Page 70 of Beautiful Liar

I’m Harper Rae Daniels and here’s to hell! May the stay there be as fun as the way there.

Five years after Liar Liar

I am no longer a child, and I vowed on the day I was taken I would seek revenge on those who hurt me.

I counted down the days, strengthened myself, researched my captors, and instilled in them a deep and desperate fear like they did in me.

I am the ghost from their past, haunting them until their final breath.

And I am saving the best for last.

Lev was once my savior.

His were the words which helped me through the torment and abuse—that is, until he made me leave his side. I wish I didn’t have to end his life; his words helped make me stronger. Back then, I may have been a butterfly—beautiful and fragile—but that butterfly died long ago.

Milo is my best friend. He taught me everything I now know and makes my world a better place. A silly crush had me following him everywhere, but to him I was only ever a kid. In the end, what mattered were the words he would repeat: “I won’t let you be a victim.”

What happened to me fucking sucked—my innocence was ripped away by monsters—and I no longer care what anyone else has to say.

Two men. Both touched my life in such different ways. Lev taught me to wear a mask and never let the world see underneath. Milo gave me the strength to wake up every day.

I now have everything worked out.

One by one, they will die scared and alone. I hope talk spreads about their deaths, and the rest wait in fear, knowing they will soon meet their maker.

What I don’t expect is for Lev to be ready. To know it’s me coming for him.

What I also don’t expect is for Milo to appear from the shadows, a red light trained on Lev’s chest.

I’m a killer and Lev is on my list. I shouldn’t care if he lives or dies, but the sound of “Butterfly” on his lips takes me back to the little girl, frightened and alone, and the memory of his protection keeping me alive despite my wish for death.

His men step into the room, their weapons drawn.

“What will it be, kid?” says Milo. “Are we taking him out and going down with the ship?”

Maybe today is the day I end it all and rid the world of the evil which infests it.

Remove three more monsters off the streets.

As make no mistake, I am a monster.

They may have created me, but I am more than willing to end them.