Chapter 1

Alyvia POV

          “So this is it then? There’s nothing I can do? We can’t fix this?” He asked me, his voice breaking with emotion.

          “No. I won’t stay with a cheater.” I said solemnly, though I couldn’t bear to lift my head to look at him.

          “And this is what you want? My money? Ofcourse it is. It always comes back to my money. Well Lyvie, you can have it, because whether you choose to believe it or not, I love you. I love you more than anything in this world. This money means nothing to me if I don’t have you, so take it.” He spoke as he signed the divorce settlement.

          I didn’t miss the way he sniffled as he spoke, or how he wiped the tears away before he signed. I knew I was breaking his heart. Hell, I was breaking my own heart, but I knew this had to be done. I’d made a promise, and I had to keep it. Sure, he and I would both walk away from this heart broken, but we were both strong, we would heal from it. Jazmine, however, I feared what might happen to her if I failed to complete our contract. She was already so broken, so damaged. I’d watched her wither away over the past two years as I worked this contract. It killed her to see the way he loved me. The only hope she had was knowing that this day would come, and she would finally have her revenge. I wouldn’t deny her that now, not when it was so close, regardless of how much it broke my heart to walk away from him.

          I understood her heartbreak now that I was experiencing it myself. Nick was an extraordinary man, one who loved me wholly & completely. He had treated her terribly, but he had never been anything but good to me. I even had to start all of the fights that led to our divorce, because he wouldn’t raise his voice or show any sign of frustration towards me. It hurt to walk away from a man who loved me as much as he did, but I had to remind myself that he didn’t know the real me. I just needed to finalize the divorce so I could get the hell out of this city, and I would be fine. I would forget about Nick, those gorgeously unique sea green eyes of his, and the amazing 2 years we had spent together.

          I could feel his eyes burning into me as he stared me down. I couldn’t look up though, I wouldn’t. I knew that if I dared to look him in the eyes I would get swept away by the waves of those sea green depths and refuse to go through with it. It was taking everything I had to stay composed as I waited for my lawyer to tell me we could leave. His lawyer was furious that he had signed the settlement, allowing me to take the majority of his fortune for myself. But I knew he would, if only to see if I would go through with it. I had only asked for the cash he had in the bank, I left him all of his assets and profitable stocks and investments. He would make his billion dollar fortune back within the decade, while I walked away with the billion that he had already made.

          My lawyer nudged me, telling me it was time for us to go, so I gathered my purse and walked out of the conference room without looking back. I couldn’t even allow myself to think as I ran on autopilot all the way to the car. I wouldn’t let him see me break though, I couldn’t. I knew he would try to fix it, he would want to hold me to stop the tears and I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop him. I also knew I couldn’t allow him to get that close to me ever again, because I wouldn’t be able to force myself away again. No, I had to stay strong, Jazmine needed me to be strong enough to complete the contract. She deserved her revenge, and I promised I would deliver it.

 As I climbed into the driver seat of my SUV, I wished that he was a better man. I wished that he and I had met under different circumstances, and that he had never treated Jazmine the way he had. But he had been awful to her, and I had been contracted to serve him the karma that he deserved. I started up the engine and glanced over to where he stood speaking to his lawyer. His red puffy eyes and tear streaked face told me that I had delivered on my promise, per the contract. He was receiving his karma and feeling all of the pain & heartbreak he had put Jazmine through. He was learning what it felt like to have his future plans crushed, to feel used and unloved. While it broke my heart to see him hurting like that, it brought me some comfort to know that I had fulfilled my end of the bargain. His life would forever be changed because of me, and I knew he would never treat another woman badly again.

I drove back to my run down apartment in the worst part of town, but my mind was elsewhere. I couldn’t help but to replay the last two years in my mind, from my very first meeting with Jazmine, to the day I moved out of the townhouse and filed for divorce. We had been so happy. Sure, he had fallen in love with a girl that I had specifically curated for him to fall in love with, but he was truly happy with me. And, aside from petty lies I had told to him, I was happy with him too. Maybe he didn’t know everything about me, but he knew enough to know who I was fundamentally as a person. I had to allow the thought that was always at the forefront of my mind come to the surface to keep me from completely breaking down. Would he still love me if he knew who I truly was or the things I’d done?

    Would he still love me if he knew that I had spent the past decade as a karma dealer? Yes, you heard me right. I deal out karma for a living. I know it sounds complicated & a bit crazy, and sometimes it is, but I always enjoyed my work & I’ve made damn good money doing it. You'd be surprised how much a vindictive individual will pay to see you dish out karma to those that have wronged them. The only downside of my work is that I could never stay in any one place too long.

     You see, once too many people realize who I am & what I do, I have to leave. Because people will do crazy things for revenge, trust me, I know. I get paid to do it. Once people realize that I've given them their karma, they tend to get pretty pissed. I've done some crazy things for my clients. I once had a client whose boyfriend took their dog when they broke up, so as for the boyfriend's karma, I dated him for 6 months.

   

       Around the 6 month mark I told him my lease was up & I couldn't find a place within my budget so I would have to move back home to another state with my parents. He, of course didn't want that, so he asked me to move in with him. The catch? Well, I told him I was allergic to dogs. He was in love with me, so he called his ex-girlfriend & asked her to take the dog. So, she picked up the dog the day before I was supposed to move in.

       The day of the move in, well, instead of getting me & all my belongings, he got my karma card. My karma card is the justice tarot card, with a catchy note on the back letting them know that they've received their karma. She got her dog back, I got paid nicely, & he got his karma. I only take jobs that involve bitter break ups right before I skip town, because those are the nastiest kinds of jobs to take. But I mean, did he actually deserve the dog if he was willing to give it up for some broad?

     Anyway, that's just one of the many ways I’ve dished out karma over the years. Now, there was this, with Nick. I'd been in Chicago for a year, dishing out karma to those who had wronged others. It was about time for me to go, so I decided to do one more, high paying job before I left. I'd had the file on my desk for a couple months. It was sloppy. I mean, hot mess of a train wreck sloppy, which was right up my alley for a last job. Jazmine deserved justice for what she went through with Nick, & I wanted to be the one to ensure she got it. Especially at the price she was offering.

      The thing about these jobs was that I would only do them if my tarot cards agreed. You see, if I ask my tarot cards if I should take on a job & they say no, it's usually because the outcome of the job will be bad. I mean really bad. Once I didn't listen & took a job anyway, & I ended up having to total out my car to insurance and buy another, on top of paying damages to the landlord of the house I was living in. The target smashed out all the windows of the house & car, kicked the front door in, & destroyed the house, kicking out walls & carving death threats into the floor. As for my car, well, he put antifreeze in my oil, oil in my antifreeze, antifreeze in my gas tank. It was a whole mess.

    So I learned to always listen to the cards. They’d never steered me wrong. I had gone over their case file one more time before pulling my cards. The target was Nicholas Murphy, 35, he was the CFO of a popular liquor label, and a playboy. He was also incredibly hot and incredibly wealthy due to brilliant investing. He had been married to the client, Jazmine Snider. They were married for a year, but together for 4, with no kids. He gave her the divorce papers on their 1st wedding anniversary, laughing that the first year was the paper anniversary. He laughed as he told her he made a mistake, that he wasn't ready to settle down, but that he had married her in order to receive a promotion because his company had been skipping over him for promotions due to his playboy ways. The kicker was that he laughed as he told her he had been having affairs throughout their entire relationship because he had commitment issues. He had told her to just sign the divorce papers, since they had an ironclad prenuptial agreement. Regardless of how many affairs he admitted to, she wouldn't get a dime. I had thought he was a real deutschbag, and I wanted to be the one to knock him off his pedestal.

      So I consulted my cards. The first card, the situation, I pulled the Knight of Wands reversed. I remember thinking ‘duh obviously, this guy is bad news for any woman.’ I had thought that he was toxic as fuck but hoped that he wouldn’t be when I was done with him. The second card, the action, I pulled the 4 of wands. ‘Wonderful,’ I thought, ‘I should have no problems making him fall in love & wanting to settle down with me.’ For the third card, the outcome, I got the 3 of swords in reverse. I thought ‘and that is my go ahead. Perfect.’ Ugh, how could I be so stupid. The cards had warned me, but I only saw what I wanted to see when I pulled them, thinking they were talking about him. I knew better now, they weren't just talking about him, but both of us.  

         I had woken up at 8am to get ready for my meeting with Jasmine. We had set an 11am meeting & met at the office I lease on the Northside of the city, in Avondale. When you do this type of work, it's best to have several different spaces rented out on a month to month basis, if you can afford them. After doing this for 8 years, I could. I started using my Avondale office after I finished my last job in Chatham.

     The apartment I had been staying in then, and the one I am going back to is located in the neighborhood of Lawndale, but I had moved into one in Edgewater once we agreed on & signed the contract. Why? Well, because Nick lives in Andersonville, so it was closer to him. Also, because of neighborhood demographics. I always choose my neighborhoods in each city based on their demographics. For example, I chose to have my home base here in Lawndale because my typical target wouldn't come here looking for revenge, even if they knew where I was.

      The crime rate is high, which makes them too afraid. That is the perk of being able to fit in anywhere. My neighbors know who I am, & what I do for a living. They respect my hustle. They actually find it quite hilarious & are always willing to lend a helping hand if I need one, for the right price. But of course, anyone who didn't grow up in a neighborhood like this is quite terrified of them, therefore, making this the perfect base of operations.

    Sure it isn’t the nicest apartment, but it’s safe. At least it is for me. I knew I'd be safe from my targets here. I would typically rent out at least 3 office spaces & apartments at a time. I had rented this apartment, my base, a nice one on the Northside of the city, & a nice one on the Southside of the city when I first came to Chicago. I broke my lease to my Southside apartment & office after finishing my last job. I knew I would only do one more, so I would only need 2 of each. I met Jasmine in my Avondale office that day, and that's where we have held all of our meetings since, but as far as Nick knew, I lived in Edgewater before I moved in with him, & work in Lakeview. That's where my other office was located. I liked to keep one in the nicer parts of the city for my high class targets.

      I remembered my first meeting with Jazmine like it was yesterday. She had been so nervous. I could read it in her body language. I had watched as she held her arms close to her body & bounced her leg while she sat. Sometimes the clients were nervous, other times they were comfortable, but they were always angry and hurt. It was my job to ensure they were comfortable, and to assure them that their target would receive their karma. Jazmine's situation had been especially difficult though. I had never actually married a target before, so it was all new territory for me. But with as much as Nick had been worth, and as much hell as he'd put her through, I chose to venture into it to ensure he got what he deserved. I knew I would have to use my full, real name with this job, so I intended to walk away with enough money to retire on. Luckily, with what I had planned, Nick was the perfect job to ensure that I could.

     She had told me that she had met him at a bar & they started hanging out & dating. She said she didn't know he'd been cheating on her because he had always worked a lot anyway. He had proposed at a fancy rooftop restaurant, & they were married a year later. Once they were married he stopped making excuses or letting her know he would be late. She said that sometimes he wouldn't even come home, & when he did, he wreaked of liquor & perfume. When she started questioning him about it he brushed off her concerns & usually just left the house.

     She said that she had wanted kids & was ready to start a family. He had promised her they would get started after the wedding, but that never happened, instead their relationship completely fell apart. She told me that whenever she would try to talk to him, he would shut her out. That sometimes she wouldn't see him for days at a time, & she hadn't seen or spoken to him in two weeks when he came home on their anniversary & handed her the divorce papers. He had a great lawyer, of course, but one who had been kind enough to make sure that she got 100k to walk away from their marriage with. She had only made 40k in the year that they were married, so she took the money, signed the papers & moved out.

     "That's terrible. I'm sorry he did that to you. I'm sorry you wasted 4 years of your life on a man that wasn't worth 4 days." I had told her sincerely.

     She just nodded her head. I knew then that she was broken from the experience. I made sure to recommend therapy for her as well. I had been so disgusted by his actions, and so saddened by her brokenness. I wanted to ensure that he got everything he deserved, and I had been excited to be the one to give it to him. Little did I know at the time that I would end up falling for him and put myself through one of the most devastating heartbreaks I’d ever felt.

I had then asked her to tell me about him, so I knew where to start on curating the perfect girl for him. She thought a while before answering, then she told me his favorite restaurants, what kind of music he liked, & his favorite bands. She had told me his favorite foods, favorite shows & his pet peeves. She told me everything she could think of about him, & I had prodded until I was satisfied with the amount of information I had. I told her about how I planned to give him his karma and told her to take 24hrs to think it over. She didn’t want to take the time though, she wanted to do it. So I drew up the karma contract and we both signed it. I hadn’t told her that my lawyer thought I was crazy for doing this, or that she had warned me of all the terrible things that could go wrong with my plan. She didn't need to know those details. I told her that we would meet once a month for me to give her a progress report & keep her updated, then I walked her out of the office.