The Vipers We Loved

The Vipers We Loved

Gavin

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My name is Jennifer Johns, and for twenty years, I poured my life, my love, and every dollar into raising my best friend' s children as my own. I did it because their mother, Sabrina, supposedly died of cancer, and her last wish was for me to protect them. Then, my adoptive daughter, Molly, stood before a judge and accused my husband, Andrew, of sexually abusing her for years. Andrew was convicted and died in prison. My adoptive son, Caleb, had me committed to a psychiatric facility, where I died, utterly broken and alone. Shortly after, the ghost of my best friend, Sabrina, walked onto a national talk show, alive and well, pointing at the camera and screaming, "I trusted you! And you let your sick husband use them!" My heart shattered, my reputation ruined, and my life extinguished by the very people I sacrificed everything for. How could I have been so blind, so foolish? The betrayal tore me apart, the injustice a gaping wound that never healed. Until I wasn't dead. I jolted awake with a gasp in my own bed, the phantom touch of restraints still clinging to my wrists. Andrew was next to me, his eyes mirroring the horror in mine. And then, the doorbell rang. Sabrina was here, alive, poised to reel me in with her same cruel lie – but this time, Andrew and I remembered everything. This time, we were ready to fight back. This time, we would write our own ending.

Introduction

My name is Jennifer Johns, and for twenty years, I poured my life, my love, and every dollar into raising my best friend' s children as my own.

I did it because their mother, Sabrina, supposedly died of cancer, and her last wish was for me to protect them.

Then, my adoptive daughter, Molly, stood before a judge and accused my husband, Andrew, of sexually abusing her for years.

Andrew was convicted and died in prison. My adoptive son, Caleb, had me committed to a psychiatric facility, where I died, utterly broken and alone.

Shortly after, the ghost of my best friend, Sabrina, walked onto a national talk show, alive and well, pointing at the camera and screaming, "I trusted you! And you let your sick husband use them!"

My heart shattered, my reputation ruined, and my life extinguished by the very people I sacrificed everything for.

How could I have been so blind, so foolish? The betrayal tore me apart, the injustice a gaping wound that never healed.

Until I wasn't dead. I jolted awake with a gasp in my own bed, the phantom touch of restraints still clinging to my wrists. Andrew was next to me, his eyes mirroring the horror in mine.

And then, the doorbell rang. Sabrina was here, alive, poised to reel me in with her same cruel lie – but this time, Andrew and I remembered everything. This time, we were ready to fight back. This time, we would write our own ending.

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My world revolved around Jax Harding, my older brother's captivating rockstar friend. From sixteen, I adored him; at eighteen, I clung to his casual promise: "When you're 22, maybe I'll settle down." That offhand comment became my life's beacon, guiding every choice, meticulously planning my twenty-second birthday as our destiny. But on that pivotal day in a Lower East Side bar, clutching my gift, my dream exploded. I overheard Jax' s cold voice: "Can't believe Savvy's showing up. She' s still hung up on that stupid thing I said." Then the crushing plot: "We' re gonna tell Savvy I' m engaged to Chloe, maybe even hint she' s pregnant. That should scare her off." My gift, my future, slipped from my numb fingers. I fled into the cold New York rain, devastated by betrayal. Later, Jax introduced Chloe as his "fiancée" while his bandmates mocked my "adorable crush"-he did nothing. As an art installation fell, he saved Chloe, abandoning me to severe injury. In the hospital, he came for "damage control," then shockingly shoved me into a fountain, leaving me to bleed, calling me a "jealous psycho." How could the man I loved, who once saved me, become this cruel and publicly humiliate me? Why was my devotion seen as an annoyance to be brutally extinguished with lies and assault? Was I just a problem, my loyalty met with hatred? I would not be his victim. Injured and betrayed, I made an unshakeable vow: I was done. I blocked his number and everyone connected to him, severing ties. This was not an escape; this was my rebirth. Florence awaited, a new life on my terms, unburdened by broken promises.

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