Chapter 1 The Fall
Kira’s POV
“Why are you doing this?” I cried as I backed away, but they kept trailing after me.
I panicked as my back collided with the railing. The cold metal dug into my spine and reality slammed into me…I was on the rooftop of the Summer Group skyscraper, forty stories above ground. One wrong step. One shove. That would be it.
“Dad… what is going on?” I asked again, tears streaming down my face as I tried to move away, but the three of them rounded me like predators trapping their prey.
My stepmother, Evelyn, sneered with venom dripping from every word. “You stupid, ungrateful brat. Do you have any idea how long I’ve put up with you? Your pathetic need for attention…your self-righteous, selfish little tantrums…do you think I didn’t see through it?”
She stepped closer, her red lips curling into hatred. “But I stayed quiet. I played along. Because I knew…one day…your miserable life would end. And that day is today.”
I shook my head. “What are you talking about? You said… you said we were a family.”
Miranda, my stepsister who was three years older than me…laughed mockingly. She folded her arms and mimicked my trembling voice.
“WhAt ArE yOu TaLkInG aBoUt?” She rolled her eyes.
“You’re so gullible, Kira. It’s honestly embarrassing. I can’t believe you thought that I actually liked you.”
My breath hitched. I turned to the only person I had ever trusted…my father. “Dad…please. Tell them to stop. Tell them that I’m scared. It’s no longer funny.”
But he didn’t look at me like my father. His eyes weren’t just cold…they were dead. Soulless. Hungry. Like he had been waiting for this.
“You’re supposed to be my family! Why are you all doing this?” I screamed.
Evelyn’s hand cracked across my cheek so hard my head snapped to the side. The sting burned instantly across my skin.
“Shut up!” she spat.
I tasted blood.
“All you have…everything you have…the Summer Group, the estates, the shares…ALL of it should belong to Miranda! Not some motherless swine like you!” she screeched.
“But it’s my late mother’s!” I yelled, trembling. “She built the Summer Group from scratch! She left it to ME! And I was going to make Miranda a director…I was trying to share…”
Another brutal slap. My ears rang. My vision blurred. “Share? Does she look like a charity case? You are delusional Kira!”
“Dad,” I sobbed, “please. Tell them…”
“Oh, shut up,” he snarled.
I froze.
My father had never spoken to me like that before. Never. He always treated me like some treasure…some priceless jewel.
He took a step forward, face twisted with something cruel…something evil. “Don’t call me that.”
I blinked. “What?”
“You heard me,” he hissed. “Don’t you ever call me your father again. You’re a fucking orphan now. The only reason I married your pregnant mother was for her wealth.”
The world stopped.
I stared at him like he had just stabbed me.
“Dad… what are you saying?” My voice cracked.
Miranda moved between us, smiling like she was enjoying my pain. She jabbed a finger into my shoulder. “What my father is trying to say is that you are a loser and a burden…and we need you gone.
The only thing standing between us and a real future… is you.”
Real future…
My father. Miranda. Evelyn.
Wait…
My stomach twisted.
No. No. No.
Evelyn had been my mother’s assistant…the loyal assistant, the one who cried the loudest at the funeral, the woman who held me every night while I mourned.
“You…” I whispered. The puzzle pieces fell into place. Betrayal stabbed through me. “You were sleeping with him. The whole time. Even when Mom was alive. You had a child together before my mom came into the picture?”
Evelyn smirked. “Took you long enough to figure that out.”
My breath came hot and sharp. “Miranda… is your biological daughter?” I muttered, turning my head towards my father.
Evelyn’s lips curled into a predatory grin, eyes glinting with triumph. “Every bit of it…all of it was our plan. Leonard marrying your mother? That was never love…it was calculated. Every step, every lie…all designed for this moment.”
My throat closed as horror took over my body. “Did…did you…” My voice shook violently. “Did you guys kill her?”
Silence.
A slow, mocking laugh.
Then all three of them burst into hysterical laughter…ugly, triumphant laughter that echoed across the rooftop.
“Oh, silly girl,” Evelyn said, wiping fake tears of laughter from her eyes. “Of course we did. How else were we supposed to get everything she had?”
My lungs caved in.
“You killed her?” I choked. “You killed my mother?”
“She wouldn’t die at first,” my father said casually. “Stubborn woman. Loyal. Faithful. Disgusting. I had to put up with her for years, waiting for the right opportunity. But then…” he shrugged, “she got careless.”
“You murdered her,” I whispered.
He smiled. “She trusted the people closest to her. Her mistake.”
My hands shook violently. The wind cut across my face but I barely felt it.
“She would have given you everything,” I wept. “She loved you…both of you…”
“And she was pathetic,” he snapped. “Always talking about ‘honor’ and ‘loyalty’ and ‘legacy.’ But the joke’s on her. She willed everything to you. Nothing for me. After putting up with her all those years, what did I get in return?”
The hatred in his voice sliced me open.
“So now,” he said, voice thick with satisfaction, “you’ve finally turned twenty-three…full legal control over everything. And now it’s time for you to die… just like your mother.”
Miranda clapped slowly. “Happy birthday, KiKi.”
My soul shattered, my heart breaking into pieces.
I had defended them. Loved them. Trusted them. But they turned out to be monsters?
“How could you?” I cried, anger and heartbreak ripping through me. “How could you do this? I believed you! I defended you! I…”
My hand lashed out before I could stop myself. I slapped my father across the face.
His expression twisted. He grabbed me by the shoulders and shoved me so hard I slammed into the railing again.
“Try that one more time, and I’ll make you pray for a quicker death!” He snarled.
“Enough talking,” Miranda hissed. “Let’s finish this.”
“No…no! Stay back!” I cried, shaking my head. “I swear I’ll scream! I’ll…I’ll expose you! You’ll go to prison for your crimes!”
“You won’t expose anyone,” Evelyn said coldly. “You won’t be alive long enough.”
“Goodbye, Kira,” Miranda giggled. “I’ll have so much fun being the new Kira Summer.”
“Say hi to your mother for me,” Evelyn mocked darkly. “Tell her I’m fucking Leonard real good every night.”
They laughed.
Then… They pushed me.
I screamed as I fell. The wind tore past me. My heartbeat thundered in my ears. The lights of the city blurred.
This is it. This is how I die.
Is there no God?
No justice?
No spirit to avenge me?
As the ground rushed up to greet me, I stared at the sky and made a silent, desperate wish.
If there is any power listening…ANYTHING out there…I don’t care if it’s human, god, demon, or beast…give me one more chance. Please. Give me the strength to destroy them. I will do anything…anything…to make them pay.
Please… give me vengeance.
Darkness swallowed me whole.
But then…
A violent surge exploded through my body…like my soul was being ripped from inside me.
And I heard a voice screaming. Crying. Begging.
It was full of rage.
Hatred.
Loss.
The same pain in my heart… existed in theirs.
Then…light. Heat. Strength.
I gasped as my eyes flew open.
And the first thing I saw… Was the clearest gray eyes I had ever seen…staring straight into my soul.