Page 12 of Promised to the Demon King (The Demon Brides #1)

Nova sat in the back of the luxury car in silence as Carol, her mother, dove into a bitter rant about her freshly buried father throughout the drive back to her and Timothy’s gated community home.

While Carol sat in the passenger seat, Timothy was driving, turning directly to him. She was angry. She knew that Jonathon would leave the majority of the wealth to Nova, if not all, but she didn’t expect to be completely blindsided by an executor of the trust to be put in place to monitor the money. She expected herself to be. She was the brat's mother, after all. Did that not mean anything? She carried the demon child for nine months. Shouldn’t she get something as compensation?

Even surrogates get a payout.

After all her careful planning, she racked up too much debt and favours owed to put this plan into motion, and Jonathon never gave her any indication that he didn’t trust her enough if she was left as guardian.

Over the last few months, Jonathon had a few close calls, as he called them. To her, however, they were failures of the man she had hired. Even when he told her last month that Nova would stay with her and Timothy should anything happen, he never mentioned his lawyer becoming the executor of the entire estate until Nova turned eighteen.

When Jonathon and her met for coffee to discuss all this, his Will and Estate stipulations were never mentioned. This is what enraged Carol the most.

She felt tricked and betrayed by her ex-husband.

Now, she was stuck with the brat and the debt, and she had no idea how she would access the money, not her way out of the mess this had all created for her.

Her biggest concern now was if Timothy discovered the debt she had collected.

He was going to demand an explanation, and she couldn’t very well admit that she hired professionals to murder her ex-husband to gain access to the fortune that it turned out she’d never have access to begin with.

If anything happened to Nova, everything was left to his selected charities.

She didn’t even get the business. He left it to his right-hand man at the company, Dane Franks, just like that. Although she was left with nothing but the burden of Nova, Dane was left with financial support for the next ten years to ensure his programs, which were put in place to help others, would still be supported and maintained. Winston Crane will also oversee this portion of the financial payout.

Ten years!

He could justify supporting poor people's inability to keep a car working for ten years but couldn’t leave her a dime. The greedy bastard. Carol hoped he rotted in hell where he belonged.

She was screwed. And she was angry.

It was all that brat's fault. If she didn’t exist, Carol and Jonathon would never have divorced, and she would have all the money.

She couldn’t believe she wasn’t even given an expense allowance, but the brat was. What does she get for the next year and that annoyance living under her roof?

Zilch!

“Carol, Enough!”

Timothy sighed in annoyance. His eyes switched to Nova in the backseat of the car. Her eyes misted as she focused outside, taking in the scenery.

“Hey, Nova. Are you hungry? We can stop somewhere if you’d like; I'm not sure what we have in the fridge back home.”

Timothy spoke softly, which irked Carol even more.

“She’s fine!”

Carol snapped before Nova could respond. She crossed her arms like a child throwing a tantrum.

“Enough!”

he snapped back at his pouting wife next to him and then turned into the parking lot of a McDonald's.

“No! Absolutely not! I will not allow that trashy food in my car!”

Carol screamed angrily.

“Shut the fuck up, you bitter bitch! I am at my limit with you today, and it is only one in the afternoon. Firstly, this is not about what you want. Stop being so fucking selfish, and secondly, I paid for this car and all the others. Nothing in our lives is yours. It is all mine; I bought it with my money and status. Grow up or walk home. I don’t care.”

Timothy yelled. His outburst made Nova uncomfortable. She called out for Roz, who appeared next to her to support her in the back of the car.

Carol sat there absolutely gobsmacked. Timothy doesn’t ever break the character of a loving and supporting husband in public. To make matters worse, right before she could respond, she heard someone outside the car clear their throat awkwardly and then say--

“Welcome to McDonald's. Can I take your order?”

Carol's eyes widened in shock. His window was down, which meant people heard his words to her. She was mortified. Timothy didn’t seem the least bit fazed by it, however.

“Yes, hello. Could I please have a quarter-pounder with cheese combo, large fries, and a large Coke?”

He turned his body and smiled at Nova. “What do you want, Nova?”

Nova gave him a small smile and requested a Big Mac with medium fries and a Strawberry milkshake. Carol refused to speak, so just the two orders were placed; he added a request for two hot apple pies at the pickup window at the last minute. When he looked back at Nova, he shot her a wink and said that they couldn’t forget a healthy dessert.

Nova knew he was trying to get Carol to react, but she also loved their apple pies.

“I can’t believe you brought that crap into the car.”

Carol muttered bitterly.

“And we’ll be taking it into the house and eating it on the sofa in front of the television, even.”

Carol snapped her head in his direction in stunned disbelief. Her expression turned ugly. Timothy had strict house rules that were never to be broken. All meals were to be eaten at the dining room table or at the kitchen island when not entertaining, and food was never allowed in the lounge area.

Her anger grew.

Already, Nova was getting in between her and Timothy again. He was willing to break the rules for the devil's daughter. Carol would ensure everyone knew that the ever-respected Deacon was a fraud.

To Carol, the whispering Angel seemed correct; Nova was truly evil. She was already acting as the temptress, tainting the mind of a powerfully faithful Christian like Timothy.

If she couldn’t gain the money, she would get rid of Nova sooner than expected. She needed to act quickly before the harlot got her nails deeper into Timothy and tainted his mind even more than she already had.

Carol didn’t bother waiting for them when they returned to the house. She stormed into the house and slammed the front door, followed shortly by the bedroom door behind her. She immediately took out her cellphone and made a call.

“Yeah?”

a deep voice answered at the other end of the call.

“I need the girl gone now, too. She’s proven to be of no value to me.”

Carol whispered.

“Mrs. Carter, I need payment for your ex-husband first.”

he responded in annoyance.

“You'll get both payments once you get rid of the girl. She controls the money.”

“It's not my problem. You have until the end of the day to wire the payment, or you'll be my next job. Understood!”

The call was disconnected. Carol stood there, panic filling her, and her anger flared brightly. Carol screamed and then threw her phone against the wall, cracking the drywall with the impact.

How would she pay off these men if she couldn’t access the trust?

‘Silly, human.’ Vivex voice giggled in the room suddenly.

“Silly? This is a mess. You caused this, and because of that, you will help me out of it.”

Carol snarled, whipping around to find the voice. Just as in the past year, she never saw the source of the voice.

‘Careful, human. I don’t take threats kindly. As for your problem, it's simple. You are married to a millionaire. Take some of his money. Then hire that man to take care of the Demon’s brat.’ Her Angel’s voice hissed but quickly turned soft again.

“It’s not his money. Most are tied to his business. He will find out. Timothy had people watching his finances. He will be notified instantly if a hundred thousand goes missing. I don’t have to funds to slip it back before it’s noticed this time.”

‘Tell him you took it from the wrong account if he asks why you took it from the business instead of the personal account. Then, when he asks about the amount, tell him it is for the legal fees associated with taking Nova's guardianship. It’s all her fault in his eyes; he will be angry with her, not you.’ Vivex offered.

Carol pondered the words for a minute. They made sense in theory, but would Timothy really believe them?

‘Once you take care of the brat, you can challenge the Will in the Courts to gain access to it as a grieving mother. Timothy can have the borrowed money back, and you will have everything you’ve ever wanted.’

Carol's lips curled up. She was a grieving mother, indeed. She’d been grieving since the brat was born. Alright. This sounded like a good plan, and since she had none other, this was the one she would put into motion.

Carol tiptoed quietly to Timothy’s study. She could hear the television downstairs, and bitterness filled her, strengthening her resolve to follow Vivex suggested plan.

She opened his laptop and typed in the password. He was foolishly still logged into everything she needed.

She quickly accessed his bank accounts and authorized a transfer of a hundred thousand dollars to his personal account. Timothy didn’t know it, but she knew his authorization codes. He was foolish at the beginning of their affair. He would allow her to be near whenever he worked, but he was much more guarded now. He never allowed her in his offices, at home or work.

She transferred it to his bank account so that the financial advisor within his company would presume he had done so himself. Perhaps this would buy her time before he discovered the money was missing.

After transferring it to his personal account, she immediately transferred it to the account number the hitman had given her.

She made sure that the financial trail stayed with Timothy. None of the financial payout came from her. Should there be an investigation when she challenged the will in court, nothing would be tied to her. Just her cheating husband. Maybe she could become an independent lady of status from all this. She didn’t need either of the men if she did this right.

Downstairs, the two ate their meals carefully at the mahogany coffee table while a Scooby-Doo movie played on the television.

“How is your burger, Nova?”

Timothy asked her after stuffing another warm fry into his mouth. She offered him a small smile.

“It’s great. Thank you, Timothy. Dad and I would do fast food once a week. It is nice to have this and remember our good times.”

Nova looked away to control the threatening flood of tears.

“Hey, Nova.”

Timothy wiped his face of burger grease with a crumpled napkin and placed a hand over hers, giving it a quick squeeze. “You’re not alone in this. Your mother may not care, but know I am here for you whenever you need me, day or night. Okay?”

Nova nodded appreciatively.

“Good. Let's finish our meal and enjoy the movie on the television. I can’t remember the last time I’ve been able to relax around someone enough to sit back and enjoy some fast food and a casual movie at home. Thank you for that,”

Timothy said sincerely. He sent off a quick text message to his assistant before turning his full attention back to the movie.

They finished eating in silence, but Nova was calmer. Timothy wasn’t the most supportive person when she was younger. Carol and he got into vicious arguments that made her uncomfortable around the house, but maybe she was wrong about him. Perhaps it was her mother who brought out the worst in her stepfather.

She could relate to that. She sees Carol's effect on her gentle and kind father whenever she stops by the shop or house.

Either way, this was her new reality for the next year, and she needed to focus on the silver lining.

Timothy was 'so far' acting like a kind person, helping her feel welcome, and although it didn’t take away her heartbreak or pain, it made it a little more bearable. She would remain cautious but optimistic while in her new reality.