Chapter 5: You Defiled Her

Words : 1967 Updated : Nov 27th, 2025

The columbarium at Phoenix Funeral Home in Xavon lay hushed and cool. Miller Cutmore had rented a memorial room, taken out his mother's and older brother's ashes, and knelt to pay his respects. He unfolded the letter Julie Linnit had left him, read it through, then burned it before his brother's urn. When the rites ended, Miller returned both urns to the columbarium. The three of them got into the Porsche Cayenne, ready to leave. Before the car even started moving, two cars rolled up at the gate. The security guard pointed them toward the Cayenne, and they drove straight over, one in front and one behind, boxing the Cayenne in. A knot of hulking men piled out. The moment Blake Cutmore recognized the man in the lead, she gritted her teeth and snapped, "Cairo Juggins! What is he doing here?" Megan Scurr gave a sharp snort. "He couldn't find you, so he greased the guard at the gate. The moment you showed up, the guard called him." The men popped their trunks and hauled out sticks as thick as a wrist. Blake's face blanched. She leaned toward Miller, her voice tight. "They're here for you. Don't get out, I'll go talk to him." Miller held her back with one hand and smiled. "I don't hide behind women." "I'm your aunt," Blake hissed. Megan unbuckled her seat belt and shot Miller a look. "This isn't the time to play hero. Walk out now, you're asking to die." Miller frowned. "I wasn't playing hero. This is my mess." Megan jabbed a finger at the men outside. "Can't you see they came ready? Don't let roughing up those two Lyall guys fool you into thinking you're tough. There are seven or eight of them. How are you going to fight that?" Miller curled his lip and said nothing. Even if there were ten times more, so what? In his first two years training under the blind old man who taught him, during that riot in Belton Prison, he had stood alone against hundreds. Seeing him fall silent, Megan took it as fear. Her voice turned scornful. "And don't even think about calling that senior disciple of yours for help. Any guy who shares turf with the Lyall brothers isn't good news. You're out now, cut them off. Don't make your aunt worry." Before Miller could object, she had the door open and was out, planting herself in front of Cairo Juggins. Watching her back, a small, almost invisible smile touched Miller's mouth. Aunt Blake was right: she's got a bad temper but a decent heart. He cut her some slack for her sharp tongue. Cairo Juggins, short and rat-faced, grinned. "Well, well-if it isn't 'Kane Lyall's little missus.' I just got off the phone with Kane. What a coincidence." Megan's face iced over. "Watch your mouth. I'm not married, I don't even have a boyfriend. Who are you calling 'little missus'? Kane Lyall is more than ten years younger than you. He's more than ten years younger and you still act like he's your big bro? If you love being his flunky so much, why not call him 'Daddy'?" Cairo's expression went cold. "Megan Scurr, I wasn't here for you. Best move aside. If you get hurt, don't blame me." He twisted toward the car and spat, "Kid, you did time in Belton Prison and still crawled out alive. Lucky, huh? So what now, hiding behind a woman like a coward with your tail between your legs? My prized niece won't be 'sullied' by you for nothing. I'm going to castrate you." "Are you sick?" Megan shot back. "He did five years. He already paid. And you just keep hounding him. Don't you have anything else to do?" Cairo looked her over, lips curling. "Ms. Scurr, how about I have my fun with you and then go sit five years. How does that sound?" A thug beside him laughed. "Make it ten, I'd still be up for it." Another raked her with a hungry gaze. "Forget prison. One night with a beauty like that, I'd trade ten years of my life." Under their brazen stares, Megan felt stripped naked. Shame and fury surged. "You're shameless." "Where is Julie Juggins?" Miller got out of the car and walked over, his voice cool. Megan pinched her brows. "What are you doing? If you stay in the car, they won't dare swing. If anyone so much as scratches my car, I'll call my brother and have them all hauled in. Why are you so dumb, walking into it?" Miller waved her off. "This is my business. It has nothing to do with you." "Ungrateful, and suicidal," Megan muttered, turning back into the car. "If it weren't for Han's sake, did you think I wanted to meddle? Since you're so stupid, get yourself beaten to death." With her out of the way, Cairo no longer bothered to pretend. He pointed at Miller and snarled, "Bastard. Still mooning over my niece? You think you deserve her? Want to see her? Fine, I'll take you, but not like this. You're going over there on a stretcher." Cairo flicked his hand. Two thugs strode up with their sticks and swung for Miller's head, hard. The feud between the Cutmores and the Juggins family was already a blood feud. There was no courtesy left. Whatever revenge Miller planned after his release, they meant to deny him the chance. They wouldn't kill him-that would be a headache. They wanted to leave him ruined and helpless. Cooper Juggins would smooth things over afterward. So the Juggins goons went straight for his head and swung without holding back. Cairo sneered, "Idiot. You came out and didn't hide, and still strutted around. Did you think the Juggins family's years of planning and precautions were for nothing-" He didn't finish. Two dull thuds-thud, thud-and the pair who had just attacked Miller toppled like felled posts, crashing flat onto the pavement. What just happened? The men stared at one another, stunned. No one even saw him move. Miller ignored the two on the ground. He stepped toward Cairo, voice low. "Who ordered you to move on me, Cooper Juggins or Julie Juggins?" Cairo flinched under the weight of him, shuffled back a step, then forced himself to halt. He barked, "You dare say my niece's name? You ruined her, you violated her. You don't deserve-" "Shut up." Miller's roar made Cairo jump. Miller snorted, scorn thick in his voice. "You lot really swallowed your own tale, didn't you?" "She chased me first. This was your trap." "You drugged the drink, let me pass out, then set it up so I'd take her virginity, only to flip it and accuse me, and send me to prison." "You spun the story so hard you even forgot what really happened." "I only hadn't expected Julie Juggins to go all in, to truly sacrifice herself." Cairo bared his teeth in a grin. "Otherwise, how would we have fooled the judge?" "Big deal-take one hit and, in return, grab everything the Cutmore family owned. The Juggins family didn't lose out. Besides, who even cares about that nowadays?" "Even if I tell you straight, it was a trap we set for the Cutmores, to seize their entire fortune. So what?" Miller nodded, pulled a phone from his pocket, the recorder already running, and handed it through the window to Blake Cutmore in the car. "Good. Since you've admitted it, every one of you in the Juggins family should get ready to kneel and apologize to the Cutmore family."

Chapter 5: You Defiled Her

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