The Unlikely Ally's Vengeance

ual, cutting remark that twisted the knife already in my gut. "But she's too emotional. Too

his own purposes and was now ready to discard. The man I loved, the man I though

owed-out twenty-two-year-old, weeping in his arms after the funeral. He had held me, murmuring promises of protection,

nto my work, designing buildings for him, creating a legacy I thought we were building together. I had given him my parents' land,

c, stupid fo

me from the fire

y with this. He would not take my parents, my legacy, and my children and walk away unscathed. A plan, vague and formless, began to flicker in

ark was saying, his voice arrogant. "She'll do whatever I say

ad built, about the babies I was carrying. It was all just le

r word. The pain in my abdomen was getting worse, a persiste

e door, my movements clumsy and uncoordinated. I didn't look ba

blurring with unshed tears. Each step was an agony, both physical an

in seconds, plastering my hair to my face, but I barely noticed. I just ran. I ran without direction, without a destinatio

eeks. The city lights blurred into a meaningless smear of color. The sound of the stor