revenge
Ashley had spent five years in prison. On the
day of her release, two men came to pick her
- up. One was her ex–fiancé, Ethan, whose
perjury had sealed her fate. The other was
her childhood sweetheart, Noah, a lawyer
whose first case had, ironically, been Ashley’s
prosecution. They stood together,
expressions complex, gazing at her frail
figure.
“Ashley, it’s over now. You’ve paid the
price…”
A sardonic smile played on my lips. They
didn’t know Ashley was gone. She had died two days before her release, offering her soul to me in exchange for vengeance. I am a demon, a wanderer of realms, drawn to the
<
didn’t know Ashley was gone. She had died
two days before her release, offering her soul to me in exchange for vengeance. I am a
demon, a wanderer of realms, drawn to the
souls of the wicked. I revel in malice, not
kindness.
- 1.
“Ashley, you’ve lost weight.” Ethan leaned
against his Porsche, glancing at me with
indifference. Five years hadn’t changed him
much in Ashley’s memories. He was still the
golden boy of Redwood City, the one
everyone fawned over. No one seemed to
remember how the Parker family fortune had
crumbled, how Ashley’s grandfather, out of
loyalty, hadn’t broken off their engagement,
how Ethan, leveraging the Miller family’s
influence to rebuild his empire, had sent
Ashley, the Miller heiress, to prison. Ashley’s
parents had died in a car accident years ago,
leaving her the sole pride of the Miller family.
After her imprisonment, her grandfather died
of a heart attack, and the Millers vanished
from Redwood City.
<
from Redwood City.
Beside Ethan, Noah’s lips trembled, a flicker of what seemed like pity in his eyes. He
reached out, “Ash,
as if to touch my wrist.
how did you get so thin?”
I lifted my chin, avoiding his touch. “Where’s Olivia?” I asked, scanning the area. “I did five
years for her. Shouldn’t she be here to
celebrate my release?”
Olivia was Ethan’s current fiancée. Five years
ago, she had hit a pedestrian with her car. It
was Ethan who had shifted the blame onto
Ashley. Now, Olivia was a famous actress.
Ethan’s pupils contracted. “Ashley, don’t talk
like that. You served your time. Let the past
be the past.” He’d always believed Ashley
L
be the past.” He’d always believed Ashley
was hopelessly in love with him, just as she’d been oblivious to his machinations, believing
his lies until the moment she saw him on the witness stand. No one knew the depths of her despair in that moment. Even if she’d denied the charges, Ethan had already tampered with the evidence. She had no escape.
“The past?” I looked at him, amusement dancing in my eyes. “I merely spent five years in prison, while she’s your precious darling, isn’t she?” This charade was amusing. Their souls, so delectable, were trapped in these putrid shells, their stench almost unbearable. I had to wait for their deaths to devour their complete essence.
“Ungrateful scum,” I continued, “Birds of a
feather flock together, don’t they?”
Ignoring Noah’s pale face and Ethan’s
darkening expression, I turned to leave.
Having taken one soul, I couldn’t simply
avenge Ashley and be done. Her soul wasn’t
enough to satisfy me. I needed more.
Noah was the first to follow. “Ash, where are
you going?” The Miller empire was gone,
everything in Ethan’s hands. Ashley was
penniless, fresh out of prison, with nowhere
to go.
“Stay away from me,” I frowned, my disgust
unconcealed. “You reek.” Such a delectable
soul, yet cloaked in such a repulsive human
form. I fought the urge to enan his neck To
savor the final feast, patience was essential.
Noah recoiled, disbelief etched on his face.
“Ash, do you hate me that much? Ethan
tricked me. I didn’t know… I couldn’t betray
the oath I took when I studied law!” Faced
with the evidence, all explanations were futile.
Noah believed only in evidence.
I scoffed. “You never believed me, not even for a second. We grew up together, yet you wouldn’t even listen to my explanation. But it doesn’t matter anymore. It’s over.” My words sent a chill down his spine. He stared, stunned, at the fragile woman before him, so thin a strong wind could break her. It wasn’t hard to imagine the hell she’d endured. He hadn’t visited her once, unable to face her.
L
stench
く
I wrinkled my nose, waving away the stench.
“Don’t follow me. You really stink.” This
lingering odor was more nauseating than
Ethan’s outright foulness.
Noah trembled, his pain a source of perverse pleasure. Ah, Ashley’s soul, not yet fully
consumed, her will still present. Noah’s
suffering brought her solace. The little girl
was finally starting to embrace her wicked
side.
My reaction surprised Ethan. Seeing me
dismiss even Noah, he tried to assert his
dominance, screeching his car to a halt in
front of me. “Get in!” he snapped. “Don’t make me say it again, Ashley.”
I stood before the car, tilting my head, looking at him with disdain. “Ethan, if you have the
<
guts, run me over.”
He froze, shock evident in his eyes. Seeing him hesitate, I walked to the driver’s side window and slapped him hard across the
face. “Run me over, coward!”
Ethan was utterly dumbfounded…
