Chapter 1

My cousin, who had bullied me and looked down on me since we were kids, came home with his beautiful wife-to-be, Claire.

What he didn’t know was that Claire was a hostess I’d once spent a wild night with.

I hadn’t planned to expose her past. But after my cousin tore up the clothes I’d bought for my parents in front of everyone, I decided to get even.

At dinner that evening, I quietly told Claire:

“You wouldn’t want my cousin finding out about your past, would you?”

Honk!

A long blast of a car horn made me look up. An Audi was coming down the narrow road outside our house.

It slowed as it approached, then stopped right outside.

The window slid down. Dance music pounded so loudly it seemed to shake the entire car.

A man in sunglasses looked over at me.

“Hey, Ethan! You’re home! When did you get back?”

I froze for a moment. He looked familiar, but I couldn’t place him.

Before I could answer, my parents heard someone talking to me and came outside.

The moment Dad saw the man, he smiled. “Derek! Come on in.”

That was when it hit me.

The man in front of me was my cousin, Derek Miller. The same guy who had bullied me and looked down on me all through my childhood.

Derek smiled at Dad.

“Can’t right now. I’m heading into town for groceries. Everyone’s waiting on me to get dinner started.”

“Oh, and you, your wife, and Ethan should come over tonight. You and my dad can have a few drinks.”

Before Dad could respond, Derek turned to me.

“We haven’t seen each other in years, Ethan. You’d better be there!”

Without giving us a chance to refuse, he rolled up the window and drove off.

My parents watched his car disappear and began talking quietly.

“Derek really has made something of himself. That car must have cost a fortune.”

There was a hint of envy in Dad’s voice as he replied:

“Yeah. I hear he makes several thousand a month.”

“He brought his new girlfriend home this time, too. They’re talking to his parents about getting married.”

“And she really is beautiful.”

When we were kids, Derek had been the ringleader of all the children in our small town.

Being my cousin hadn’t made him look out for me. Instead, he’d joined the others in picking on me.

Back in school, they always stole every snack I had.

School was a long way from home. Money was tight, but my parents still gave me a dollar every day.

I never made it to school with it. At first, Derek hadn’t dared take it himself, so he’d gotten the other kids to do it. Later, he’d simply robbed me himself. If I fought back, they beat me up.

Then they threatened to beat me every time they saw me if I told my parents.

Back then, he was my worst nightmare.

I finally made it to high school, only to find myself at the same school as him again.

Like most teenagers, I developed an interest in dating and got myself a girlfriend.

Within days, she threw herself at Derek.

He’d stolen practically my entire youth.