Emily's POV
I went back to the bathroom and closed the door behind me, hoping in vain that I could lock out the pain threatening to drown me. The sobs echoed off the tiles, raw and unrelenting.
I slid down against the cold wall, huddling on my knees as the truth came crashing down on me like a tidal wave. My husband, Nathan, was cheating on me with Rachel, of all people.
Rachel. My sister, but never really my sister. The girl my parent adored. She wasn't even biologically their own, but that never seemed to matter. She was the golden child, the first daughter, the cherished one.
They thought she'd been theirs until one day, while sick as a child, they ran tests at the hospital and discovered otherwise. Rachel wasn't their flesh and blood. I was. We were mistakenly exchanged at birth
They found me, living in poverty with my frail grandmother, they took me into their world in rich possessions and privilege but without love.
Rachel, from the moment I stepped into their lives, hated me because she believed I was the reason for some truth I had no hand in. I became the shadow of her light, the outsider in a family I was biologically tied to.
Nathan had been my refuge, my only family. I gave him everything my trust, my heart, my sacrifices. And now? He betrayed me.
I instinctively placed my hand on my abdomen. The life within me was supposed to draw us closer to a real family. Now, I wasn't even sure about telling him.
A knock came suddenly. I hurriedly washed my tear-streaked face and straightened up before opening the front door. Nathan was there, one of those bright smiles on his face, arms extending to pull me into a hug. I let him, though the contact made my skin crawl. He kissed me softly, the gesture feeling hollow for me.
"Hey again, what's up?" he asked. "I thought we were having dinner together tonight. The house looks... empty. So I assumed you were planning some surprise."
I had to force a smile and say, "I was, but I just didn't feel well enough to go.'"
Nathan frowned. "Not feeling well? What have you been doing that's exhausting for you?"
His words rummaged deeper, I bit the insides of my cheeks to keep the furious spark from spilling over.
I was tempted to scream in his face and tell him I was working, I was keeping us alive while he was pretending to be a corporate executive at his father's company. I was bringing home the paycheck and paying the bills of his favorite lifestyle.
But I said nothing and let the silence stretch. Nathan chuckled and shook his head. "Well, maybe it's for the best. You didn't have to plan anything. Get ready because we're heading out
"Where to? I asked
"To your family house. Rachel is back and they're giving her a welcome party." He replied plainly
I stiffened. "I'm not going."
"What? He laughed, the sound grating against my nerves. "What are you talking about? Of course, you're going. This isn't up for debate. If you want me to have a good birthday, you'll do this for me, besides your parent aren't going to be there, its just Rachel"
I wanted to scream at him, tell him to leave, never come back. But there was a foolish, desperate part of me that hung on to the ridiculous hope, that maybe if I tell him about the baby, he would change. Maybe he would stop his affair with my sister. So I nodded and retreated to get ready.
The moment we got to the mansion Nathan whispered into my ears low and grave. "Tonight, you don't embarrass me. You get your best behavior into check."
I swallowed the bile rising in my chest and nodded.
As soon as we entered the house, Rachel came running toward us with a big smile and open arms. "Emily! It's been ages!" She wrapped me in an involuntary embrace while the pronounced sweetness of her tone turned my insides.
"I missed you" she coos. "Why haven't you called me? Why haven't you come to visit me? After all, we are sisters!"
Sisters? I tightened up my smile as I cut her words painfully through my memory and then had flashback memories of how she used to mock me. Her sharp words cut deeper than the blades.
Nathan excused himself to meet his friends, now, I'm left with Rachel. That syrupy tone disappeared the moment he went out of her earshot.
"Nice dress," she said, then smiled, twisting it into a smirk. "Did your grandma lend it to you?"
"Don't even start, Rachel," I said softly. "No trouble."
"Trouble?" she discussed, feigning oblivion. "Oh, I just don't get how you're always so uptight. After all, you took everything from me."
"What? My parents love you. My brother worships you. How did I take anything from you?" I asked, my voice rising.
"Nathan," her eyes spark.
My heart sank. "Nathan?
"He was supposed to be mine," she hissed. "We were perfect together. But you just had to come in and ruin everything."
"Do you even know what he has been doing behind your back?" She confronted directly, urging questions rather soon. "All those nights he traveled on your anniversary, he wasn't out of the country. He was with me."
I glared at her, yet the room spun.
"Remember that lingerie he gifted you last year? Well, he made love to me while I wore it. Then he wrapped it up and gave it to you like some... afterthought."
At that moment something snapped deep inside me. My palm flew against her cheek with a collision that echoed through the room. The party froze, and all eyes turned toward us.
