He cracked a small, rare smile, looking pained at the unfamiliar facial expression, before he started to speak. “Thank you all for coming tonight to celebrate Elise’s birthday. Now, I know many of you think I’m too young to be the father of a twenty-six-year-old, but it’s no secret that I’ve had a lot of work done.” Laughter erupted around the room. “And while we are excited to celebrate, we also have another reason to bring you all here tonight… a double celebration. Elise, can you come up here?”
My sister moved to the front, standing stiffly between my parents.
“Elise has spent the last year dating a very eligible bachelor who yesterday became the youngest ever partner at his law firm. He wanted to do the honorable thing and wait until he could give her the life she deserved before he proposed, but last night, he did.”
My heart hammered in my chest because I had no idea my sister was even dating, let alone serious enough about someone to get engaged. But also, the story about wanting to wait to be together sounded way too familiar, and a sense of foreboding began to creep up my spine.
“So, I would like to introduce you all to the newest partner at Fowler and Associates and my daughter’s fiancé, James Horten.”
I watched in slow motion as the man I’d been sleeping with in secret since my seventeenth birthday moved through the guests to the front of the room, pulling my sister into his side and pressing his lips to her temple.
Bile flooded my mouth as I listened to him talk about the joining of our two families and how perfect my sister was for him before people moved to congratulate them both.
As soon as I had the chance, I ran to my room, throwing myself onto my bed, burying my face in the pillow, and bursting into tears.
A while later, I heard the click of my door as someone stepped inside. Sniffing and trying to wipe the tear stains from my cheeks, I sat up, expecting to see my sister wondering where I’d gone, but instead, I found James standing there, looking at me as if he couldn’t understand my reaction.
“Fe, are we okay?”
I stared, shocked that he had the audacity to ask me that. Pushing up from the bed, I lunged at him, hammering my fistsoff his chest. Grabbing me by the wrists so hard it hurt, he growled, his eyes darkening.
“Stop this, right now.”
“You,” I hissed as I tried to break free of his grip. “Despite fucking me for the last eighteen months, you got engaged to my sister. You promised me you wanted to be with me.”
He shrugged. The lying motherfucker shrugged as if my sadness was pointless.
“Have you slept with her?”
He scoffed as he let me go. “Of course I’ve slept with her. Do you think I’d marry someone without checking out if they were worth fucking?”
My mouth fell open.
“Little Fe, did you really think I would marry you? Look at you.” He forced me in front of the full length mirror. Leaning in closely behind me, he reached around and dragged his thumb over my lips, smearing my lipstick. “You’re just a girl. A girl playing dress up. I need a woman; one who is going to be able to stand by my side. Don’t get me wrong. You’re a great fuck. Much better than Elise, but that won’t get me where I want to be in life.”
I sucked in a breath, his words smashing into me like a physical blow. “I’ll tell her. Tell my parents that you’ve been fucking me. That you’ve been fucking me without protection, promising me a future.”
Grabbing my cheeks firmly between his thumb and fingers, he pinched hard, making me cry out. “And that’s why I’m here. You won’t say a word. No one will believe you.” His blue eyes flared with a level of anger I’d never seen in him before. “They will just think you’re being a jealous brat. I mean, why would I risk everything to fuckyou?” he gritted out through clenched teeth.
“You… I… But…”
James spun me with so much force that a cry spilled from my lips. He pushed me back against the mirror, crowding me with his body, letting me feel the heat of his erection tenting his pants. One of his massive hands covered my mouth, silencing me, as he brought his lips to my ear again. “But you were such a good fuck, Fe. I would hate for it to end. Do you want to carry on? No one needs to know I’m still fucking you.” With his other hand, he moved to unzip himself, then he fisted the material of my dress until it gathered around my thighs.
Still shocked by the events of the evening, I watched in stunned silence as he pushed the head of his cock against the lace of my panties.
“God, I’ve been thinking about fucking you all night. Are you still wet for me, Fe? Even when you know I’ve been fucking your sister for months, planning our future together, sometimes with your cum still drying on my cock? Your cunt was made for me. You can’t let a silly thing like me getting married get in the way of what we have. You were made to be mine.”
Mortified by his words, something in me snapped. I lifted my knee, slamming it into his groin, watching as he crumbled to the floor.
“Get the fuck out of my room and don’t come near me again, or I swear I will tell them everything and I’ll make sure they believe me.”
And with that I ran to my bathroom and locked the door, trying to work out what the hell to do now.
Chapter 1
Fern - 6 years later
I took off my glasses and put them down before leaning back in my chair, cracking my neck after staring at my screen for hours.
