Prologue

Chapter 1: Why Do You Care?

By the ink on her mother’s will, Crystal Smith had become an outsider in her own house and had to live with her mother’s ‘toyboy,’ Nathan Davis, under his guardianship.

What the Hell was she thinking about? Crystal seethed.

She held the steering wheel and turned back to Nathan, whose expression had not changed a bit. “Did that woman die under your enormous c*ck?”

It would explain why her mother had left her inheritance to a bloodless man rather than to her own daughter.

“I want you to get out of my house,” Crystal said.

Nathan raised his eyebrow curiously,

“What if I say no?” he asked. Crystal was a little stunned by his direct words.

She held his life in her hands now, but it really did seem like he didn’t care if his words would piss her or not! She frowned and brought the vehicle up to 220 mph. The cars next to them disappeared behind them like flashes of light as Crystal ran red lights and Stopped Signs with no concern for their or anyone else’s safety.

Without warning, Nathan leaned over her and put his hand on the lever, covering Crystal’s hand. He suddenly jerked the gear shift and turned the steering wheel hard with his free hand.

The wheels squealed as they “burnt rubber,” and then there was a loud crashing sound as the Mercedes hit a Buick Regal and ran it off the curb and into the railing on the side of the road!

They were both thrown forward, and the airbags exploded to save them from near-certain death.

“Are you all right?” Nathan asked her with a grave expression on his face. And then he unfastened Crystal’s seat belt and said, “Get out of the car. I’ll handle this.”

Crystal did as she was told. This is so surreal - she thought as she stumbled out of the vehicle.

Crystal walked over to the Buick and knocked on the window. A few minutes passed, but no one answered. And because the glass was tinted, she couldn’t look inside, nor could she hear anybody, so she assumed that the vehicle was empty.

Then, just as she was turning away, the window rolled down, and Carlos - her boyfriend - was sitting in the front seat.

Carlos was not adequately dressed, his hair was messy, and there was a scratch on his neck.

It should have been happy and exciting to run into him, but all she felt was suffocating - breathtaking anxiety.

Crystal tried to speak, but all she could do was stare. Her brain hurt suddenly, and it felt as if it was exploding.

She remembered how, on a red rose petal path and under a setting sun, Carlos had held her hands and said, “Crystal, you are the apple of my eyes. I’ll love you forever. I’ll give you the world’s most unique love.”

Out of this love, Carlos had once driven a hundred miles to buy her favorite food for her. And to make her happy, he had purchased a license plate with her birthdate on it. Time had passed, though, and while the license plate remained the same, the love he had felt for her had changed.

At the time of the rear-end, Carlos was making love to another woman in this damn car.

It must be an exciting experience for them - Crystal thought absently.

Carlos smiled awkwardly. “Crystal?” he asked lamely. “Is that you?” He stepped out of the car nervously and began to fix his clothes.

“Car sex? You are really busy, Carlos,” Crystal asked sarcastically. “How exciting is that?!?!!”

She was angry, but she tried not to show it because she didn’t want him to know that he had that kind of power over her. She wanted him to think that their relationship meant even less to her than it had to him.

Carlos looked at the ground and shuffled his feet. “Look,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

Crystal frowned. He was still behaving gently and politely, but he didn’t even bother to explain it to her.

Obviously, he could not deny that something had been going on. When Crystal peeked her head into the car, she saw the other woman was in a state of undress. Her ample bosom had been on display, despite how she’d tried to hide them while, at the same time, attempting to cover her neatly trimmed mons pubis.

Crystal couldn’t see the woman’s face.

She raised her hand to slap Carlos, but he grabbed her hand. “Enough,” he said forcefully.

“We’re breaking up. You can go now. Cry on your own time if you need to!”

Crystal was astonished, and her eyeglasses over with the tears she wished that she could have held back. His sudden cruelty had shocked her just like a slap would do to her.

The woman stepped out of the front seat. “Crystal Smith?” she laughed. “What are the odds of running into you like this?” She was wearing a yellow tight strapless T-shirt. She had gotten dressed, but the shirt was too tight that her breast bulged out so much, and her apparel was nearly as vulgar as her state of undress had been.

But Crystal didn’t need to see the woman to recognize her. She would have recognized her half-sister’s voice anywhere.

For fuck’s sake! - Crystal seethed - Joyce Henry! They shared the same father, but they had different mothers.

The triumphant smile on Joyce’s face was bright and dazzling.

Joyce spat on the ground, and then she sneered, “Do you know why Carlos broke up with you?”

Crystal shook her head, “I’m not interested.”

Joyce laughed, “You’re clever,” she said.

“And smart. You should already know the answer - and you may not believe this, but I actually sympathize with you. Your father hates you, and your mother died, leaving her entire estate to a stranger. Boohoo! Poor Crystal Smith. You’re such a joke. You think you’re still a princess, but you’re not. You’re garbage. Human filth, and that is why Carlos didn’t want to have anything to do with you. You’re a loser. Look at me, though.” Joyce used her hands to hoist up her heavy breasts, and she shook them in Crystal’s face. “I’m a winner, and with me by his side, Carlos is going to go places!”

“Yeah...” Crystal argued back. “Places... like straight to Hell! You’re a slut, and he’s an asshole; what a perfect match between you two!” Joyce’s words had wounded her deeply, but Crystal didn’t show it.

“No matter what you say, Carlos and I have been together for a long time. It was just a matter of time before you found it out. And now that the cat’s out of the bag, I’m so glad because you won’t be around to haunt his life anymore!”

Crystal stared at her half-sister coldly. Her father had abandoned her and her mother because of Joyce’s mother, and now her boyfriend was doing the same thing as her father had done.

At least my life’s consistent- Crystal thought bitterly. She looked at Carlos and asked him if it was true, that they’d been messing around behind her back for a long time. Before he could answer, though, Joyce cut in. She said, “Why do you care? Didn’t you spend last night on Nathan’s bed? And he’s supposed to be your GUARDIAN! How messed up is that? Were you fucking him, or were you looking for evidence to use against him?”