The rain beat down like endless needles, soaking me to the bone. My suitcase handles slipped in my palms as I stood at the gates of the mansion I had once called home. The same mansion where I had laughed, cooked, prayed, and begged to be enough.
Now I was cast out.
The maids hadn’t looked at me when they shoved the suitcases outside. They had only muttered that “the master’s orders” left no room for pity. The door shut behind me with a dull thud that echoed like a coffin sealing shut.
I stood there, trembling, water running down my face, mingling with tears that wouldn’t stop. My body felt numb, yet my heart bled in every corner.
This—this was the price of my weakness.
Every cruelty from Emily, every insult from Carlisle, every laugh from Cosette—they stabbed sharper in the rain. I pressed my fist against my chest and asked myself the question I had avoided for years.
When did it all begin to fall apart?
And I knew the answer.
It began with the accident.
The memory clawed its way back through the storm.
Selene’s laugh still echoed in my mind that night we drove down the winding coastal road. She was radiant—my twin, my mirror, though she always shone brighter. I had been at the wheel, the radio humming softly as the wind tangled our hair.
Then—the screech.
The car swerved, the world spun, and before I could even cry out, we crashed through the guardrail.
The sea below swallowed us whole.
My head slammed against the dashboard, white light bursting behind my eyes. My vision shattered, colors bleeding together, the world spinning like a broken carousel.
“Emma!” Selene’s voice screamed through the chaos, sharp and terrified.
The car filled with icy water. She kicked at her door, again and again, grunting, gasping, until finally it burst open. A rush of water dragged us, but she grabbed me with desperate strength.
“Hold on!” she shouted. Her arm hooked under mine, dragging my limp body toward the surface.
I tried. God, I tried. My chest burned, my sight dimmed, but Selene pushed and pulled until at last we broke through the water. I choked on air, my lungs searing with life.
But she didn’t stop. She pushed me higher, forcing me toward safety.
I clung to her hand. “Selene!”
Then—a tug.
Her scream tore through the storm as something below dragged her down.
Her foot was caught.
She thrashed, kicking, gasping. “Emma—help me!”
I reached for her, but my body was heavy, my head spinning from the blow. My sight wavered in streaks of gray and red.
Selene’s face was the last thing I saw. Her lips moved beneath the water, her hair swirling around her like a dark halo. She was slipping, sinking—
And I was powerless.
The world tilted, blackness smothered me, and when I woke again, Selene was gone.
Forever.
A sob tore out of me as I clutched my suitcase to my chest in the present. My tears blended with the storm. “Selene… I’m sorry. I should’ve saved you. I should’ve done more. If I weren’t so weak, you’d still be here.”
My voice broke. “You wouldn’t have left me like they did.”
I pressed my forehead against the hard case, rocking as if it could cradle me. For years, I had carried the weight of her death like chains. I believed I deserved this loneliness, this rejection. Maybe Carlisle was right—maybe I was nothing but a mistake.
And then—
A voice slipped through the storm. Smooth. Mocking.
“I’m glad you’re still here.”
I stiffened, lifting my head. The raincoat rustled as the footsteps drew near. I knew that sound. I would know it anywhere.
“Cosette,” I whispered, my stomach twisting with dread.
She chuckled, the sound cutting through the rain like a blade. “So pitiful. Standing here in the storm like a stray cat no one wants.”
I wiped my face quickly, forcing myself to stand tall despite the water soaking through my dress. “Are you here to mock me again? Is it not enough that you stole my husband and daughter? Must you watch me crawl, too?”
“Oh, Emma,” she purred, drawing closer. “You think so little of me. I don’t just want to mock you. I want to crush you.”
I gritted my teeth, clutching my suitcase tighter. “I have nothing left to say to you.”
“Perhaps.” Her tone sharpened, playful malice dripping in every word. “But maybe you’d like to know the truth about your sister. About Selene.”
My breath hitched. The rain was loud, but her words thundered louder.
“What are you talking about?” I demanded.
Cosette leaned close, so near I could hear the smirk in her voice. “Don’t you wonder who was really behind that accident? Because I know. I know exactly who caused Selene’s death.”
The storm roared around us, but all I could hear was the pounding of my own heart.
