Chapter 2 The Betrayal

The room was quiet when Emily slowly opened her eyes again.

Her head throbbed. Her body ached. The bright light above her made her squint. For a moment, she didn't remember where she was - until everything came flooding back.

Charles.

Julie.

The lies.

The baby.

Everyone else knows except her which means that Even her own family know.

She sat up slowly, pain shooting through her back, but she didn't cry this time. Her eyes were dry. Her heart felt cold.

They betrayed her

They used her.

They drugged her.

They took her body, her trust, and now... her child.

A baby she carried for nine months. A baby she sang to in the dark. A baby she dreamed of holding. And now they were saying that baby wasn't hers?

Emily stayed in the hospital for hours, lying in that cold, quiet room.

She stared at the wall.

She tried to cry, but no tears came. Her chest felt tight, her throat dry, but nothing came out.

Her heart was cold now.

Too much pain, too much betrayal - it had numbed her.

Everyone had lied to her.

Charles.

Julie.

Even her own family.

Julie's words kept echoing in her mind:

"Everyone knows. You're the only one who didn't."

That hurt the most.

Her stepmother. Her stepsister. Maybe even her father... Did they all know?

She didn't want to believe her dad knew. He had always been kind. But doubt had already started to creep in, and it hurt more than anything else.

Finally, without saying a word to anyone, she got dressed, walked out of the hospital, and got into a cab.

The ride home was silent. She looked out the window, watching people walking on the street - laughing, talking, living normal lives.

She felt like a ghost sitting there.

When the cab stopped in front of her house - the house she thought was her safe place - her heart sank.

It didn't feel like home anymore.

From inside the house, she heard music. Laughter. The sound of clinking glasses. Celebration.

Her stepsister's voice was loud, full of joy.

Then came her stepmother's voice, talking excitedly.

Emily stood outside, holding her bag tight. Her eyes stared at the front door as the sounds of happiness filled her ears.

They were celebrating.

Maybe her pain was their victory.

As the laughter continued inside the house, the front door slowly opened.

Emily stood there, silent.

Her eyes were calm, but her heart was breaking inside.

The room went quiet when they noticed her.

She stepped forward slightly and asked in a soft but cold voice,

"What's the celebration for?"

Everyone turned to look at her.

Evelyn, her stepsister, stood up quickly and took a step toward her. "Sis..." she said with a fake smile.

But Emily raised her hand, stopping her.

She walked inside slowly, quietly - like a storm waiting to explode.

Her eyes scanned the faces in the room. The same people she had loved, helped, and trusted for years.

"Do you all know?" Emily asked, her voice calm, too calm.

They looked confused, or pretended to.

"Do you all know?" she asked again, a little louder this time.

"Know what, sweetie?" her stepmother, Mrs. Carter, asked.

"What are you saying, sis?" Evelyn added, her voice pretending to sound sweet.

Emily's eyes burned with hurt.

She took a deep breath, then spoke clearly, her voice no longer soft.

"I won't repeat myself again. Do you all know that Julie and Charles are lovers - and that the child I gave birth to isn't even mine?"

The room went dead silent.

Nobody spoke.

No one denied it.

That silence told her everything she needed to know.

Then her father finally said, "Calm down, Emily," his voice flat, without any care.

Emily stared at him.

"So you all knew..." she whispered, the pain cracking her voice.

Suddenly, she screamed, "YOU ALL KNEW!"

She grabbed the flower vase next to her and threw it hard on the floor - it shattered into pieces.

Everyone flinched.

Emily started throwing things - a lamp, a glass, anything she could grab - while shouting:

"You all betrayed me!"

"Why?!"

"I thought you were my family!"

"What did I ever do to deserve this?"

"I worked myself to the bone for all of you!"

"I gave you everything! I obeyed every word!"

"And this is what I get?"

She turned to her father, breathing heavily, her eyes red and wide.

"Answer me!"

He finally spoke, not with guilt, but with bitterness.

"Blame your dead mother," he said coldly.

"She left all the company shares in your name. I was her husband, but she ignored me - gave everything to you."

Emily froze.

Tears filled her eyes.

"And that's a good reason to destroy your own daughter?" she asked, her voice shaking.

Her father stepped closer, eyes hard.

"You're just like her. Stubborn. You refused to hand over the shares to me. So yes, we needed Charles to get close to you."

Emily stared at them - her stepmother looking away, Evelyn with her fake face, and her father, full of hate.

None of them denied it.

None of them cared.

She laughed. A cold, bitter laugh that didn't sound like her at all.

"Alright," she said, wiping her tears away. "Now that you've taken everything from me... I have nothing left."

She looked each of them in the eye.

"From today, we're no longer family."

"I have nothing to do with any of you again."