Chapter 4

Jillian POV

My hand, poised to press the play button on the small voice recorder I had secretly activated on my phone, froze mid-air. Tears, hot and stinging, blurred my vision. The recording of Aida's chilling confession, her threats against Cristopher, felt utterly useless now. Damian didn't care about truth. He only cared about Aida.

"No!" I screamed, launching myself at Damian, my body a desperate missile. I clawed at his arm, my nails tearing at his skin, my voice raw with a terror I had never known. "Please, Damian! Don't! Don't do this! He's all I have left! Please!"

He didn't even flinch. He merely shifted his weight, effortlessly shrugging me off. My injured leg buckled, sending me crashing to the floor. He didn't spare me a glance. He simply turned, cradling the sobbing Aida in his arms, and walked out of the room, leaving me gasping on the cold tile, my world shattering around me.

"No! Stop them!" I shrieked, scrambling to my feet, but two burly nurses, under Damian' s instruction, were already moving towards Cristopher' s bed. They began to disconnect the tubes, the wires, the machines that kept my brother alive.

"Don't you dare!" I screamed, lunging at them, but they were too strong. They pushed me back, again and again, their faces impassive. I fought like a cornered animal, kicking, biting, screaming, but it was useless. My head hit the wall, a sickening thud, and a warm, sticky liquid trickled down my temple. I was bleeding, but I didn't care.

"Please!" I sobbed, collapsing to my knees, pleading with the indifferent nurses. "He's just a boy! Please! You can't!"

One of the nurses, a young woman with kind eyes that now held a flicker of pity, whispered, "Beg Mr. Ramsey, Mrs. Ramsey. Only he can stop this."

I scrambled for my phone, my fingers fumbling, vision swimming. I called Damian, again and again. The phone rang, then went straight to voicemail. I tried again. Blocked. He had blocked me. The finality of it, the absolute ruthlessness, ripped through me. He truly meant it.

A shrill, flatline tone erupted from Cristopher's monitors. His chest, which had been barely rising and falling, now lay completely still.

My legs buckled. I barely caught myself, collapsing against the wall. No. This isn't happening. I scrambled to his bedside, pushing past the nurses, my eyes wide with frantic denial.

The doctors rushed in, a flurry of hurried movements, trying to revive him. They shocked him, pumped his chest, shouted medical jargon. I clung to Cristopher' s hand, praying, begging, my breath catching in my throat. "Don' t go, Cristopher. Please, don' t go."

An eternity later, the lead doctor straightened up, his face grim. He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Ramsey. We did everything we could. Time of death..."

"No!" I shrieked, lunging at him, grabbing his white coat. "You can't stop! Keep trying! Please! He's alive! He has to be!"

He gently, but firmly, peeled my fingers off his coat. "There's nothing more we can do."

My world imploded. All the air was sucked out of my lungs. I collapsed to the floor, a guttural scream tearing from my throat, a sound torn from the deepest depths of a broken soul. I screamed until my voice was hoarse, until my throat burned, until there were no more tears left to cry.

The next few days were a blur of paperwork, of cold, official words from coroners and hospital administrators. I signed Cristopher's death certificate, my hand trembling, my mind numb. He was gone. My bright, ambitious, innocent little brother. Destroyed by Damian's cold cruelty and Aida's malicious lies.

I held his ashes, a small, heavy urn, close to my chest. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. He had always dreamed of seeing the world, of exploring ancient cities, of swimming in turquoise seas. He had always yearned for freedom, for adventure. I would give it to him. I would scatter his ashes in all the beautiful places he had longed to see. I would be his eyes, his feet, his wings. I would live for him.

I returned to what I still thought of as home, the grand mansion that had become my prison. I fumbled for my key, but it wouldn't turn. I tried again, pushing harder. Nothing. The lock had been changed.

I pressed the doorbell, again and again, but no one answered. The sky, as if mirroring the turmoil in my soul, opened up. Rain began to fall, a cold, relentless deluge. I stood there, drenched, clutching Cristopher's urn to my chest, shielding it from the downpour. My clothes, my hair, my skin were soaked, but all I cared about was protecting his last remains.

Finally, the massive oak door slowly creaked open. Aida stood there, perfectly dry, perfectly coiffed, a triumphant smile on her face. She wore one of my most expensive silk dresses, purchased for a gala I had never attended. Her eyes, filled with a sickening glee, raked over my drenched, pathetic form.

"Jilly, darling," she purred, her voice sweet as poison. "What are you doing out in this awful weather? Come in, come in." She gestured grandly, a mocking invitation.

I stepped inside, my waterlogged shoes leaving muddy prints on the pristine marble floor. I didn't care. All I cared about was Cristopher.

The house was... different. My house. Our house. It was unrecognizable. My favorite antique vase was gone, replaced by a grotesque modern sculpture. The delicate tapestries I had personally selected were replaced by stark, geometric prints. Every piece of furniture, every decorative element I had chosen, was gone.

My gaze fell upon a pile of discarded items in the corner. My beloved architecture books, stained and torn. The carefully curated art collection I had spent years building, now relegated to a heap of trash. And then, I saw it. The framed photo of Damian and me on our wedding day, a forced smile on my face, a cold, distant look in his. It was face down, shattered glass littering the floor around it. In its place, on the mantelpiece, was a new photo: Damian and Aida, laughing, their heads close, a picture of perfect happiness.

My heart, already a gaping wound, twisted even further. The cabinet I had filled with handmade gifts for Damian over the years-a carved wooden pen, a sketchbook filled with architectural designs, a small, intricate model of his first prototype-it was gone. Replaced by a garish, chrome bar.

I felt nothing. Just a vast, echoing emptiness. The numbness was a relief. Even my anger had been dulled by the sheer scale of their cruelty. They had not just taken my husband; they had taken my home, my past, my dignity, and now, my brother.

Aida' s voice, like fingernails on a chalkboard, broke through my stupor. "Oh, do you like the new decor, Jilly? Damian said he wanted a fresh start. Something... more modern. More us." She gestured around proudly. "What do you think? Isn't it just divine?"

I didn't answer. I just walked past her, my gaze fixed on the grand staircase. My room. I needed to see my room. To retrieve what little was left of my life.

"Where do you think you're going, Jilly?" Aida called out, a hint of steel in her voice. She grabbed my arm, her manicured nails digging into my skin. "The housekeeper's quarters are in the west wing, darling. You're not staying here."

I yanked my arm away, my eyes flashing with a cold fury. "Don't touch me," I growled, my voice low and dangerous.

Aida gasped dramatically, stumbling backwards, her face contorting in a theatrical display of pain. She let out a small shriek, clutching her stomach, and began to sway precariously, as if about to tumble down the stairs.

Just then, Damian appeared at the top of the staircase, his eyes immediately fixed on Aida. "Aida, my love! What's wrong?" he cried, rushing down the steps, a look of frantic concern on his face. He caught her just as she melodramatically collapsed into his arms, narrowly avoiding a fall.

He held her close, stroking her hair, his gaze sweeping over me with contempt. "What did you do, Jillian?"

A fresh wave of pain, sharp and physical, tore through my chest. He always believed her. Always.

I turned and fled, stumbling up the stairs, ignoring the burning pain in my leg. I burst into what used to be my bedroom, my sanctuary.

I froze.

The room was unrecognizable. My entire life, all my possessions, all my memories, had been systematically erased. The elegant four-poster bed was gone. My antique writing desk, where I had spent countless hours sketching architectural designs, vanished. The bookshelves, once overflowing with my beloved books, were bare.

In their place, a large dog bed occupied the center of the room. Plush toys were scattered everywhere. A water bowl, a food bowl, and a scratching post sat proudly in the corner. My bedroom. My home for eight years. It had been transformed into a lavish pet room.

As I stood there, numb with shock, a housemaid appeared in the doorway. "Mr. Ramsey asked me to inform you, Mrs. Ramsey, that Miss Reyes is feeling unwell. He has taken her to the hospital. And your new room, as per his instructions, is now in the servant's quarters."

My breath hitched. My mother' s urn, containing Cristopher' s ashes, was tucked away in my old dresser. A dresser that was now gone.

My mother, Cristopher. My heart pulsed with a dangerous, icy rage. He had truly taken everything from me.