Sophia's fists clenched at the mention of her grandmother, the only person who had ever truly loved her. She was a kind woman who gave her love her father couldn’t. It broke her heart when she was young but forced her to reunite with her father a month before she became bedridden due to heart disease.
Hearing Hannah talk so ill about her made her heart boil but she remained calm.
“Still playing the role of the poor little outcast, I see,” Hannah continued, her voice dripping with malice. “How does it feel, Sophia? To be nothing more than a pathetic school teacher while our parents live in luxury? To grovel for scraps while I stand where you’ll never belong?”
“Shut up, you know nothing about me.” Sophia hissed, her voice trembling with barely restrained anger.
But Hannah only laughed a cold, sharp sound that echoed in the empty hallway.
“Why should I? You handed me all the ammunition I need.” She leaned in, her voice dropping to a venomous whisper.
“Ryan told me everything. Your pathetic early morning shifts, the crumbs you save for your sickly little grandmother. He doesn’t even respect you enough to keep your secrets, Sophia. You’re an open book for me to rip apart.”
Sophia’s breath caught, her words cutting deeper than she thought possible.
“You shouldn’t have come back,” she continued, her eyes narrowing. “You’re nothing but a reminder of a mistake. Unwanted then, and unwanted now.”
Sophia swallowed hard, refusing to let Hannah see her break.
“You already have everything, Hannah. Just leave me alone.”
“Everything?” She laughed again, this time louder, crueler. “Don’t kid yourself. Do you think you can have Ryan? No, Sophia. He’s mine. He always has been, and he always will be. You’re just the placeholder, the little puppet he keeps around to pass the time. Now, I've come to take my place as his wife.”
“You must be desperate then, throwing yourself at a married man. Why? No other man wants you?” Sophia shot back.
Hannah’s eye twitched in anger, but her lips stretched into a smile.
It was so sick, Sophia knew whatever she was about to say next would shatter her.
“Oh, you didn’t know. Did you?” she asked, her voice dripping with mock innocence.
“Every trip he’s taken, every business meeting? He’s been with me. In Paris. In your bed.”
Sophia felt her stomach churn, Hannah’s words twisting like a knife in her gut.
“That red dress he gave you?” she added with a smirk. “I wore it first. For him. Then he fucked me raw in it.” she laughed, “I didn't even wash it when he wrapped it. When did he finally give it to you? He told me how ridiculous you looked in it. How bland, how boring.”
Her smirk deepened as she leaned closer, her breath hot against her ear. “You’ll never be enough for him. You never were. And soon, Sophia, I’ll have everything you’ve been too weak to give him. A real family. A child. While you’re left with nothing.”
Tears burned her eyes, her vision blurring as Hannah’s words crushed what little resolve Sophia had left.
“You’re barren, aren’t you?” she whispered, her tone laced with mockery,
“No wonder he spends his nights with me. Maybe I should give him the child he's been wanting so desperately. ”
Sophia’s body trembled with rage, grief, and despair, every word slicing deeper until she couldn’t take it anymore.
“You can go to hell.” Sophia spat as she turned to leave. But before she could walk out, a scream reached her ears followed by a loud crash.
