Chapter 5 This Was The man You loved, Katelyn

KATELYN'S POV

"Leave her alone, Ethan. She wants to leave? Then let her leave. Let's see how well she does separated from you." Derek said in a mocking tone, and I pressed my lips together, fighting off the sting off his words, but I was unable to fight off the tears that welled up in my eyes.

My own brother.

The betrayal cut deep, but I promised myself that this would be the last time that they made me feel this way ever again.

I walked up the stairs, determined to pack as much of my things as I could, so that I could leave this place and never return. Because for three years, I had dwelled in a place where I felt so under loved, and undervalued. It was about damn time that I did something about it.

"Sister." I stopped in my tracks, and turned around to find Scarlett approaching me up the stairs. Gone was the guilty, pitiful expression she wore moments ago. Right then, she all but looked victorious.

"don't feel bad." she said with a coy smile, and I tilted my head to the side.

"I'm leaving a place that doesn't value me, Scarlett. I'm not the one who should be feeling bad."

"Exactly. But I, on the other hand, I've always been valued here. And so, after all of this time, I'm here to take back everything that was taken from me. Everything that was once mine, everything that I had lost."

"By everything, you mean my husband, Ethan."

Her smile stretched as she nodded, and then she shrugged.

"but you don't have to feel like a sore loser. I mean, you had him for three years. That's more than enough time to spend with a man that was never really yours to begin with."

"So I suppose I should be grateful to you. Possibly indebted as well."

"It's your choice at this point. I've only come to ask you to step aside, your time is up."

"My time is up? Scarlett, this might be news to you, but as long as I'm married to Ethan, he is always going to be my husband."

"I don't know what you are on, but you might not want to get so cocky."

I watched as her eyes narrowed into slits. She was my sister, and I knew her well enough to know that when her eyes went that way, she was conspiring with demons for the greater evil.

I brought out my phone and secretly played the recorder, before placing it in my back pocket, because something told me I needed evidence for what was to come.

"I'm not scared of you." I told her and she shrugged.

"you might want to be. But whether or not you are, I'll have you know that I'm not going to let you ever get close to Ethan ."

"and you'll stop me how?"

A smile filled her lips, "watch me." she said, and before I even understood what was happening, she pushed herself off the stairs, and I watched in horror as she rolled downward.

"the hell?" I whispered under my breath, and soon enough Ethan rushed out of the kitchen. He had horror written all over his expression when he saw Scarlett, collapsed at the bottom of the stairs.

"Scarlett!" he barked, and rushed toward her to gather her broken body. He looked so dismayed, I don't think I had ever seen him look so scared and terrified before.

"Scarlett, are you okay? Can you hear me?"

She was far from okay, she had thrown herself down the stairs, and to prove what exactly?

What degree of insanity had this girl reached to make her do something like this to herself?

"Ethan..." she mumbled, her voice so frail and weak. If I hadn't been there, I might have felt sorry for her state. But I was there, I saw what she just did, and I was still trying to make sense of it.

"Oh Ethan. It's not her fault, please forgive her for hating me so much. I don't... I don't blame her, she just doesn't want to lose you." Scarlett said and I was horrified. What the hell was she implying? That I pushed her down the stairs to keep her from Ethan?

Ethan looked up at me, anger and tears in his eyes, "how could you?!" he barked, "Katelyn, you have gone too far!"

"I didn't do it!" I rushed to explain. There was no way I could take the blame for this. "she pushed herself off the stairs, you have to believe me. I did not even touch her!"

At this point, Derek ran out of the kitchen and added to the fire.

"Katelyn, look what you've done?!" he said, and looked at me like he wanted nothing more than to end my life, "you're saying you didn't do it, so what? Scarlett pushed herself down the stairs? You wanted to remain Ethan's wife so bad that you would do this to Scarlett? Is this how much you resent Ethan for not being able to love you?"

"no, it's not her fault. It's mine." Scarlett said weakly, blaming herself again. That was her angle, and it was working just fine for her.

I didn't say anything else. Clearly, they were not going to believe me. I watched as Ethan picked Scarlett up in his harms, his heartache written all over his face.

"you've already suffered so much from saving me all those years, I won't let anything happen to you ever again." Then he turned to me, his expression cold as ice.

"You owe her an apology." he said, but I didn't speak, because at that moment, all I could think was, "This was the man you loved, Katelyn. This was the man you've loved for three years."