I didn't think about the consequences of my future. I just wanted him to suffer the way he'd made Leo suffer, the way he'd made me suffer. I wanted him to pay for every cruel word, every humiliation, every moment of pain he'd inflicted on people who couldn't fight back.
I could see the hatred on his face after the impact. He fell to the ground and then tried to stand, but his right leg wouldn't let him move, so he fell back. I could see him in the rearview mirror, staring at me until I drove away. But I never did anything to help him; I just left him lying there.
I drove home in a daze, and it wasn't until I was in my room that reality hit me.
I had crashed into Oliver Adams. And I left him lying in the street without help.
CHAPTER 48
Lily
I knewI couldn't make the same mistake I'd made ten years ago. This time, I wasn't planning to crash into Oliver by accident; I needed to have a reason. But I needed to be beaten and battered enough to claim self-defense.
So I didn't protect myself. I didn't fight back. I let him do what he wanted, even as every instinct screamed at me to run.
Oliver punched me in the face with such brutal force that it knocked me to the ground, making me feel like a helpless child again. My worst nightmare was coming for me.
Part of me wanted to run away. I knew what was coming next. No amount of mental preparation could ready someone to willingly walk back into their trauma. But I forced myself to stay for Leo. For the future, we could still save. Because I didn't feel like there was any other way my family could have peace.
I spat blood onto the asphalt and looked up at him with defiance. "Is that all you've got? For someone trying so hard to feel like a man, you hit like a child."
"I don't think you're in any position to keep provoking me, Lily," he replied with a smirk on his face.
"I'm not afraid of you," I lied. "People like you love to intimidate with words, but when it comes down to actually facing someone, they're nothing more than cowards."
He grabbed me by the blouse and lifted me forcefully. "You think you're so superior, don't you? Think a few fancy words make you better than me?"
"No," I said, meeting his eyes with every ounce of courage I could muster. "I'm better because I can see exactly what you are, a coward who only feels powerful when he's hurting someone smaller than him."
The second blow caught me across the other cheek, stars exploding behind my eyes. But this time, he kept his grip on my shirt, preventing me from falling.
Then he wrenched open the car door and shoved me inside.
The moment my back hit the seat, I started having a panic attack. I wasn't ready. I would never be prepared to endure this again. No one should have to suffer the same trauma twice, no matter how noble their intentions. I didn't want him to attack me like that again.
I couldn't do anything helplessly watching this brute do whatever he wanted to me.
"Let me go!" I screamed, thrashing against him as he climbed in after me. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Not feeling so brave now, are we, little princess?" His laugh was a sound from my nightmares as he pinned my arms with one hand, his other moving to my thigh. "You know, I've always liked you. Kyle doesn't deserve you, and today I'm going to show you what a real man feels like."
I couldn't breathe. The world was closing in, black spots dancing at the edges of my vision. This was how I was going to die, not in some grand gesture of sacrifice, but helpless and terrified, just like before.
I saw my life flashing before my eyes. My mother's smile in the garden, Leo's laughter echoing through our house, Kyle's eyes when he looked at me like I hung the stars. All the moments of love and joy that made life worth living are about to be stolen from me again.
What did I do wrong to deserve this punishment twice?
I couldn't let him do it again. I couldn't let him ruin my life. I thought I was stronger than the first time, but I was wrong. And no one should ever feel ready to suffer.
Just as his hand moved toward the waistband of my jeans, just as I squeezed my eyes shut and prepared for the worst, the weight above me vanished.
I opened my eyes to see Kyle hauling Oliver from the car with a fury I'd never seen before. "Don't you ever touch her again," he snarled, his voice barely recognizable.
"Hey man, I can explain, she came to my?—"
Oliver didn't finish what he was about to do because Kyle punched him in the nose, and suddenly, they were fighting. But it wasn't really a fight; it was devastation. Kyle moved with the precision of someone who'd spent years imagining this moment, every punch calculated to cause maximum damage.
Kyle was stronger. The fight looked completely uneven. Oliver wasn't landing a single blow, while Kyle dodged and hit him harder and harder. In the face, in the stomach. When Oliver hit the ground, Kyle followed him down, his fists rising and falling with mechanical efficiency. It looked like he was going to kill him. And part of me, the part that still woke up screaming from nightmares, wanted to let him.
