Art of Forgiveness Read online

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Epilogue

  Prologue for Art of War

  Copyright

  Acknowledgments

  Blurb

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Art of Forgiveness

  A Stern Family Saga Book 2

  Monique Orgeron

  Contents

  Copyright

  Acknowledgments

  Blurb

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Epilogue

  Connect with Monique

  More to come…

  Prologue for Art of War

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2017

  Monique Orgeron

  All rights reserved.

  In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no scanning, uploading, electronic sharing, copying, or reproduction of any part of this book can be done without written permission of the author.

  This book is a work of fiction. Characters, names, and incidents came from the author’s imagination.

  References to real people, organizations, establishments, or locations are only to provide a sense of authenticity, they are used fictitious and never in a malicious way.

  Formatting and cover art by Erica Alexander @ https://serendipityformats.wixsite.com/formats

  Acknowledgments

  I want to thank my family first and foremost. They might have complained about not having a home cooked meal every night while I was writing, but they made sure to show their support and express their love for me every step of the way.

  My husband is my life and his love is what allowed me to do this. My two daughters have made me feel as though they are as proud of me as I am of them.

  To my sister-in-law, Shawna, thank you for giving me the courage to share my first story with you, then the world.

  Thank you to Dylan, my comic relief and alpha reader.

  Thank you to my Beta Readers Dawn Lucous, Suzanne McGovern, and Chasidy Renee. You ladies are the best.

  To Laura, who helped me with details I could not decide on.

  To Karen Boston who did my editing. She was extremely patient with me.

  To Erica Alexander, from Serendipity Formats for all the help.

  Finally, thank you to my readers. It has been a rollercoaster ride, but with all the encouragement, I was able to see my dream fulfilled.

  Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I hope you all enjoy my books!

  Blurb

  Can love survive years of pain?

  Liam Stern lived a charmed and carefree life. Always surrounded by friends, he was the boy who could have any girl he wanted, and did.

  Until Avery.

  She was pure and innocent. She was the one he never saw coming.

  She was the only thing that mattered, but the time came for him to fulfill his destiny. To protect Avery from a life she was not made for, he would have to give up the one thing he loved most in this world: her.

  Now the decisions made years ago come back to cost them both, dearly.

  Avery Edwards was a good girl, never stepping out of line, always the obedient daughter.

  Until Liam showed her everything she was missing in her life: love.

  Liam was her future, or at least she thought.

  Until he broke her.

  That was the beginning of her nightmare.

  After years apart, Liam and his family hold her future in their hands. Rebuilding a girl who no longer cares to live.

  After years of hating Liam, can Avery truly give him her forgiveness?

  Prologue

  Forgiveness.

  To forgive seems easy enough, but in reality it’s the hardest thing in the world to do. I know I’ve tried. Over the years, I’ve tried to forgive every single person who has ever done me wrong, but if you can’t forget, how can you truly forgive?

  Saying the word “forgive” or the phrase “I forgive you” is easy, but to truly mean it is another story. Forgetting, that’s the key to forgiveness, which is something I have never been able to do. Forgetting the pain, the suffering, or the tears I’ve cried can’t be forgotten; the scars I have will never allow me to forget.

  As far as the people out there who say you must forgive the people who did you wrong, well, they can kiss my ass. I’ve learned one thing though: I do need to forgive, but not those who have wronged me; I need to learn to forgive myself.

  Forgiving myself was just as hard to do. I had to learn everything I’ve gone through had a purpose. That’s the only way I could live with it all. I forgave being abandoned by my mother, because if she hadn’t, then I never would have met Laura. If it weren’t for Laura, I wouldn’t have Fallon and my future grandchildren. I forgave myself for ripping people off when I lived on the streets, because if I didn’t, I would have starved to death. I forgave myself for William – it’s easy to blame him for it all – but the truth is, no one forced me to go with him that night. I was offered a chance to get out of the life I had, and I took it. I forgave myself for allow
ing him to treat me the way he did. Everything I suffered from that man was worth it because he gave me my children. He gave me the life I have today.

  My forgiveness gave me the strength to take my opportunities and make the most of them. I wanted revenge, but forgiveness gave me all the power I needed. My revenge came in the form of making myself stronger, smarter and more powerful than I ever imagined.

  Forgiveness gave me the ability to never allow another person to hurt me. I refused to be the victim anymore. Through forgiveness, I grew to be the person I am today, and I love this person.

  But I know one day I will pay for the person I became, and I pray I am forgiven.

  Catherine Stern

  1

  Avery

  I awake startled from a nightmare. A nightmare that is about to become real. I look over at my phone to see the time; crap, it’s six a.m., time to start packing. I’ve dreaded this day for over four years, the day I have to go home. I’m proud to say I’m from Louisiana, born and raised; I love my city of New Orleans, but I hate my home life. I have been attending Harvard Business School in Boston for the last four years, and it has been wonderful. Every opportunity I had to go home, like for holidays or summer breaks, I made excuses just so I didn’t have to go back to that life.

  I start to hear my roommate yawn and stretch. “Hey, Avery, what time is it?”

  “It’s a little after six. You have time if you want to sleep a little more. You don’t have to take me to the airport for three more hours.”

  “No, it’s fine; I’m up now. Besides, I want to spend more time with you before you leave.”

  “I’m going to miss you so much, Lucy.” I throw myself on top of her to tackle her with hugs.

  “Whoa, I’m going to miss you, too. Are you sure you’re going to be all right going back home, Avery?”

  “Yeah, don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine.”

  I lied. I hate the lie and the pit in my stomach I have every time I think about going home. My mother use to smother me; she said it was love, but it was killing me. She never wanted me out of her sight. I guess I can’t blame her. I am her only child, and after my father died, she was so scared something would happen to me. My stepfather, on the other hand, is an ass. He’s so cruel to me. He enjoyed reminding me I was socially inept; he couldn’t stand that I didn’t match all the other rich kids’ social graces. It was just that I wasn’t like them. They were all snobs and thought their shit smelled like roses. We were all friends at one time, but then as soon as junior high started, I just faded away. The year before, my father died of a heart attack at work and my mother needed me. While all of them were out having a good time, I was home with my mom. By the time high school came around, I had become a social pariah. It wasn’t that I didn’t like people; it’s that I let myself drown in my sorrow and self-pity. My father was my world, and when he died, a part of me died with him and then my mom became so depressed. I just didn’t have the energy to invest in friends.

  When my father’s partner at his medical practice came around sniffing my mother like a dog, my world changed for the worse. Mom’s life got better, though. She became happy again, and soon after she became Mrs. Adam Edwards. I loved seeing her smile again. I didn’t want to ruin it for her, so I kept my mouth shut about his verbal attacks towards me. About a year after they were married, he wanted to adopt me so I would have his last name, too. I protested and argued for a long time, but I gave in and allowed myself to become Avery Edwards, hating it every time I had to write my name.

  As the years passed, the verbal abuse became worse, and he even got my mother on the bandwagon. I became the girl who couldn’t do anything right. I wasn’t tall enough, I wasn’t pretty enough, I wasn’t enough to grab a good husband. Amongst the wealthy, it’s all about who you marry; well, not really who, but what family you marry into. I obviously was never going to be good enough to marry into an elite family.

  The only time I had any kind of peace was when I was alone. Even at school, one of the so-called elite crowd would want to pick on me. To them, I wasn’t good enough either. I was an easy target for them. A recluse drowning in my books. I hated every day waking up in the morning to be bullied at home, then go to school and be bullied there, too. Graduation couldn’t come soon enough for me. I worked my ass off to get accepted to Harvard, and I left as fast as my feet would carry me.

  At Harvard, I was free to be me. No one knew me or how my life was tortured. I made the decision to get a degree in financing and investment banking. I was always good with numbers, and I’m not bragging, but I am the sole heir to a fortune. My father was a doctor, but the real money was my mother’s. Her side of the family is one of the wealthiest in the state. So, with all that money one day coming my way, I figured I needed to learn how to manage it.

  Upon my arrival at Harvard, I met my roommate Lucy, a short brunette who takes no one’s shit. She’s been my best friend ever since. She knows everything about my life, and that’s why she is so concerned about me going back home. We even tried to form a plan for me to stay, but my mother wouldn’t hear of it. Margaret Edwards is a woman I do not want to disappoint, and she knows it. She said she needed me and missed me, so home I go.

  I’ve taken my shower and packed my bags when Lucy comes back in the room.

  “Avery, I know you’re nervous, but just remember to stand up for yourself. You are a grown ass woman now. Don’t let people treat you like shit. Go home and demand more, tell them how they make you feel.”

  Right then, Lucy’s pep talk is disturbed by a knock at the door, and Phil barges in like he always does.

  Lucy scolds him, “How many times, Phil, do we have to tell you to wait for us to tell you to come in? What if we weren’t dressed?”

  “That’s the idea, girls. I have been coming in like this for years, hoping one day I would catch just a glimpse of Avery.”

  Phil’s a guy I met my second year here. For some reason, he has been wanting to date me ever since. He is only the second boy to show interest in me in my whole life, and even though Phil is the only one who ever truly wanted to be with me, I still can’t. It’s not that he isn’t good looking, because trust me, the man is gorgeous. He was a jock back home in his state of Alabama. He’s six-feet-two, blond with dark brown eyes. It’s just that he didn’t give me butterflies like someone else once did a long time ago. No one has since him, so here I am twenty-three years old and still a virgin.

  “Avery, hey, are you there? Can you hear me? Earth to Avery.” Phil starts snapping his fingers in front of my face.

  I push his hands away. “Yes, I’m here. Sorry. I was just thinking if I had everything. What did you say?”

  “I said I’m going with Lucy to drop you off at the airport. I need to see my favorite girl off.”

  “Okay, I’d love that. Do y’all want to get something to eat on the way there?”

  “You mean, like a date?”

  I let out a giggle. The man never gives up. “Sure, Phil, like a date.”

  We arrive at the airport on time. We even have time for a coffee before I take off.

  Lucy starts crying and says, “I wish you could stay. What am I going to do without you?”

  My heart melts. I never thought I would have someone who was actually going to miss me. Lucy has been like a sister to me all these years, and I am going to miss her more than she knows.

  Phil and Lucy are staying at Harvard to get their MBAs. I wanted to as well, but my mother said there was no need. She said if I couldn’t find a husband, I would still never have to worry about actually working, so there was no need for my education to go any further.

  Phil pipes in now. “You know I’m going to miss you, too. You’re always going to be the girl who got away, but don’t think I won’t still hound you. My family only lives about five hours away, so when I go back home for visits, I can come see you, too.”

  “I would love that, Phil. Promise me you will.”

  “Avery, I would promise y
ou the moon.” He grabs my face and kisses me. It’s a good kiss; he even manages to slide his tongue in my mouth. It’s just not, like, “his” kiss.

  “Phil, I—”

  “Don’t say it, Avery. I know, but I can’t help trying.”

  It’s time to leave, so I hug them both. “I love both of you so much. Ya'll have made these years the best of my life. I’ll never forget either of you.”

  My tears start to fall. I mean every word I tell them. I grab my carry-on and head away from my friends and the life I don’t want to end.

  2

  Avery

  Sitting in first class, my mind wanders. I think about the kiss Phil just gave me as I touch my lips. Why can’t I let myself feel for him? He would be perfect for me, and my mother would be overjoyed. His family is also prominent in Alabama, and our union would be extremely beneficial for our families. I just can’t seem to have the same enthusiasm. He calls me the girl who got away, which makes me think of the boy who got away, or rather left. Over the years, I haven’t been able to not think of him every now and then, but it isn’t with happy thoughts. He broke me, worse than either of my parents and all the bullies at school. He made me think he cared when he didn’t. He was embarrassed by me, and he kept our whatever we had a secret. One day he was kissing me, and the next he was ignoring me.