Chloe Sullivan POV:
I stared at the ceiling, counting the tiny cracks in the plaster. It was a pointless task, meant to numb the throbbing in my chest.
The door to my hospital room was shoved open with a violent bang.
I turned my head toward the door. My father, Richard Sullivan, my stepmother, Eleanor, and my half-sister, Ariane, filed into my hospital room.
"Chloe, I was terrified you wouldn't wake up," Ariane's voice wavered, her eyes already rimmed with theatrical red. "I begged Evan to save you first, I really did, but he just wouldn't let me go..."
The image of Evan Parrish desperately pulling Ariane out of harm's way flashed through my mind. I shifted my gaze to the blank wall, refusing to give any of them another second of my attention.
"Still as classless as ever!" Richard barked, his temper flaring at my silence. "Did you not hear your sister asking about you?"
When I still didn't respond, Eleanor chimed in, her tone dripping with mock anxiety. "Richard, please, let it go. Chloe's still just a kid. Besides, we have more pressing matters today."
Richard clearly didn't want to waste his breath on me anyway. He cut straight to the chase. "You should know by now that Evan is in love with Ariane.
Since the engagement party went up in flames anyway, you are going to issue a public statement calling off the engagement. You're going to step aside and give Evan and Ariane your blessing."
A laugh slipped past my lips. I was so furious it was actually funny.
"And why would I do that?" I asked him flatly.
"Because they actually love each other," Richard proclaimed, his chest puffing out with self-righteousness. "And because your little teenage pregnancy scandal dragged the Sullivan name through the mud in this city!
Did you honestly think the Parrish family would welcome a tainted woman into their inner circle? I am giving you an out, Chloe. I suggest you take it."
My nails dug into my palms. When I was eighteen, Ariane had tricked me into going to a club. She'd made sure my drink was spiked. I woke up the next morning next to a complete stranger, panicked, and ran before I even caught a glimpse of his face. I was just a naive teenager; the thought of morning-after pills never even crossed my mind.
By the time I realized I was pregnant, I was already well into my second trimester. I secretly went to a clinic for a procedure, but Ariane had tipped off TMZ and the local tabloids. Photos of me at the clinic were plastered everywhere. Almost overnight, I became the biggest joke among the city's elite.
Worse still, my doctor had informed me that due to my health, an abortion would be fatal. I had no choice but to carry the baby to term.
It took me months to finally accept the life growing inside me, only to deliver a stillborn. When I was at my absolute lowest, drowning in grief, Richard didn't offer a single word of comfort. Instead, he shipped me off to Europe. For seven years, he left me to rot, never bothering to make a single phone call.
And now? I had just survived a brush with death, and he hadn't asked if I was okay. Not once. He had only come to bully me into giving up my fiancé for his precious Ariane.
How utterly soulless did a father have to be to say such vicious things to his own flesh and blood? To rip open my deepest scars without a second thought?
"I suppose being a homewrecker is genetic," I sneered, meeting his glare head-on. "The Sullivan name? What reputation does this family even have left? My mother's body was barely cold before you moved your mistress in.
And isn't it hilarious that your mistress's daughter is only six months younger than me? If anyone in this city is 'tainted,' Richard, it's you."
"Chloe!" Richard roared, his face turning an ugly shade of purple.
Ariane and Eleanor both looked mortified, the truth stinging them into a humiliated silence.
I had zero patience left for these people who dared to call themselves my family. "If the Parrish family wants to break the engagement, Evan can come tell me to my face. It's not your place!
Now get the hell out of my room before I call hospital security. If this turns into a media circus, I'm not the one with a pristine reputation to lose, am I?"
I could see the hesitation flicker in Richard's eyes. He knew I was exactly like my mother—usually quiet and aloof, but when backed into a corner, I possessed a ruthless, unyielding streak that he couldn't control.
"Don't push me, Chloe, or I swear I'll put you on a one-way flight back out of this country!" he spat. With that final threat, he spun on his heel and stormed out of the room.
Eleanor and Ariane scrambled to follow him out the door.
I watched their retreating figures, a cold, hard smile touching my lips.
Did he really think I was still the same helpless girl from seven years ago? That I would just let him dictate my life?
From this moment on, I wasn't going to let anyone trample over me ever again.
"Mommy?"
A clear, childlike voice suddenly brought me back to my senses.
