was unreal.

I froze, heart hammering, stomach twisting. What… what was happening?

The man from last night stepped forward slowly, deliberate, his every movement radiating power.

He lifted his head, and I felt it before I even saw it.

Violet eyes… glowing with pure, lethal fury.

Eyes that burned into mine, searing, knowing, unrelenting.

His voice came low, smooth, deadly.

“I traced your scent… right. Into. This. House.”

My whole body trembled. Heat bloomed in every nerve, every muscle, every inch of me.

Aria’s voice was barely a whisper, trembling in horror.

“W‑who… who are you?”

He didn’t even look at her. His gaze was locked solely on me.

“I’ve come to collect what’s mine.”