Sydney (Babysitter’s Club 2)

Dad was dad for a day or two after that, but it didn’t last. He was back to being this new person that I hated in no time. Mom was still in that place when he filed for divorce, and she’s still there now, eight years later.

I’d been confused and ashamed when I had to leave my home and move in with an older aunt of my mother’s. Dad did give her money for my care, but for all intents and purposes he was no longer a father or a husband.

I never met this woman that had torn my family apart, not then anyway. But I hated her with a hatred so intense it consumed me. I became obsessed with this unknown woman who had such power that she could destroy a once happy home.

As if life hadn’t already taken enough from me, dad was killed a year later in a car accident by a drunk driver going the wrong way. Apparently he’d been fighting with her in the car and wasn’t paying attention so couldn’t move out of the way in time.

She survived with barely a scratch and went on with her life. It appears my fool of a dad wasn’t the only man she’d been seeing at the time.

It was then I learned who she was. It was in the local papers at the time, the accident, and I learned the rest from listening to my aunt on the phone as she told the whole sordid tale to her friends.

I made note of that name, Claudia Stephens. I didn’t know why at the time, I was still young, still innocent in some ways. And maybe that’s why the darkness was able to take over my mind, take control.

Whatever the case, there came a point when I swore vengeance against her for destroying not only my mother’s life, but mine. She’d stolen my youth and a beautiful creature’s life.

I put the book down and switched off my thoughts. Too much of that and I wouldn’t be able to control my anger. I couldn’t afford to slip up now, not now that I was so close to achieving the one goal that has kept me going all these years.

I could’ve easily killed her long ago, but instead my plan was a bit more diabolical than that. I want her to watch me take everything away from her before I land the final blow. Death would be too easy for that soulless viper. A taste of her own medicine is just what she needs.

I didn’t kid myself that anything less would make her see the light, or admit the error of her ways. But I had long given up hope of achieving such trivial things.

With age and common sense, I’d learned that there were just some people who victimized others for their own sick enjoyment. I doubt she even remembers my mother’s name, or my father’s for that matter.

I know for damn sure she never knew mine. Never had any interest in the young girl whose life she’d torn apart without a care in the world. Which in the end turned out to be more than a good thing. It’s how I was able to infiltrate her life, get close to her, and be here today.

As I stood and pulled the cover-up on again, I fixed my breasts more comfortably in the swimsuit. Making sure to expose more of my flesh before hiding it again.

Once back upstairs I took a nice long shower before heading back to my room. This time I chose another conservative dress and pulled my hair back in a low ponytail.

I wanted to keep him guessing. Wanted him to yearn for those tantalizing moments of sexuality. Though the dress wasn’t revealing and came to my knees, it was cut in such a way that enhanced my cleavage and the trimness of my waist.

I added a little bit of scent behind my ears and pulse points before heading to the nursery. The girls should be up from their nap by now and I mustn’t neglect my duties. Something tickled at the edge of mind, a stray thought that I easily squashed.

No matter how good it felt being here, no matter what peace I felt when in the same room with him and his children, more peace than I’ve felt in too many years to count. I will not allow myself to fall in love with him, neither do I wish for him to fall for me.

My aim believe it or not is not to hurt him, but her. And though what conscience I have left may prick me once in a while, I refuse to see anything wrong with my actions. So no matter how the thought may flow through my mind every once in a while, I will not turn back now.