Flame of Vengeance: A Gift for My Uncle's Family

When I went home for Christmas this year, something outrageous happened. My uncle's family actually tried to push me into marrying my lame cousin.

"If you marry into the Slaton Family, it'll bring us closer together," they said.

I laughed it off, awkwardly. "You’re kidding, right? Blood relatives within three generations can't get married."

But then my grandmother dropped a bombshell that left me completely stunned.

"I picked you up and raised you to be Ken's wife."

——

This year, I was a senior, with just half a year left until graduation. Growing up, my family was really poor. They spent everything they had to keep me in school. For years, I even had to borrow tuition money from my uncle’s family.

It wasn’t just the tuition either—they covered all sorts of expenses: fees, living costs, everything. My uncle runs a business in the county and has made a lot of money over the years. He didn’t usually pay much attention to us, but every now and then, he'd call to see if I needed money. I had always been so grateful for that and my parents constantly remind me not to forget my uncle's generosity when I have a successful future.

Since college took me far from home, I rarely went back. Even during summer break, I stayed near campus, working odd jobs. I usually only went home for Christmas. This year, on the second day of Christmas, I visited my uncle’s house. What I didn’t expect was them asking me to marry Kennith Slaton.

Kennith, my cousin, was eight years older than me and was nearly 30 now.

When Kennith was a kid, he fell out of a tree while playing around and it left him with a limp. Because of that, he hadn't been able to find a partner and my uncle’s family was really worried about it. But I never thought they’d try to solve the problem by pushing me into marrying him.

Then my grandmother hit me with something I never saw coming, she claimed I wasn’t even my parents’ biological child. I was sure it was just a lie they made up to get me to marry Kennith. My parents had always treated me and my brother the same, if not showing me even more love.

But when I didn’t believe her, my grandmother launched into this story about my past. She said my parents were married for years without having a child and my dad nearly divorced my mom because he thought she couldn’t conceive. After they went to the hospital, though, they found out the issue was with my dad. To smooth things over between them, my grandmother supposedly picked me up from the hospital and handed me over to my parents. Later, with some treatment, my mom got pregnant and had my brother.

I still couldn’t believe what she was saying, so I decided I needed to go home and talk to my parents directly. But as I was getting ready to leave, my aunt stepped in, asking me not to rush off. She reminded me that I rarely come home and should stay the night with them, especially since I usually only visit during Christmas.

I figured she was right, so I agreed to stay until tomorrow.

When my uncle built his house, he made sure to save a room just for me. It always gave me a sense of belonging whenever I stayed over.

But tonight, everything took a terrifying turn. I was sound asleep when suddenly, a strong hand clamped over my mouth. I jolted awake to see my cousin, Kennith, standing over me.

I tried to scream, but no sound came out. I struggled to break free, but he pinned me down with his entire body. Tears started streaming down my face. My attempts to fight back felt so weak against his strength.

It didn’t take long before my resistance faded completely. That was when he started tearing at my clothes, his face twisted into a cruel, leering grin.

"Carrie, just go along with this and I'll take care of you for the rest of your life," he murmured.

But I wasn’t about to just give in. Desperately, I bit down on the hand covering my mouth. He yelped in pain and pulled back, cursing at me.

"You little bitch, you’ll pay for that!" he snarled.

I didn’t hesitate—I rolled off the bed and dashed for the door. But as I reached for the handle, panic set in. The door was locked.

It was clear I had been set up. The whole reason they insisted I stay overnight was to let Kennith get to me. Before I could fully process what was happening, Kennith yanked my hair from behind and threw me onto the bed. The pain shot through my scalp, like he had ripped it right off.

“Where do you think you’re going? I’m telling you, tonight, you’re mine,” he sneered, moving closer.

Ignoring the pain, I slammed my head into his nose as hard as I could. I hit him square in the face. He staggered back, clutching his nose as blood poured down his face.

Not wasting a second, I kicked him hard in his bad leg and he crumpled to the ground.

“You little bitch, you’re gonna pay for that! When I catch you, I’ll strip you naked and hang you up!” he snarled.

Seeing him down, I didn’t stop. I hit him three more times, grabbed a stool and smashed it over his head. The stool shattered with a loud crack and Kennith slumped to the floor, knocked out cold.

Just then, I heard the sound of the door unlocking from the outside. I knew they weren’t coming to help me—they were coming to trap me. Without thinking, I scrambled onto the windowsill, kicked the window open and jumped out.

I hit the ground running, tears streaming down my face, sprinting like my life depended on it. And in a way, it did. I ran all the way home, crying the entire time.