Ashes of Betrayal Flame of Revenge 1

Chapter 1 

On the eve of the dance competition, Nettie Beaumont was dragged into an alley by a gang of thugs. 

By the time someone found her, she was barely recognizable–her dress soaked in blood, her face battered and bruised. 

The doctors said her legs were shattered beyond repair, her left ear was deaf, and she’d spend the rest of her life tethered to a catheter bag. Dancing was out of the question–forever 

Her older brother, Calvin Beaumont, was furious. He vowed to make those men pay for what 

t they’d done.l 

Her beloved fiancé, Hurst Watson, brought in the best medical team in the world, sparing no expense to try and heal her. 

But on the third day, as Nettle wheeled herself around the comer of the grand staircase, she accidentally overheard a conversation–one that made her blood run cold.} 

“Have you lost your mind?” Hurst’s voice was sharp, agitated. “We agreed she’d just miss the competition. Now Nettie’s stuck with a catheter for life!” 

She barely had time to process what just miss the competition” meant before her brother’s voice drifted through the haze of cigarette 

smoke. 

“Those idiots went overboard, but isn’t the result perfect? The championship is Charis Rogers’s for the taking now.” 

1But-” 

“No buts. Nettie’s had everything–she grew up pampered, spoiled by our family. I’m her brother, you’re her fiancé. Between us, she’s been sheltered her whole life. Even if she’s disabled now, she’ll never want for anything. But Charis is different–she’s adopted, always careful, always overlooked. All she’s ever wanted is that championship. Nettie’s too talented, too much in the way. Charis has nowhere else to tum, and she relies on me. I can’t let anyone block her path.” 

Calvin lowered his voice. “Hurst, we’re brothers. Brothers stick together. Women come and go. I know you love Nettie and you’re about to marry her, but you promised me–you wouldn’t put Charis’s future on the line just because of your feelings for Nettie, right?” 

Hurst fell silent for a long moment, then exhaled, defeated. “Fine. Nettie’s in agony every night. Make sure the doctors give her the best painkillers,” 

They crushed out their cigarettes and walked away, their voices fading. 

Silence crashed down, and Nettie could hear nothing but the shattering of her own heart 

It hadn’t been a random attack in that alley. It was a slaughterhouse, meticulously set up. 

And the hands holding the knife? The two people she’d trusted most. 

Nettie’s lips parted–she wanted to scream, to sob, to rage at the world! 

But her grief and despair choked her, and all that escaped was a pitiful whimper, as weak as a newborn kitten. 

Up until today, she’d kept telling herself it was okay. That no matter how horrific her ordeal, she still had her brother, her fiancé–the two men who loved her more than anything.8 

But now, they had told her, in their own words, that every bit of her suffering, every ruined, filthy inch of her broken body, every splintered, bleeding piece of her heart–was their doing. 

Tears blurred her vision as she trembled in her wheelchair, pain threatening to swallow her whole. 

She couldn’t understand–how had it come to this? 

She had once been the brightest jewel of the Beaumont family. 

Calvin had raised her with gentle hands, never once uttering a harsh word. 

Hurst had adored her since childhood, publicly declaring he’d marry no one but her. 

Nettie had lived like a hothouse rose–precious, naive, convinced that someone would always shield her from every storm.