Jacob never thought his life would unravel in a single evening. One moment, he was playing with his nieces, laughing, and creating memories. The next, his world shattered in the cruelest way imaginable.
“No, Uncle J! Barbie is married to Ken!” Mia giggled, her small hands gripping the plastic doll tightly.
Jacob chuckled, feeling warmth spread through him. It was good to hear that sound—her laughter, so full of life despite the darkness looming over her. He had to hold himself together. For her. For Ella. For the family.
Mia and her younger sister, Ella, were sprawled across the living room floor, their dolls scattered in front of them. Jacob had made it a habit to visit them every Thursday after work. It started after Mia’s diagnosis—her liver was failing, and she was on the transplant list, waiting for a miracle. No one in the family was a match, so they clung to hope, praying she would get the help she needed in time.
Most days, Mia was too weak to play, but something about Jacob’s presence lifted her spirits. Her father, Liam, and mother, Emma, saw how much these visits meant to her and encouraged them. Jacob’s wife, Melissa, supported it too, though she was always too busy with work to join them.
Liam had already taken too much time off his job, so Thursdays were mostly just Jacob, Emma, and the girls. But Jacob didn’t mind. He loved these moments. No one knew how much time they had left with Mia, so every second was precious.
“Well, Mia, Barbie could have a girlfriend, right? It’s the 21st century,” Jacob teased, tickling her lightly.
Ella squealed. “Yeah! A girlfriend!”
The room filled with laughter, and Jacob felt something rare these days—peace. He could’ve stayed in that moment forever. But then his phone buzzed.
A notification from his security app.
Jacob frowned. His house was fully equipped with a smart security system, sending him alerts about anything unusual. He checked the time. Melissa should still be at work. So why was there movement inside their home?
A strange unease settled over him.
“Excuse me for a second, Em,” he said, standing up.
Emma nodded, not thinking twice about it.
Jacob walked to the kitchen, pulled out his AirPods, and tapped on the live feed. His stomach clenched. What he saw on the screen didn’t make sense.
His living room.
Melissa.
And his brother, Liam.
She was on his lap, her skirt hiked up, hands tangled in his hair. They were laughing, touching, lost in each other.
Jacob’s blood turned to ice. His heart pounded so hard it drowned out all sound. He wanted to shut the video off. He wanted to look away. But he couldn’t. He watched as his wife and brother betrayed him, their bodies tangled in an embrace that had nothing to do with family.
His hands trembled. He forced himself to look away, eyes landing on Emma’s fridge. Magnets covered it, reminders of family vacations. In the center was Mia’s medication schedule. The doctor visits. The small, desperate hope that she’d get better.
And all the while, Liam and Melissa had been doing… this?
A storm of emotions swirled inside him—rage, pain, disgust. His whole life, he had looked up to Liam. His older brother, his role model. Now, he saw him for what he truly was.
He needed revenge.
But he wouldn’t be reckless. No, this needed to be precise. Cold. Unforgiving.
That night, he hacked into Liam’s computer. It was easy. Liam knew nothing about cybersecurity. Jacob wiped everything—work files, financial records, backups. He planted a virus, corrupting everything his brother relied on. He even triggered the bank’s fraud detection system, ensuring Liam’s accounts would be frozen.
The next evening, at their parents’ dinner, he set the final piece of his plan in motion.
As they sat around the table, talking, Jacob waited. Then, right on cue, everyone’s phones pinged at the same time.
The video. The proof.
Liam grabbed his phone first. His face paled. His hands shook. But it was too late. The damage was done.
Emma turned to him. “Liam… what is this?” her voice trembled.
Melissa panicked. “Emma, I—It’s not real!”
“It’s real,” Jacob cut in, voice cold. “I saw it live. I sent it.”
Their mother, Marianne, shot up from her chair. “Liam! What is the meaning of this?!”
Chaos erupted. Emma slapped Liam across the face. Marianne turned on Melissa, grabbing her hair and landing two hard slaps that echoed through the room. Their father, Victor, shouted, trying to break them apart.
Melissa turned to Jacob, eyes pleading. “Jacob, honey, please. I can explain.”
“You have one day to get out of my house,” he whispered. “My lawyer will send the divorce papers. And if you ever try to contact me, I’ll release the video publicly.”
Her face crumpled. She broke into sobs, covering her face in shame. Jacob didn’t care.
He picked up his fork and resumed eating his meal as his family imploded around him.
The next morning, Jacob woke to a phone call from Liam.
He smirked, expecting more begging.
Instead, Liam was screaming.
“You did this!” his voice cracked with grief. “Mia is gone!”
Jacob’s world tilted. “No. No, no, no—”
“She saw the fight! She heard everything! She got worse! Mom and Dad rushed her to the hospital, but they couldn’t find her medical records because you wiped my computer!”
The room spun. Jacob clawed at his own face. “No. That’s not—That’s not my fault! The hospital—”
“WHO CARES ABOUT THE HOSPITAL?!” Liam sobbed. “Mia is DEAD! And the last thing she saw was her family falling apart!”
A hollow emptiness spread through Jacob’s chest. His mind reeled, desperate to undo what had happened. But there was nothing to undo.
He had won.
And in winning, he had lost everything.
“I hope your revenge was worth it,” Liam whispered before the line went dead.
Jacob sat there for hours, staring at the floor, until finally, with a shaking hand, he picked up the phone one last time.
“Rabun County Sheriff’s Office.”
His throat tightened.
“I have a confession to make.”
Lesson learned?
Revenge doesn’t heal wounds. It only deepens them. Jacob let his anger control him, and in the end, the only thing his revenge achieved was destruction. His pain didn’t lessen—it only spread to everyone he loved.
Sometimes, the worst punishment is realizing too late that some things can never be undone.
