Caveman by V. Andrian Page A

though I was too young to remember, I bet you anything that it was that exact moment Chandler Sawyers started to hate me. You see, I was capable of ruining him if his secret ever came out. Before Cole, he would have never regretted taking me. But now he was a criminal who had bought a child.
    ”So he treated me like one. I grew up hearing him saying over and over again that I was a mistake and, if he could, he would turn back time to the moment he chose to “adopt” me. My only consolation was that Hope was always like a real mother to me and she never treated me otherwise. She loved both Cole and me equally.
    ”When I finally was twenty one and was given full access to my trust fund – something Chandler couldn’t change thanks to my beloved Hope – Chandler started saying that I should leave. I was free now. I should get my money and get out of dodge. Only I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to leave my mother or my brother. I wanted to have them in my life even if it meant I had to tolerate Chandler as well.
    ”He wouldn’t have any of that. He blocked all my accounts with the rouse I was using them for illegal activities. He told my mother and Cole that too. Cole didn’t believe him for a second but my mother was heartbroken. She wouldn’t talk to me and would cry whenever I tried explaining. And if that wasn’t enough, he went far enough to pay my girlfriend to sleep with someone else and break my heart.
    ”And do you know what that did to me? Nothing. I didn’t care about the bitch and it only showed how shallow she was to do what she did. All I cared about was convince my mother that I wasn’t who he was telling her and, of course, stay out of prison. Yes, he actually told the DEA about me being a notorious drug lord and they were following me 24/7.
    ”I was already at the edge of my limits when he delivered the final stroke. He found me one day and told me that what I was going through would be nothing compared to what he was going to do to Cole. If I didn’t make myself scarce, he would destroy Cole’s life the same way he was doing with mine. And he was going to make it seem like I was the one to blame so Cole would hate me too. He said he didn’t want to hurt his son but he would do it to get rid of me.
    ”I had no choice but to believe him, Cassandra. I didn’t want to risk Cole’s happiness. The kid was doing so well. He was finishing his business degree. He was going to marry Victoria. He was building the life he had always dreamed of. If I didn’t do what Chandler was telling me to, Cole was going to lose everything. How could I do that to the only brother I ever knew?
    ”So I told him I’d do it. I asked for a couple of months to get everything in order and enough money to disappear. He gave me that because he was too eager to make me disappear.” He finally sighs and drops his head back on the mattress. “The rest you can imagine. I bought the plane, found a place far enough to keep everyone and everything away, learned everything I could about surviving out here on my own and left. It wasn’t a coincidence I left on Cole’s birthday either. I knew my brother would be too busy with Victoria and his friends and it would give me time to leave without him finding out.”
    That is… I don’t have words. Literally. Abhorrent would be too small a word. Inhuman wouldn’t be enough either. I feel hot tears of anger and disgust towards a man I’ve never met roll down my cheeks. So much hatred and for what? All the time Chandler Sawyers had spent trying to send Damon away could have been used to cover up his crime. A little bribing here and there and voila . But no. No, he had wanted Damon destroyed because he had been too much of a coward to admit his mistake.
    I squeeze my eyes shut. “God, I never thought I could hate a person but this…” I push up on my elbows to a sitting position and look at Damon. “But you don’t have to stay away anymore, Damon. He’s gone. Chandler