The sound echoed.
I stumbled, clutching my cheek, feeling the sting crawl under my skin.
“Of all people, it had to be you?” she shouted.
I wanted to say something. Anything. But no words came. Just tears.
Naira raised her hand again, but Dane caught her wrist. “Enough,” he said sharply. Then he looked at me, expression blank. “Candy, go to your room. Don’t come down unless I tell you.”
My voice was gone.
All I could do was nod and walk away, holding my face.
Each step upstairs felt like walking through water.
When I reached my room, I sat on the edge of the bed, shaking. The folded paper slipped from my pocket. The sonogram.
I stared at it for a long time, my vision blurring.
“Our baby,” I whispered.
Then I couldn’t hold it in anymore.
I cried until I couldn’t breathe, until the world outside faded, and all I could hear was the sound of my own heart breaking while downstairs, I knew Naira was throwing herself into his arms again, pretending to cry.
And he was letting her.
....
I woke up with my eyes swollen and my chest aching like I had cried myself empty.
The sunlight slipped through the curtains, soft and cruel at the same time. It made everything look too normal, like last night never happened.
I pushed myself up, head throbbing, when I saw her.
Naira.
Sitting on the couch like she belonged there, legs crossed, calm and smug, holding something between her fingers.
It took me a second to realize what it was.
The folded paper.
My sonogram.
“So,” she said lightly, twirling it between her fingers, “you’re pregnant, hmm?”
I froze. My heart stopped.
“Give that back,” I whispered.
She smiled like a cat that caught something small and helpless. “Not yet. I want you to hear a story first. It’s a good one. You’ll like it.”
“I said give it back.”
Naira ignored me. She just leaned back, eyes glinting with something sharp and ugly.
“You always thought you were so good, didn’t you, Candy? Always so loved. So lucky. You want to know how I became his fiancée?”
I didn’t answer. I didn’t want to hear. But she went on anyway, her voice syrupy and cruel.
“Two weeks ago, my brothers told me Dane took you. Jason and Calen. Remember them? They said you were living in his house. That he was protecting you.” She laughed, but it didn’t sound human. “Can you imagine how that felt? You, the little Langford nobody, suddenly in his arms.”
She stood and began pacing, like she was telling a bedtime story. “You were always the favorite. Even when we were kids. So I decided to take what’s yours. All of it.”
She paused and looked at me with that painted smile. “Jason told me Dane was going to Paris for business. I begged him to introduce me. I made sure to look perfect that night. You should’ve seen me. All white silk and tears, like a wounded angel. Men fall faster when they think they’re saving someone.”
I stared at the floor, trying not to cry, but my chest felt tight again.
She laughed softly. “You know what sealed it? The shooting. Oh, Candy, it was brilliant. Jason hired men to stage it. I made sure Dane saw everything. The guns, the panic. I pretended to shield him, even fell on the ground. There was fake blood everywhere. I looked like a hero. He carried me all the way to the hospital, you know? Stayed all night by my side.”
Her eyes gleamed as she remembered it. “When I woke up, he told me I saved his life. He swore he owed me everything. So I told him what I wanted.”
She walked closer, slow and deliberate, crouched down in front of me. “I told him I wanted him. I wanted to be his woman.”
I stared at her. The words didn’t even sound real anymore.
Naira smiled wider, showing teeth. “He gave me this ring. Promised me the world. All because he thought I took a bullet for him. Guilt is a beautiful thing, isn’t it?”
Something in me cracked then.
I started laughing. Quietly at first, then louder. It came out wrong, broken, like I had forgotten how to breathe.
Naira’s smile faded. “What’s so funny?”
I wiped my face, still laughing through the tears. “That’s all it took? Fake blood? A few hired men? That’s how you got him?”
Her jaw tightened. “Don’t laugh at me.”
But I couldn’t stop. It hurt to laugh, but I did anyway. “You can have him,” I said quietly. “I don’t care anymore.”
Her face changed. The anger flickered away, replaced by something colder. She tilted her head, smiling again, softer this time. Almost sweet. But her eyes didn’t match.
I knew that look.
I stood, backing away. “What are you doing?”
She stepped closer. “You’re pregnant. I’m his fiancée and his savior.” Her smile deepened. “Let’s see who he saves first.”
Before I could move, she grabbed my arm. Her nails dug into my skin. I tried to pull free, but she held on tight.
“Let go of me, Naira!”
Her voice suddenly turned loud, trembling like a victim. “Candy! Stop! You’re hurting me! Why do you always hurt me?”
“I said let go—”
Before I could finish, she stumbled backward, still clutching my wrist. My foot slipped on the edge of the stair.
Everything happened too fast.
Her scream tore through the house. “Candy! Please, don’t hurt me!”
Then there was nothing but motion.
We fell.
