Leah’s smile was razor-sharp, cutting through the false sweetness of her words. “So, you weren’t that stupid after all.” She crossed her arms, tilting her head, her eyes gleaming with triumph. “Yes, Olivia. I am the wife. Paulo is mine. He always was. You? You were just the stand-in. Nothing more. So just… be gone, got it? I will never want to see you again.”
Her words sank into me like shards of glass. My chest tightened, my breath trembling out of me. “Why would you do this to me?” My voice cracked. “Are you that jealous of me, Leah?”
Her lips curled, venom dripping from her tone. “Yes. Always. Don’t you get it? You were always the favorite. Father’s perfect daughter. Mother’s pride. The one who could do no wrong. And me? I was the mistake. The scandal. The one they hid behind their smiles.”
Once, we had been inseparable—the four of us. Leah and I shared secrets under the covers, whispered dreams of the future when the world still felt kind. We were a family then, bound by love and hope. But somewhere along the way, envy seeped into Leah’s veins, poisoning everything we had.
What once was sisterhood had turned into a battlefield, and the people I thought I could lean on had become the very hands pushing me down.
Something inside me snapped, the years of pain boiling to the surface. And I laughed. A bitter, broken sound that echoed in the sterile hospital room. “Maybe they favored me,” I spat, “because they saw the truth. That I was pure. And you? You’ve always been rotten. Evil.”
Her eyes widened, her face twisting with rage. With a cry, Leah lunged, her fingers tangling in my hair. She yanked hard, dragging me forward until pain flared across my scalp. I fought back, shoving her shoulders, clawing at her grip. Years of betrayal poured out in that struggle.
“You’ll never take what’s mine!” she hissed.
“You already did! But I don’t care now.” I shouted, shoving her back with all the strength I had. “Take everything because I am done.”
But then, in a flash of cunning, Leah pushed herself backward, crashing into the bedside table. She let out a piercing scream, clutching her arm. “Help! She’s killing me! Paulo!”
The door burst open. Paulo and my two brothers rushed in, faces twisted in fury. Before I could explain, Paulo’s hand struck across my face, the slap ringing through the room. My head snapped to the side, my cheek burning.
“You fucking bitch!” he roared, shoving me against the wall. His eyes blazed with hatred, not love, not even pity. Only disgust.
Leah whimpered, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I told you… she hates me. She hates that she will be donating to me. Maybe I shouldn’t even take her kidney. Maybe it’s better if she just dies hating me.”
I stared in disbelief, the room spinning around me. My two brothers didn’t even glance at me. They didn’t question. They didn’t care.
“Lock her up,” one of them said coldly. “We can’t risk her running away before the operation tomorrow.”
“Yes,” the other agreed. “Let her rot. She’s useless anyway.”
And just like that, they dragged me back into the small hospital room, bolted the door shut, and left me alone with nothing but the shadows.
I sank to the floor, hugging my knees to my chest. My body shook with silent sobs, the sting of Paulo’s slap throbbing against my skin.
All I could do was curl into myself, rocking, whispering broken prayers into the darkness. I was nothing to them. Nothing but a body to carve up, a pawn in their games.
But somewhere deep in me, a spark of defiance still burned. I wasn’t going to let them take everything. Not this time.
Hours passed. The moonlight stretched across the floor, silver and sharp. I must have dozed, because the sound of keys fumbling at the lock startled me awake. My head jerked up.
The door creaked open, and a nurse slipped inside. Her eyes darted nervously to the hallway before meeting mine. “Let’s go. Now.”
“What?” I whispered, my heart leaping.
“There’s no time.” She helped me to my feet. “They’ll kill you after tomorrow. Mr. Cameron can’t let that happen. We have to run.”
Tears blurred my vision. My legs wobbled beneath me as we slipped through the corridor, every step echoing like thunder in my ears. I half-expected Paulo or my brothers to appear, but the halls were silent. Empty.
We climbed the stairwell, two floors, three floors, until we burst onto the rooftop.
The night air hit my face, cool and sharp. And there—waiting in the shadows—was Cameron Evans.
He stood beside a sleek helicopter, the blades whirling, whipping my hair into a frenzy. His tall frame was steady, his gaze locked onto me. For the first time in days, maybe years, I saw something I had lost—safety.
“Olivia,” he called over the roar, his voice cutting through the night. “You’re safe now. Come.”
My throat tightened. My legs moved before I could think, before fear could chain me. I ran to him, the nurse helping me climb aboard.
As the helicopter lifted into the sky, I pulled the SIM card from my phone with trembling fingers. I stared at it one last time, the symbol of years wasted, of betrayal, of chains I no longer wanted. Then I hurled it out into the darkness.
Gone.
I sank back into the seat, the city lights shrinking below us, tears streaming down my cheeks… for the better.
