Chapter 2 It'll Be Over Soon

The sight of Vanessa’s handbag sitting so casually on Liam’s couch sent a chill down her spine. For a moment, her mind refused to believe what her eyes were telling her.

Rebecca swallowed hard, telling herself it was nothing.

“Maybe she came to get Liam’s help after hearing what happened,” Rebecca whispered under her breath, as though saying it out loud would make it true. “Maybe she forgot her bag.”

But even as she spoke, something inside her told her she was lying to herself.

She'd just check and prove to herself Vanessa had just forgotten her bag after getting Liam. They'd probably call her once they get to the hospital and see she isn't there.

Rebecca’s legs moved before her brain caught up, each step taking her deeper into the apartment. She checked the kitchen and nodded when she saw it was empty. She checked the small garden balcony and a wave of relief passed through her when she saw it was empty as well.

There was only one room left.

She prayed she was wrong. She prayed that if she opened that door, she would find nothing but an unmade bed and the comfort of her imagination running wild.

But as she approached Liam’s bedroom, she saw what she recognized very well to be her sister’s red heels, lying carelessly near the doorway.

Immediately, her heart stuttered painfully.

She wanted to turn back, to walk away before the truth shattered the last piece of her sanity. But then, as though to shatter the last piece of hope, she heard voices, low, intimate, and unmistakably familiar.

With her heart pounding in her chest, Rebecca pressed herself against the wall, her shaking fingers hovering near the door.

She didn’t mean to listen. She wanted to believe there was an explanation. But the words reached her anyway. The very words she didn't know would haunt her forever.

“Do you still love me?” she heard Vanessa ask.

Rebecca’s breath caught. Before she could regain herself, Liam’s voice answered, low and tender in the way he used to speak to her. “Of course I do. You’re the only woman I love, baby.”

The air vanished from Rebecca’s lungs and her vision blurred with tears.

Her fiance, the man she had trusted with every dream, every promise, every piece of her heart was professing love to her stepsister? This all had to be a dream.

“It feels harder to believe when I have to share you with my sister,” Vanessa said, her tone sharp, and bitter.

Rebecca’s trembling hand flew to her mouth to keep from making a sound.

Liam’s laugh followed. “You know I’m only with that girl for her inheritance. You told me yourself not break up with her yet. Once I marry her, everything she owns becomes ours. Just a few months and it’ll all be over.”

A strangled sound escaped Rebecca before she could stop it, and she clutched her chest as if to physically hold herself together.

Every word from Liam felt like a dagger sinking deeper into her chest.

The room tilted. Her heart pounded so violently she thought it might burst. Her own sister and her fiancé were here together, plotting against her and she just had to learn about it just the same day she lost her parents.

Her knees wobbled, and for a moment she thought she’d collapse right there. She clamped a hand over her mouth, forcing herself not to make a sound.

Vanessa’s laughter, low, sultry, and cruel echoed through the door. “You’re right. I just hate pretending to care about her. But once she’s out of the picture, we can live the way we want.”

Rebecca staggered back, unable to bear the wretching pain. The air felt too thick to breathe. The world spun.

Without thinking, she turned and ran. There was no way she could stand there and listen to anymore of their words.

She just ran out and into the cold, merciless rain.

Tears blurred her vision as she stumbled toward her car. Her hands trembled as she fumbled for the keys. Somehow, she got inside and slammed the door.

Once inside, her sobs broke free, wracking her entire body.

“How could you, Liam?” she whispered through her tears. “How could you do this to me?”

She rested her forehead against the steering wheel, crying until she had no strength left.

Then, as if something snapped inside her, she started the car and drove off.

She didn’t care where. She just knew she needed to leave that place.

The city lights bled into streaks through the rain-smeared windshield. Her heart was in shards—her parents gone, she had just discovered her sister’s betrayal, and her fiancé’s deceit. Everything she knew was gone within a single night.

Her mind screamed, Why me? What did I ever do wrong? How could everything be happening in one night?

The tires hissed against the wet asphalt. Her hands clenched the wheel tighter, the world outside reduced to the rhythm of her heartbeat and the soft hum of the rain.

Her heart raced. She could feel her pulse in her throat, wild and uneven.

She shouldn’t be driving. She could barely think. But stopping meant feeling. And feeling was unbearable.

Then suddenly from nowhere, a flash of silver headlights appeared. She swerved but then it was too late. The screech of metal on metal tore through the rain. Her car jolted violently as it clipped the other vehicle.