Page 178 of Deceived Wrath

My pulse hums in my ears.

What the hell is he talking about?

“Tell me,” I order.

“Carly, Fiona’s sister, had a gambling problem,” he keeps every word slow and deliberate. “A big one. Fiona knew about it before I did.”

My grip tightens.

“She was drowning in debt. And instead of coming to me, her brother-in-law, Fiona decided she could fix it herself.”

A familiar anger starts to simmer.

He made it sound like Fiona was the bad guy in all of this, when in reality, it sounds like she was the opposite.

“She was trying to help her sister?—”

“And she got her killed in the process.”

The words hit like a punch to the chest.

“She brought in people she had no business dealing with. Shady people.Criminals. Men who don’t forgive, and they sure as hell don’t forget. Carly was dragged deeper and deeper into the shit, trying to pay it back. And look where it got her. Now, thanks to Fiona’s poor judgment, my daughters had to watch their mother being put in the ground.”

I feel sick. I know all too well what it’s like to watch your child grieve the loss of their mother. It’s devastating on a level I didn’t know was possible.

“And when I found out?” Joe adds bitterly. “I found out about the affair too.”

“What affair?”

“The one Carly had with Fiona’s boyfriend at the time. A real winner, a career criminal. I guess she has a type. Why else would you be interested in her?”

The room suddenly feels void of air.

“Fiona thought she could control it. She thought she was smarter than everyone else, and my wife paid the price for her mistake.So, I won’t be made to feel guilty for choosing to keep her away from my daughters.”

Silence stretches between us, thick and heavy.

“She didn’t tell you any of it?”

“No.”

Joe laughs again, hollow and bitter. “Then you should ask yourself why.”

The line goes dead.

I sit there for a long moment, staring at nothing.

Fiona didn’t tell me about Carly’s addiction or the affair. But more importantly, about the deal she made with criminals to try and clean up a mess she didn’t create but still took responsibility for.

She didn’t tell me any of it. And suddenly, Kieran’s warning echoes louder than ever.

People don’t just stumble into this world by accident. And if what Joe says is true, I can’t help but feel like Fiona’s sudden appearance in my life isn’t simply a well-timed coincidence. It feels planted.

The question is, why?

I scroll through my recent call log and dial Aiden again.

He answers with a sigh, as if he’s been expecting me to call him back.